Young architect’s project of shopping mall wins took the gold prize

The winner of this year’s CANactionsYouth Competition is Valentyn Sharovatov who received the Dessau Institute of Architecture Prize.His “Extrasmall Shopping Mall” addresses the problems of building in cramped quarters.

CANactions 2014 represents the fifth annual competition open to Ukraine’s young architectural students and recent graduates of the country’s schools of architecture. The competition is open to all Ukraine architects under the age if thirty-five. They must be invited to enter the international youth architectural festival.

This year’s sponsor isGlasTrösch, a Swissglass products company. The company has for over a century produced glass products. Located in GlasTrosch, Switzerland, the company such varied glass designs as Swiss Lame Tissue a laminated safety glass with a metallic-coated plastic, Swiss Satin, a tinted glass for interior designs, and Swiss Lamex Stone a decorative glass made of glass and marble. Glas Trosch insulated glass have been manufacture to protect  from the sun and provide protection from smoke, fire, and condensation. The company is known worldwide for its innovative use of glass in architectural projects.

Sharovatov’swinning  design repurposed a long-unused public square. Although the area twenty-minutes from downtown Lviv includes a café, and a florist on the ground floor. The upper floors have retail space surroundned by perforated screen. The sloping wall design of one of the rooms lends itself to meetings and film viewings. The roof area accommodates a terrace and a café. The new structure adds better seating and safer lighting for local pedestrians.

The highlight of the competition was the keynote address by Ole Bouman,architectural historian, curator and lecturer of  Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture . His speech “Revitalization of Telychka”  addressed the question of transformingof the cultural centre.