Meet the finalists for the first edition of the AIVP Prize Antoine Rufenacht

As planned, members of the Expert Panel met in Brussels on the 6th of September to assess the 23 submitted projects for the 2024 edition of the AIVP Prize Antoine Rufenacht. The experts had to decide which projects should be presented in front of the Grand Jury, which will meet in Le Havre, France, on the 10th and 11th of October for the final step of the winner selection process.

After intensive discussions, the experts decided to nominate 6 projects as finalists. These are:

• 𝐁𝐞𝐤𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐭 – 𝐁𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐙𝐨𝐧𝐞, presented by the Port of Oslo (Norway)
• 𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, presented by the Development Company for the Reconversion of Tangier Port City area (Morocco)
• 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐁𝐚𝐣𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬’ 𝐄𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥, presented by Corporación Antiguo Puerto Madero S.A. (Argentina)
• 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐨𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭, presented by Port of Los Angeles, Harbor Department (Port), a department of the City of Los Angeles (United States)
• 𝐃𝐮𝐰𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞’𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭, presented by the Port of Seattle (United States)
• 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐁𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭, presented by HAROPA PORT | Paris (France)

Next step: the Grand jury meeting

Representatives of these 6 selected applicant projects are now invited to join the Grand Jury meeting. This will be carried out in three stages. Firstly, Carola Hein, as co-chairwoman of the Prize, responsible for the Expert Panel, will share the experts’ conclusions and explain how the finalist applicants were chosen.

Secondly, the Grand jury, under the responsibility of Geraldine Knatz, will interview each shortlisted applicant during a 60-minute meeting that will include a presentation of the project and a discussion between the Grand jury and the candidate. Then the Grand jury will deliberate behind closed doors to choose the winner.

Find out more about the members of the Grand Jury: https://aivp-rufenacht-prize.org/en/international-co-chair/.

About the Expert Panel decision

“The Goal of the AIVP Prize Antoine Rufenacht is to valorize emblematic port city projects that are original and innovative in bringing together port city communities. Experts have evaluated the projects in line with the overarching guidelines of the Prize in terms of innovative governance involving multiple stakeholders, participatory practices that integrate local communities, a long-term vision for the port cities, and innovative engineering concepts that concretely address and mitigate climate change challenges. They paid particular attention to projects that show awareness of history and heritage and the need to establish long-term solutions (governance, space, etc.) as well as tools to evaluate their impact for more sustainable and just port-city integration. More specifically, they looked for projects that inspire new practices and that are models to be replicated in other port cities around the world.“

Expert Panel’s general thoughts:

‘We need spatial, social port city integration that serves as a foundation for sustainable, socially just projects in the long term.’ Carola HEIN Co-chairwoman of the Prize, responsible for the Expert Panel – Delft (Netherlands)

‘Improving city-port interface is a unique opportunity to adopt a global approach for climate change adaptation and ecological transition, with essential input from engineering.’ Sébastien DUPRAY – Head of Risks, Waters, and Sea Technical Division at Cerema – Paris (France)

‘The port is an image of standardization. This can be transformed thanks to port city creativity to bring uniqueness.’Hilda GHIARA – Tenured researcher and Professor, specialist in Maritime traffic, Ports and Regional economy – Genoa (Italia)

‘I was looking for something in each application that could sustain the positive impact of the project over time: how did the project change the relationship between port and city, so that in future they can together address new conflicts, challenges, and opportunities when they inevitably arise?’Peter HALL – Professor and researcher, a specialist in port economics and territorial development – Vancouver (Canada)

‘Good urban projects located at the port city interface, whether small or big, have the power to engage a holistic mutation of the port city.’ François KERN – Architect and Urban designer – Marseille (France)

‘Creating a genuine and shared global vision between the City and the Port is immensely challenging. The first edition of the Antoine Rufenacht Prize highlights the value of port-city development projects where this challenge has been successfully met.’ – Eamonn O’REILLY – Former Executive Director of Dublin Port – Dublin (Ireland)

Involving local communities contributes to design projects that benefit both to the port and the city.’ Isabelle VRIES – Urban planner and senior Advisor – Rotterdam (Netherlands)

About the applicant projects for the 2024 edition of the Prize

23 projects representing the diversity of the world’s port cities have been submitted following the call for applications for the 2024 edition of the AIVP Antoine Rufenacht. All of these projects bring many innovative ideas of how to connect the port and the city and design sustainable port cities. These ideas were from the fields of architecture and urbanism, including engineering solutions or nature intervention.

Discover the 23 applicant projects: https://aivp-rufenacht-prize.org/en/annee/year-2024/

Find out more about the conclusions of the Expert panel: