A family house by Lluís Alexandre Casanovas (Spain) and a cultural center by Isaac Broid + Productora (Mexico), winners of this edition.
The award, of European scope, has in this edition with the special participation of Mexico, and is awarded in two categories, Personal Places and Collective Places, endowing with € 10,000 the winner in each of them.
In the Personal Places category the prize went to Real Estate Boom House of Cardedeu, for the project of the architect Lluís Alexandre Casanovas Blanco. For their part, Isaac Broid + Productora Mexicans have won the prize in the Collective Places category for the Teopanzolco Cultural Center, in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
The jury also granted a special mention to Alejandro Campos de Ic.arquitectura for the Aldo van Eyck project. Le Musée Imaginaire, Loenen aan de Vecht (The Netherlands).
Jury statements.-
Real Estate Boom House, Cardedeu, Spain, by Lluís Alexandre Casanovas Blanco
The jury appreciated the way in which the author, through a minimal intervention, creates so many layers to structure a critique that considers the need to do less and, in fact acting like that, proposes much more. At the same time, the proposal speaks of nostalgia, about the possibilities of what exists, about the eventuality of the real estate market. The members of the jury were impressed with the video presented, considering it a perfect interpretation of the essence of "living places". Quoting the author's words: "The architectural intervention for the Real Estate Boom House is an attempt to highlight how generic housing typologies during the Spanish real estate bubble are converted by their users into" Personal Places. "For this, the project weaves tradition and modernity, notions of high and low technological level, the presence through objects and the physical absence of family members, ... and how these dichotomies configure daily life in the home."
Up to a point, in this category there are open spaces that are very small and also others that are more defined in terms of their program, but not only is it a matter of granting possibilities to a space through its ambiguity through the open-closed dichotomy , but there may also be the possibility of a specific program standing up to a new one. A magnificent example is the winning project of Collective Places: Teopanzolco Cultural Center in Mexico, an auditorium that, with the use of materials and simple forms, creates an unexpected square in its cover, not required in the order, which becomes something that sum, in a gift for the city. The client asked for an audience and the architects gave him an open public space that creates a high point from which to stand to admire the history of the place. In the words of the authors: "The emphasis on the relationship between the archaeological site of Teopanzolco represents the greatest effort to generate a collective place. "The situation of both visual and physical connection between the new auditorium and the pre-Hispanic site depends on the knowledge of the history and the local culture of the community." The members of the jury appreciated the extraordinary achievement that is to raise such a project in the political, social and urban context of Mexico (which differs a lot from the European one). They were seduced by the elegance of the video in suggesting the interior of the building without almost showing it, opening the possibility of being imagined by the audience.
"The home as a process of deployment of the" art of living. "A house is never finished, as long as it remains inhabited, it is still under construction every day.Architecture only takes place in time, when it is internalized by its inhabitants. is not precisely what Living Places is about? "
Some of the issues debated around the category of Personal Places did not only revolve around what was built, but also about how architects develop their own architectural discipline: not only designing and building, but also through research and experimentation on existing buildings such as the Aldo van Eyck project. Le Musée Imaginaire, on how to analyze them and think them differently. The members of the jury wanted to recognize this project among all those presented with a mention, despite the fact that they did not comply with the bases1 due to their non-material nature.
Some of the issues debated around the category of Personal Places did not only revolve around what was built, but also about how architects develop their own architectural discipline: not only designing and building, but also through research and experimentation on existing buildings such as the Aldo van Eyck project. Le Musée Imaginaire, on how to analyze them and think them differently. The members of the jury wanted to recognize this project among all those presented with a mention, despite the fact that they did not comply with the bases1 due to their non-material nature.
145 projects submitted (40% more than in the previous edition) from 12 European countries and Mexico.
The 5 finalists in Personal Places were:
- Real Estate Boom House, Cardedeu, by Lluís Alexandre Casanovas Blanco
- Office Office in Canet de Mar, Canet de Mar, by Jaume Valor / Laura Llimós
- 097 · YOJIGEN POKETTO Madrid, by Elii
- Between Pinos, Valle de Bravo, Mexico by Taller Hector Barroso
- Joao's House, Porto, Portugal by Guilherme Machado Vaz
- Office Office in Canet de Mar, Canet de Mar, by Jaume Valor / Laura Llimós
- 097 · YOJIGEN POKETTO Madrid, by Elii
- Between Pinos, Valle de Bravo, Mexico by Taller Hector Barroso
- Joao's House, Porto, Portugal by Guilherme Machado Vaz
The 5 finalists in Collective Places were:
- Teopanzolco Cultural Center, Cuernavaca, Mexico by Isaac Broid + Producer
- Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland by Chris Gantenbein Architekten
- Rehabilitation of a hostel for the homeless in a 19th century building, Porto, Portugal, by Nuno Valentim, Arquitectura e Reabilitação
- Plaza Street, Barcelona, by Bosch Capdeferro Arquitectura
- AGORA, Olot, for unparelld'arquitectes
- Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland by Chris Gantenbein Architekten
- Rehabilitation of a hostel for the homeless in a 19th century building, Porto, Portugal, by Nuno Valentim, Arquitectura e Reabilitação
- Plaza Street, Barcelona, by Bosch Capdeferro Arquitectura
- AGORA, Olot, for unparelld'arquitectes
This new edition the international jury has been formed by: Davide Rapp (Milan) architect and videomaker who made the film "" Elements "for the Venice Biennale 2014 as an introductory video to the central exhibition; Cecilia Tham (Hong Kong, Barcelona), founder of the creative community MOB Makers of Barcelona; Ricardo Flores (Buenos Aires, Barcelona) from the Flores & Prats Arquitectos studio, one of the winners of the previous edition of the prize; Frida Escobedo (Mexico) founder of Taller de Arquitectura, who has just designed the Serpentine Gallery in London, and finally Salvi Plaja, Design Director of the Simon Group.
