The rammed earth specialist will judge this year’s awards and join the shortlist in London in November
Martin Rauch collaborated with Herzog & de Meuron on their design for the Ricola Herb Centre in Switzerland. Credit: Markus Bühler
Austrian architect Martin Rauch founded the practice Lehm Ton Erde – meaning ‘loam, clay, earth’ – in 1999 in Schlins, his home town in Austria. Specialising in earthen construction, Rauch has constructed numerous projects across the world, including Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Italy, as well as further afield in Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and South Africa.
‘Rauch is pushing the structural engineering limits of earthen construction by offering evidence through building,’ Mark Sauer wrote in the AR in 2020. He designed his own home with Roger Boltshauser in 2008, the Ricola Herb Centre with Herzog & de Meuron in 2012, and a burial vault for the Bishops of Rottenburg with Cukrowicz Nachbaur Architekten in 2017.
The burial vault for the Bishops of Rottenburg by Cukrowicz Nachbaur Architekten with Martin Rauch. Credit: Emmanuel Dorsaz / Lehm Ton Erde Baukunst GmbH
‘My vision is entire cities of earth and multi-storey residential buildings that provide a wonderful indoor climate with a small ecological footprint,’ Rauch explains. ‘There’s enough material to do so, and it would also be a fascinating story with respect to form.’
Inaugurated in 1999, the AR Emerging awards support young architects and designers at a key stage in their career, promoting their best work to a worldwide audience.
The awards recognise excellence in an overall body of work, rather than a singular project: entrants are asked to submit a small portfolio rather than an individual completed building. Shortlisted projects will be featured in a special edition of the AR and all finalists will present their work to our acclaimed judging panel in London this November to win the £5,000 prize.
Previous winners include A Threshold, Comunal Taller de Arquitectura, Carla Juaçaba Studio, Sou Fujimoto, Klein Dytham, Anna Heringer, Bjarke Ingels, Thomas Heatherwick, Li Xiaodong and Frida Escobedo. Find out more about last year’s winning and commended projects here.
