Philippe Block
Since 2009, Philippe Block teaches at the Institute of Technology in Architecture at ETH Zürich where he founded the Block Research Group (BRG). BRG collaborates with Foster + Partners, Zaha Hadid Architects, Herzog & de Meuron, SOM structures and Studio Olafur Eliasson.
The Jury which selected Philippe Block for the Berlin Art Prize consisted of the Akademie der Künste's London members, Lord Norman Foster, Ian Ritchie und Patrik Schumacher. Excerpt the laudatory speech: "BRG chooses construction projects in both high- and low-tech contexts to advance and adapt their methods and tools to a variety of cultural and geographical conditions, demonstrating that when the structural form is in equilibrium, buildings can be constructed economically through form rather than through the strengths of their materials."