The winners of the Brick Award 24 have been announced. The Brick Award is a prestigious international competition that showcases exceptional brick architecture from across the globe. For the past two decades, Wienerberger AG has been organizing the international Brick Award biennially, offering a platform to highlight outstanding brick architecture and its architects. Guiding Architects cooperates with the Brick Award and regularly organizes visits of nominated projects, known as InsighTours.

M 5605 — Argentina

The winning project in the category Living Together is M 5605, by Estudio Arqtipo. The M 5605 house is situated on a corner lot in northwest Buenos Aires, and this particular corner has a distinctive feature: periscope-like balconies protrude from the façade, resembling curious neighbors peeking out of windows. These balconies extend in various directions, creating a captivating effect as they are enclosed on the sides, top, and bottom — resembling loggias that narrow toward the front. Through glass parapets, they offer views of the fully glazed rear walls of the trapezoidal bay windows. This striking design element not only gives the house a unique identity but also provides residents with shaded outdoor spaces, seamlessly integrating the building with the surrounding public area.

Large corner windows are cut into the façade, clearly defining the boundary between indoors and outdoors. On the ground floor, however, the design reverses this relationship by drawing the public space into the building: the entrance is recessed beneath the corner, creating an overhang that forms the threshold. From the entrance, one can see directly into the foyer, where the brick façade continues as interior wall cladding, reinforcing the threshold theme. Completing the design is a parking space incorporated into the ground floor, separated by lattices — once again, blending exterior and interior spaces.

The six-story apartment building, housing ten units, was constructed on a footprint of 8.8 by 12.7 m². The floor plans for the typical levels are efficiently designed, including an open kitchen, a living and dining area, a bedroom, and bathrooms.

Categories for the nomination of the Brick Award — Living Together

The living together nomination category is for projects representing innovative housing solutions that address urbanization trends and challenges, including space scarcity, energy efficiency, climate resilience, social issues, and emerging living concepts.

Discover all the award categories and remember that Brick Award 26 submission will start in December 2024!