PhD candidates Faidra Oikonomopoulou and Telesilla Bristogianni received the Innovation Award from the Society of Façade Engineering for the Crystal Houses in Amsterdam.
MRVDV Architects designed the glass façade for a shop in the classy Amsterdam P.C. Hooftstraat. The Crystal Houses façade was commissioned by Ashendene- Leeuwenstein. Glass innovator Professor Rob Nijsse (Faculties of Civil Engineering and Architecture) and associate Professor Dr Fred Veer took care of the structural design. Two Greek PhD candidates made it real and won international recognition for it.
Back to December 1 2016. You were in the Gibson Hall in London with the honourable Society of Façade Engineering. Then you were called to the stage because you had won the Innovation Award. Tell us about that moment.
FO: “We couldn’t really believe it. You know, I’m always optimistic and Telesilla is always a bit pessimistic. So, I was thinking we would win…”
TB: “…and I was keeping her down to earth. We happened to be sitting at the table with the jury and they started talking about how not always the shiniest projects win.”
FO: “It was a bit like the Oscars. You know that there are twelve nominees, including some very big names in façade engineering. There were big projects like government buildings or libraries from all over the world. But at the time they announced the big prize my stomach had left the building. The presenter accidentally had pressed the button and I recognised my own photo from a glass structural test that we had sent. He quickly put it back but I said: ‘Tele, we have won, Tele!'”
Continued…