XII ThyssenKrupp Elevator Architecture Award to be presented in Istanbul

Today ThyssenKrupp Elevator, one of the world's leading elevator manufacturing companies, announced the opening of its XII Architectural Award. Held in collaboration with Istanbul Metropolitan Authority, this unique competition aims to foster creative new visions for the design of an Istanbul Disaster Prevention and Education Centre. The Award is being organized under the auspices of the well-known International Union of Architects.

“We are proud to announce the opening of this prestigious award in our city. The subject chosen is aimed at developing prevention measures in case any natural disaster should endanger Istanbul,” said Prof. Ibrahim Baz, Head of Istanbul Metropolitan Planning and Urban Design Centre. “The building proposed will be a modern centre fully equipped with latest technology and facilities,” he added.

The centre will be fitted with visual, audio educational appliances and simulation systems, to recreate the experience of an earthquake, hurricane, fire fighting, smoke, liquefaction, tsunami, first aid and emergency communications. In addition, the building will host relevant courses, congresses and seminars. It is also intended to provide information to all visitors via a planetarium, library, information boards, seminars and meeting halls.

“Istanbul is a mega city with an extraordinarily rich history and culture,” said Javier del Pozo, CEO of ThyssenKrupp Elevator Southern Europe, Africa & Middle East. “For this reason it is the ideal location for this competition.” An international jury of recognized architects will review the submissions and select winning proposals for awards. “We look forward to receiving a broad range of concepts for this ambitious project. We are seeking unique designs that address issues of green buildings, local climates, urban attractiveness and that also include state-of-the-art technical installations,” concluded del Pozo.

Registrations are accepted from February 09 until April 28, 2011.

For further information, see the website:

www.thyssenkrupp-elevator-architecture.com

The ThyssenKrupp Elevator Architecture Award was established in 1988 and will be held for the first time in Turkey. Previous editions were hosted in Dubai as well as in other major cities in Europe.

The Elevator Technology business area brings together the ThyssenKrupp Group's global activities in passenger transportation systems. With 44,000 employees, sales of 5.2 billion euros in fiscal 2009/2010 and customers in 150 countries, ThyssenKrupp Elevator is one of the world's leading elevator companies. The company's portfolio includes passenger and freight elevators, escalators and moving walks, passenger boarding bridges, stair and platform lifts as well as tailored service solutions for all products. 900 locations around the world provide an extensive sales and service network to guarantee closeness to customers.