In Barcelona for the World Architecture Festival, Astragal attended the opening soiree in what turned out to be the World Building of the Year, Media-TIC by Cloud 9 Architects. The building has an impeccable green theme, both in its environmental credentials and general appearance, but the sickly green light {above) emanating from the fittings that drenched party-goers throughout the evening had the unfortunate effect of making everyone (jet-lagged or not) look as if though they were auditioning for Dawn of the Dead. Hats off to Stanton Williams, the only UK finalist in the World Architecture Festival completed buildings awards, for the Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge. Their reconciliation of plant science and the messier world of nature and landscape was probed by the super-jury after the scheme won the 'learning' category a day earlier. Did the long elevation, with its slightly relentless bays, suggest that the building was about measurement rather than the natural world? Yes, was the perfectly sensible answer.
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