Al Borde - from left to right Esteban Benavides, María Luisa Borja, David Barragán and Pascual Gangotena
The Ecuadoran practice Al Borde, founded in Quito by David Barragán, Esteban Benavides, María Luisa Borja, and Pascual Gangotena, has won the 2024 BancaStato Swiss Architectural Award 2024. Promoted by Fondazione Teatro dell’architettura in collaboration with Università della Svizzera italiana - Accademia di architettura, for its 9th edition and for the first time the accolade has the support of Banca dello Stato del Cantone Ticino, and will from now on be called the BancaStato Swiss Architectural Award.
Amounting to 100,000 Swiss francs (105,000 euros), this international prize is given every two years to architects of any nationality who have demonstrated a special sensitivity to ethical, aesthetic, and ecological issues, contributed significantly to contemporary architectural culture, and thus helped to improve the quality of human life while encouraging public and professional debate on architecture’s role in current society. Candidates, who have to be less than 50 years of age (at the time the competition is announced), must have completed at least three major works and made a relevant contribution to contemporary architectural culture.
On the jury chaired by Mario Botta sat Walter Angonese, Sophie Delhay, Matthias Kohler, and Xu Tiantian, and they unanimously decided to grant the distinction to Al Borde for these three works: the Learning Viewpoint in the protected Cerro Blanco forest, Guayaquil, Ecuador, 2021-2022; the Raw Threshold Pavilion in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 2022-202); and the Yuyarina Pacha Community Library in Huaticocha, Orellana Province, Ecuador, 2023-2024.
Their projects involve the respective communities, tackle climate questions, draw from building traditions, and fuse these with modern experimentation, besides reinterpreting local materials innovatively, thereby defining a contemporary vernacular architecture.
The awarding ceremony will be held on 8 May 2025 at the auditorium of the Teatro dell’architettura Mendrisio of the Università della Svizzera italiana.
Mirador Aula en el bosque protegido de Cerro Blanco, Guayaquil, Ecuador, 2021-2022
Pabellón Raw Threshold en Sarja, Emiratos Árabes Unidos, 2022-2023
Biblioteca Comunitaria Yuyarina Pacha, Huaticocha, Provincia de Orellana, Ecuador, 2023-2024
