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SA+P plays key role in 'World Building of the Year’

Use of ancient tile vaulting technique led by faculty and alumni
The vault over the restaurant at the Mapungubwe Interpretation Center's reception area.
Caption:
The vault over the restaurant at the Mapungubwe Interpretation Center's reception area.
Credits:
Photo: Peter Rich Architects

MIT's School of Architecture + Planning played a central role in the project that won this year’s World Building of the Year Award at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona. South African architect Peter Rich won the award for his Mapungubwe Interpretation Centre in South Africa, described by the jury as "clearly the most architecturally and psychologically powerful project in the final, very tough, analysis."

The design and engineering of the ancient tile vaulting technique employed in the construction was done by John Ochsendorf, Class of 1942 Career Development Professor in the Department of Architecture, and Michael Ramage MArch ’06, currently a lecturer at the University of Cambridge. Also from SA+P, Matt Hodge SM ’07 conducted material research for the tiles and Philippe Block SM ’05, PhD ’09 reviewed the structural design using the Thrust Network Analysis he developed for his PhD.

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