Think design competitions aren’t worth your time? Laura Viscovich, Executive Director of the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, shares how competition entries can turn into career breakthroughs, even if you don’t win.
“But I’m already swamped with client work,” you might say. Fair enough. Laura reveals how the submission process itself can spark fresh insights about your projects — insights that could give you an edge with clients while helping you refine your sustainable design approach.
Through Laura’s insider perspective, we’ll explore how the Foundation’s unique evaluation process rewards designs that go beyond green checkboxes to create lasting social and economic value.
| 00:02:14 | The impact of the Holcim Foundation Awards |
| 00:03:29 | “…often we’ll find that people learn things about their project or, at least, how to articulate the benefits of their project.” |
| 00:05:16 | “I wouldn’t want to be as presumptuous to say that we’ve moved the needle globally, but I think that we can safely say that we’ve nudged the needle.” |
| 00:06:02 | “…we see lots more competitions with sustainability categories. We see many more conferences on different aspects of sustainable construction. So I like to think, as they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery.” |
| 00:06:33 | Building a community and nurturing talent |
| 00:07:17 | “The community has grown organically […] we’re always pulling and asking contributors from that community to actually support and engage with us.” |
| 00:08:53 | “We decided to launch a program […] So right now, there’s one running in Mexico City with UNAM. It’s got 20 students from, I think, 14 countries around Latin America…” |
| 00:10:11 | “Loreta Castro, from Mexico […] she has told me […] she’s been able to open doors for winners that she’s met on the juries, for them to go on and have more teaching opportunities.” |
| 00:11:05 | Challenges, evolution, and the future of sustainable design |
| 00:12:09 | “…winning a Holcim Foundation Award did enable them to more easily secure funding for their project or to just have the stamp of approval of an endorsement of an international organisation.” |
| 00:15:54 | “Many people equate sustainability with environmental sustainability, and they’re not looking at it through the lens of sustainable development as it was defined in the late 80s.” |
What sets genuinely sustainable design apart? After three years of leading the Holcim Foundation, Laura has a clear answer: success lies in the sweet spot where environmental protection meets social equity and economic sense.
The UVA Orfelinato, also known as “UVA de La Imaginación”, gave two obsolete water tanks in Medellín (Colombia) new life as public spaces.Remember when sustainable architecture meant conceptual drawings that never left the page? Those days are gone. Laura shows how today’s winning projects are already reshaping communities, influencing policies, and pioneering practical innovations in urban development.
The BillionBricks projects turn modest homes into micro power stations. Solar panels don’t just power individual houses: they generate income for entire communities.The benefits are substantial. Past winners have used their success to secure project funding and boost their global profile. Beyond winning, the submission process itself often helps architects sharpen their sustainability pitch for future clients.
Can architecture heal social wounds? The Most Mira Peace Centre in Kevljani (Bosnia & Herzegovina) proves it can, turning conflict-scarred ruins into a bridge between divided communities.How do you judge sustainable design across vastly different contexts? The Foundation’s answer: five regional juries working in parallel, ensuring local excellence feeds into global recognition.
Want to catch the jury’s eye? Laura breaks down the evaluation process with crystal clarity. Her key insight is to look beyond the usual environmental metrics to show how your design ripples through society.
The future of sustainable construction needs bold ideas at every scale. From neighborhood initiatives to city-wide master plans, Laura sees competitions as catalysts for the innovations we desperately need.
This episode is brought to you by:
| The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction The Holcim Foundation helps drive systemic change towards a more sustainable built environment. It was founded in 2003 to define and promote the key principles of sustainability for the construction sector and is committed to accelerating the sector’s transformation so that people and the planet can thrive. The Foundation has investigated various aspects of sustainable construction via a series of roundtables and conferences with international experts. It has also recognised excellent contributions to this field with the Holcim Foundation Awards which are considered the world’s most significant competition for sustainable design. Committed to a holistic approach that recognises the equal importance and interdependence of four key goals, the Foundation combines the collective knowledge, ideas, and solutions of our global community of experts with a recognised platform of international competitions to democratise thought leadership for the entire sector. |  |
This episode is brought to you by:
The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction
The Holcim Foundation helps drive systemic change towards a more sustainable built environment. It was founded in 2003 to define and promote the key principles of sustainability for the construction sector and is committed to accelerating the sector’s transformation so that people and the planet can thrive.
The Foundation has investigated various aspects of sustainable construction via a series of roundtables and conferences with international experts. It has also recognised excellent contributions to this field with the Holcim Foundation Awards which are considered the world’s most significant competition for sustainable design.
Committed to a holistic approach that recognises the equal importance and interdependence of four key goals, the Foundation combines the collective knowledge, ideas, and solutions of our global community of experts with a recognised platform of international competitions to democratise thought leadership for the entire sector.
Laura Viscovich is Executive Director of the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction. Her focus at the Holcim Foundation is to accelerate the organization’s impact with purposeful activities that support the global movement for sustainable construction.
As the Executive Director of the Holcim Foundation since January 2022, Laura Viscovich brings over a decade of experience in stakeholder engagement and sustainability communications and reporting, including several years dedicated to raising global awareness of the importance of vision health. She has collaborated with non-profit organisations, academic institutions, and impact investors across continents to drive actions towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SGD).
She published one of the first European corporate sustainability reports fully dedicated to the SDGs, and most recently developed and launched the sustainability roadmap for a global automotive technology supplier.
Laura holds a Master’s degree in Modern Languages from The University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
E | laura.viscovich@holcimfoundation.org
If you heard it in this episode, we likely have a link for it right here. Click on any topics, people, buildings, places, products and/or technologies listed below to learn more about each of them.
| 00:06:49 | “…to win Pritzker Prizes. So that…” “About the Prize” | The Pritzker Architecture Prize |
| 00:16:06 | “…with the Brundtland Report that…” “1987: Brundtland Report” | Federal Office for Spatial Development ARE |
| 00:19:32 | “…project called BillionBricks. And the…” “Our Vision” | BillionBricks |
| 00:29:30 | “…of the Balkan War and…” “Balkan Wars” | Britannica |
| 00:00:41 | “…decades, the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction has organised…” “About” | Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction |
| 00:01:02 | “…isn’t sustainable? Laura Viscovich here with…” “Laura Viscovich” | LinkedIn |
| 00:10:10 | “…now have Loreta Castro, from Mexico, on…” “Loreta Castro Reguera” | LinkedIn |
| 00:18:03 | “…10 years, Alejandro Aravena, he won…” “Alejandro Aravena” | Britannica |
| 00:24:44 | “…you’ve got Kjetil Thorson from Snøhetta…” “Kjetil Thorsen” | Wikipedia |
| 00:24:45 | “…Thorson from Snøhetta leading the…” “About” | Snøhetta |
| 00:24:47 | “…Europe jury, Sandra Barclay of Barclay &…” “Sandra Barclay” | Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction |
| 00:24:49 | “…Barclay of Barclay & Crousse, who leads…” “Barclay & Crousse” | Barclay & Crousse |
| 00:24:51 | “…Latin America. Lina Ghotmeh, from…” “Lina Ghotmeh” | LinkedIn |
| 00:24:53 | “…from Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture, leads middle…” “Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture” | Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture |
| 00:09:12 | “…running in Mexico City with UNAM. It’s got…” “Mexico City” (Mexico) | Britannica |
| 00:10:18 | “…with her hydropuncture project, the water park…” “Hydropuncture in Mexico” | Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction |
| 00:10:44 | “…in the US and then…” “United States” | Britannica |
| 00:18:07 | “…with his incremental housing, but we…” “Half A House Builds A Whole Community: Elemental’s Controversial Social Housing” | Archdaily |
| 00:18:41 | “…winner from Colombia in 2013 or…” “Colombia” | Britannica |
| 00:18:51 | “…team looked at repurposing obsolete water tanks…” “Articulated Site in Colombia” | Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction |
| 00:20:20 | “…In the Philippines…” “Philippines” | Britannica |
| 00:29:23 | “…based in London and a gentleman…” “London” (United Kingdom) | Britannica |
| 00:29:39 | “…war-torn house into a peace centre bridging two villages…” “Rebuilding communities through participatory design” | Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction |
| 00:32:43 | “…here in Singapore for the…” “Singapore” | Britannica |
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Host
Nirmal Kishnani
Producer
Maxime Flores
Senior communications executive
Sana Gupta
Senior editor
Tyler Yeo
Art director (video)
Alexander Melck | Phlogiston
Sound technician and editor
Kelvin Brown | Phlogiston
Video editor
Guellor Muguruka | Phlogiston
Video editor
Madelein Myburgh | Phlogiston
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