With 90+ categories and 300+ jurors, the Architizer A+Awards is the world’s definitive architectural awards program. In anticipation of the Awards Gala and Phaidon book launch on May 14, we are pleased to share the stories behind the winners of the 2015 Awards program — see all of them here.
Jorge Mealha won the 2015 A+Awards, Popular Choice, for the Commercial – Mixed-Use Category with the Óbidos Technological Park Central Building. This distinctive low-rise building is situated on the axis of Lisbon and Coimbra in Portugal.
Your name: Jorge Mealha
Firm name: Jorge Mealha Arquitecto Lda
Location: Carcavelos, Portugal
Education: Architect by Faculdade de Arquitectura de Lisboa
© Jorge Mealha Arquitecto Lda.
When did you decide that you wanted to be an architect?
I decided to be an architect in my early 20s, after trying graphic design, photography, and engraving.
First architecture/design job:
My first job was as an apprentice architect at the office of a university teacher.
Design hero and/or favorite building (and why):
I really admire the work of Louis Kahn, in particular the Dhaka complex in Bangladesh. That set of buildings transmits to me a sense of a timeless design expressing a strong and poetic relationship with the surrounding landscape and memory. For me, it is an architectural masterpiece that seems to always have been there.
© Jorge Mealha Arquitecto Lda.
© Jorge Mealha Arquitecto Lda.
What do you find exciting about architecture and design right now?
The aim (and the capacity) to (re)establish critical relations with the public realm, that in a few cases is trying to be a tool to improve people’s everyday life.
Tell us something that people might not know about your A+Award submission.
Well, that one is a difficult one. Maybe it is interesting to know that the decision to launch the design competition — for which this building was designed and built — was made by a really tiny difference. Thankfully OBITEC decided to launch the competition and fortunately we won it.
© Jorge Mealha Arquitecto Lda.
© Jorge Mealha Arquitecto Lda.
Among your fellow A+Award winners, what is/are your favorite(s)?
My favorites are the Yorunoma Bar by Naoya Matsumoto, the Ring of Celestial Bliss by J.J. Pan and Partners, and the Haffenden House by PARA Project.
Other than your computer (or phone), what is your most important tool?
My charcoal pencil. Without the natural touch of a pencil on paper I am not able to register the early and fragile thoughts about an idea. It is the tool that enables me to freely register my thoughts at the beginning of the design process. The charcoal pencil opens the possibility of error and imprecision as ignition to critical process.
See all of the 2015 A+Award Winners here and all of the Winner Q+A’s here.