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News 2023
Architecture graduate wins prestigious European prize
Laura Hurley, a graduate of the Cork Centre for Architectural Education (CCAE), has won one of the most prestigious international awards for emerging architects at a ceremony in Italy.
Laura was one of two CCAE projects to make the nine-strong group of finalists. Laura was announced as one of the overall winners of the EU Mies van der Rohe ‘Young Talent Architecture Award’ 2023 at the prestigious Venice Biennale.
As well as a career-defining moment for the winner, the recognition is a milestone in the story of the CCAE. Formed in 2006, the CCAE’s BSc (Honours) Degree in Architecture and Masters of Architecture (MArch) programme are jointly offered by University College Cork (UCC) and Munster Technological University (MTU).
Organised by Fundació Mies van der Rohe, the Young Talent Architecture Award is aimed specifically at recently graduated architects, urban planners and landscape architects.
Accepting her award, Laura Hurley, CCAE (UCC/MTU Architecture graduate) said: “It is an honour to be a finalist and one of the winners of the EU Mies van der Rohe Young Talent Architecture Awards 2023. It feels great to have my work recognised after my studies. My project is based on Inisbofin, Co Galway and proposed new ways of mapping and practicing cartography.”
Calum Gallogley, Anthony Keniry, and James (JJ) Stack were the second CCAE project to be named as finalists for the award with their project ‘Lost Landscapes’ while Neil O’Brien and Fergal O’Connor were also shortlisted for the prize for their project: ‘[Ex]isle: Towards an Absurb Architecture’. The graduates’ projects were selected by an esteemed panel of international assessors.
The three projects were part of the ‘Islands Unknown’ Studio (2020.2021) and ‘Island Imaginaries’ Studio (2021.2022) - where students were asked to define new problematics associated with fragile Island terrains - prompting different ways to engage these distinct ecosystems. The projects define new types of experimental socio-ecological and cultural conditions that produce new ecological and atmospheric horizons.
Dr Jason O’Shaughnessy, MArch Programme Director, Cork Centre for Architectural Education, said: “We are extremely pleased for our students to have gained such recognition in the EU Mies van der Rohe Young Talent Architecture Awards 2023 for their three projects.”
“Each of the projects are distinctive in their own ways. They have created important new responses to dealing with the fragile social and physical ecosystems of the long overlooked Irish Islands. With this, they have each created new possibilities in the architectural repertoire around ecological sensitivities and new ways of handling the challenging physical limits of space-making that goes hand-in-hand with the sparseness of these places.”
“These awards are important recognition for the creative efforts at the Cork Centre for Architectural Education (CCAE). While still a relatively young School, our students have been encouraged to define new limits within the discipline by a dedicated body of teachers across their 5-years of study. So, congratulations to Laura, Calum, Anthony, JJ, and Neil and Fergal. Your acclaim here will, I hope, help further develop this culture and have lasting impact.”
Dr Samuel Vardy, Head of Department of Architecture, Munster Technological University (MTU) & Associate Director, Cork Centre for Architectural Education (CCAE), said: "Congratulations to all of the CCAE MArch students reaching the finals of this prestigious award, and of course the exceptional achievement of winner Laura Hurley.”
“The successes here are a fantastic testament to these students and their rigorous, critical and creative architectural design projects, and to the culture of teaching, research, and collaborative social engagement that has been carefully nurtured at CCAE over recent years."
Finalists Anthony Keniry, James (JJ) Stack, and Calum Gallogly, CCAE (UCC/MTU Architecture graduates) said: “We are delighted to be included as a finalist for the EU Mies van der Rohe Young Talent Architecture Award at the Venice Biennale. Our project ‘Lost Landscapes’ is situated on Inishmore, the largest of the three Aran Islands, off the west coast of Ireland. This project seeks to highlight the loss of landscape and culture occurring on these islands due to the erosive forces of the Atlantic Ocean.”