BIG, Mecanoo and Snohetta in the jury of DATA LANDSCAPE, the contest to conceive a data centre in the Italian mountainse

Archistars, artists, software engineers: 10 judges from 6 different nationalities will award the best entries for the Manni Group Design Award 2022.

The fourth edition of the idea’s competition promoted by Manni Group in collaboration with YAC - Young Architects Competitions launches a challenge on one of the most complex themes of the near future: restoring a modern Data Centre using the spaces of an abandoned anti-atomic bunker in the mountains of Lessinia, in Verona.

Digital data management needs physical facilities that meet efficiency and safety criteria, a need for space that goes hand in hand with an increasingly connected online world. While this type of architecture requires advanced off-site technologies, it can also promote a new infrastructure aesthetic that combines functionality, design and sustainability.

Therefore, the jury panel of Data Landscape includes architects and designers from the most influential design studios on the international scene, who have already worked on similar projects, as well as representatives of competition partners and local institutions.

For the fourth consecutive year, Manni Group is pleased to present the Manni Group Design Award judges.

Patrick Lüth, Snøhetta. Graduated at the University of Innsbruck where he later taught architecture, he is today the director of the Austrian branch of Snohetta, one of the most renowned architecture studios in Europe. He started working for Snohetta in Oslo, contributing to many international projects strengthening Snohetta’s philosophy focusing on the deep connection between architecture and landscape. In collaboration with the French studio Cao Perrot, he worked at the innovative project for Swarovski Crystal World in Wattens and in 2014 he cooperated with the planning of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at Ground Zero in New York.

Fedele Canosa, Mecanoo. He graduated in 2000 at the Delft University of Technology and joined Mecanoo in 2004. Fedele has been involved in the design of numerous cultural buildings and environments for educational activities at any stage. He excels at translating complex visions into clear and coherent concepts with descriptive visuals (both hand drawn and digital) to facilitate active dialogue and engagement. Throughout his career, Fedele has led projects of various sizes and scales, in different geographical, cultural, and climatic contexts, including the Library of Birmingham, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, the New York Public Library and the new complex for the engineering faculties of the University of Manchester “MECD”.

Jelena Vucic, BIG Bjarke Ingels Group. She was born in 1984 in Belgrade, Serbia. She studied architecture at the University of Belgrade, receiving her Master's degree in 2008. She worked at BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) in Copenhagen from 2009 to 2011 and moved to the New York office in 2015 where she became an Associate in 2017. Jelena participated in the conception and development of projects such as an award-winning CopenHill waste-to-energy plant in Copenhagen, the winning competition proposal for the E2 Ecology + Economy Timber Development in Kuovola, and the headquarters for the Shenzhen Energy Group in Shenzhen. Prior to joining BIG NYC, Jelena was a Project Leader at HHF Architects in Basel (Switzerland), where she led numerous large scale mixed-use, cultural, residential, and urban planning projects throughout Europe. Most recently, Jelena has been leading the design of the S.Pellegrino Flagship Factory in San Pellegrino Terme (Italy), currently under construction.

Mats Wahlström Walter, Ateljé Ö. Born in 1981, he is an architect based on the island of Gotland, Sweden. He co-founded the architectural studio Ateljé Ö in 2018 together with partner Joel Winsnes. He has an architectural degree from KADK in Copenhagen, Denmark and LTH in Lund, Sweden Ateljé Ö is focused on creating contextually strong architecture. Mainly summer houses and villas for private clients. In 2022 the studio was awarded the “Young Swedish Architecture” award for being the best emerging firm in Sweden. Between 2013 and 2018 he was a team member of Skälsö architects who was awarded with numerous prizes and nominations alongside being invited contributors of the world-renown and prestigious architecture exhibition at la Biennale di Venezia curated by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara in 2018.

Alessandro Adamo, DEGW Lombardini 22. Consultant and director of Degw Italia, Alessandro Adamo breathes life into the new ways of experiencing the office, by designing environments that aspire to the values of mobility, informal elegance, and the need to share, which characterise the new spirit of the contemporary workplace. In 1999, Alessandro became manager of the DEGW Consultancy Area for Italy. After a short period of 2 years at AEDES, in January 2009 he returned to DEGW, becoming director of DEGW Italia. In 2015, at the end of the process designed to integrate DEGW into the Lombardini22 Group, which had been transformed into a joint stock company, he became a partner of the Group, taking the helm of the Business Unit dedicated to the workplace. Alessandro has clearly dedicated his career to managing change in various companies throughout Italy, actively experiencing all the different changes of scenery which have occurred in the last, crucial, three decades of evolution in the world of employment. Today Alessandro is one of the top experts in the field of international consultancy specialised in the integrated design of working Environments.

Gianandrea Gazzola. He is active in sectors such as scenography, music and design, but it is in the visual arts and installations that he finds its main means of expression. The central theme of his work is the relationship between different aspects of perception, in particular sound and form, extending the interest to the relationships between natural phenomena, such as water, wind and clouds. This concept includes the works “lo Stilo” and “Infinitum” created at Arte Sella from 2013 to 2018. Time in its historical sedimentation is also one of the guiding elements of his work. In 2018 wo installations on the theme of water were created inside Botanical Garden of Padua. Other installations are located in the Certosa di Padula and at the Terme di Tito in Castel Sant’Angelo, with the group “Spazi Consonanti”, with which he has worked within monuments such as the Colosseum. He is currently working with the same group for the artistic part of a permanent installation at the ancient Cisterna di Seggiano, where the roots of an olive tree show in a real time their activity. Furthermore, is working on an installation focused on the topic of the territory of Sabina in Castelnuovo di Farfa.

Giorgio Ventre, University of Naples Federico II - Apple Developer Academy. He is Full Professor of Systems for Information Processing and Director of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Naples Federico II, awarded as Department of Excellence with a project on ICT for Health. He lectures and does research in the field of Computer Networks and Multimedia Applications and has also founded several start-ups in these areas. Since June 2016, he has been the Scientific Director of the Apple Developer Academy, a training initiative in the area of Digital Transformation unique in Europe. In addition, he is chairman of the board of Campania NewSteel, the certified incubator set up by Città della Scienza and the University of Naples Federico II.

To participate in the Data Landscape contest:

Manni Group Design Award Prize Money: €20,000

Participation: individuals or teams of architects of any nationality, as long as at least one member is under 35.

“Early bird” deadline: 18/12/2022

Deadline for sending in projects: 15/02/2023

More info: www.youngarchitectscompetitions.com

For further information or request for support, contact YAC at yac@yac_ltd.com.