A library, a house and a monastery, among the 2nd annual AADIPA European Award for Architectural Heritage Intervention prize-winners. The 5 winning projects and the 14 finalists were selected from a total of almost 200 entrants from 25 different countries.
The AADIPA European Award for Architectural Heritage Intervention is an award offered by COAC (the Official Association of Architects of Catalonia) and AADIPA (the Association of Architects for the Defence and Intervention in Architectural Heritage) in association with the Generalitat de Catalunya Government Department of Culture, the aim of which is to distinguish good heritage practices and contribute to their disclosure.
A) In the Intervention in Existing Architectural Heritage category, the jury announced two ex aequo prize winners: Paredes Pedrosa Arquitectos (Spain), for their Ceuta Public Library project, an intervention which evidently highlights architectural heritage, establishing a perfect co-existence with a contemporary public programme, building a new location where the interior-exterior duality are upheld through time. And the SAMI-Arquitectos studio. Inês Vieira da Silva. Miguel Vieira (Portugal), for their E/C house project, which establishes an intense dialogue between differing moments, rehabilitating a ruined building with materials that synchronously evolve through time, reactivating the sense of place in relation to the landscape.
B) In the Exterior Spaces category, Isabel Aguirre Urcola and Celestino García Braña (Spain), for their project Intervention in the environs of Caaveiro Monastery. With an economic use of resources, this intervention achieved maximum integration within its surroundings. This is a real statement in favour of a location's expressiveness. In a global world, this work represents a manifesto in defence of a recovery of identity, memory and nature.
C) In the Urban Planning category, Ubistudio (Italy) for their Masterplan for the city of Monza. This is a project in which the jury were impressed by their ease of understanding, both in terms of analysis and in the proposals they made to promote new uses and activities through a recognition of their own landscape, as well as their capacity for synthesis, using accurate, clear graphic representation.
D) In the category of Disclosure, Fernando Cobos (Spain) and Joâo Campos (Portugal), for their project Almeida/Ciudad Rodrigo – A fortificaçao da Raia Central, deserving of the award for its innovative way of focusing on a knowledge of territorial and heritage-based systems with reference to the fortifications of the central Spanish-Portuguese 'band' and the rich historical and cartographic documentation of the comparative analysis of the cities of Almeida (Portugal) and Ciudad Rodrigo (Spain).
From April 24, registration period closure, until the end of May, the international jury consisting of leading experts in the field of intervention in Architectural Heritage have performed the task of assessing the works in each of 4 categories eligible for the award. In category A –Intervention in built heritage–, the architects Antón Capitel, Toni Gironés and Malgorzata Rozbicka assessed 117 projects. In Category B -Exterior spaces-, the experts Joaquín Pérez, Jose Luis Infanzón and Giuseppe Lonetti analyzed 32 proposals. In category C –Urban planning– the professionals Antoni Vilanova, Sonia Puente Landázuri and Cristopher Graz assessed 8 projects and in category D –Disclosure– Raquel Lacuesta and Miguel Ángel Troitiño studied 27 pieces of work.
The call is divided into four categories:
- Category A: Intervention in built heritage. All architectural, permanent or ephemeral interventions in architectural properties of heritage interest.
- Category B: Exterior spaces. All interventions in the historic public space, in monumental and cultural landscape environments.
- Category C: Urban planning. All planning work aimed at the protection, conservation and enhancement of architectural heritage.
- Category D: Disclosure. Those initiatives, activities and actions that are aimed at disseminating the values of architectural heritage.
About the Award.-
The Award for Architectural Heritage Intervention AADIPA, held its first call in 2013 and arises from the belief that heritage is imperative in the current context, in which architectural heritage is considered not only to be a fundamental instrument of knowledge but also a first rate socio-economic resource for the sustainable development of cities, the disclosure, distinction and recognition of works and quality projects contributing to the preservation of the collective memory.
Directed by Ramon Calonge, Oriol Cusidó, Marc Manzano, and Jordi Portal, architects and members of the Association of Architects for the Defence and Intervention in Architectural Heritage AADIPA, the contest is aimed at consolidating itself as a catalyst and observatory of new challenges added to the conservation and intervention in built heritage.
About the Biennial.-
The International Biennial of Architetcural Heritage Intervention AADIPA aims to become an open forum for exchanging knowledge and experiences, contrasting and learning about the architectural heritage interventions of other countries.
