An initiative of the European Commission organized by the Fundació Mies van der Rohe, the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture -Mies van der Rohe Award is a biennial prize to commend architectural excellence and draw attention to the important contribution of European professionals in the development of new concepts and technologies. The award offers individuals and public institutions an opportunity to reach a clearer understanding of the cultural role of architecture in the construction of our cities. Furthermore, the Prize seeks to support young professionals as they set off on their careers. In recognition of their conceptual, technical and structural qualities, two projects are selected for each edition: one receives the Prize itself, the other the Emerging Architect Special Mention. In addition, a set of finalists and shortlisted works are included in the exhibition and catalogue.
The winner of the 2011 Prize is the Neues Museum (Berlin, Germany) by David Chipperfield Architects, and the Emerging Architect Special Mention is the Collage House (Girona, Spain) by Ramon Bosch and Bet Capdeferro.
The winners were chosen from 343 submitted works in 33 European countries. Six works were shortlisted for the main award. The other finalists were: Bronks Youth Theatre (Brussels, Belgium) Martine De Maeseneer, Dirk Van den Brande/MDMA; MAXXI Museum of XXI Century Arts (Rome, Italy) by Zaha Hadid, Patrick Schumacher/Zaha Hadid Architects); Danish Radio Concert Hall (Copenhagen, Denmark) by Jean Nouvel/Ateliers Jean Nouvel; Acropolis Museum (Athens, Greece) by Bernard Tschumi/Bernard Tschumi Architects) and Groot Klimmendaal Rehabilitation Centre(Arnhem, The Netherlands) by Koen van Velsen/Architectenbureau Koen van Velsen. In addition to the Prize Winner, Special Mention and the finalists, 38 works were shortlisted for the exhibition and catalogue.
For the first time, the exhibition of Europe’s premier prize for contemporary architecture, is coming to Chicago!
This event is organized by the Instituto Cervantes, the European Comission, the Fundació Mies van der Rohe in Barcelona and the Institut Ramon Llull with the collaboration of the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Cultural Service at the Consulate General of France in Chicago, the Goethe-Institut of Chicago, the Alliance Française and the MAS Studio, with the support of Ajuntament de Barcelona, Ministerio de Fomento, Generalitat de Catalunya, Consorci de la Zona Franca, Fira de Barcelona, Consulate General of Switzerland, Consulate General of Poland, the Consulate General of Sweden, the Consulate General of Greece and the Austrian Consulate General.
2011 European Architecture and Urban Series Lectures:
Opening Exhibit Reception and Lecture: RAMON BOSCH & BET CAPDEFERRO
2011 Emerging Architect Special Mention recipients, with presentation by Diane Gray, curator
Tuesday, October 25, 6:00 p.m.
Instituto Cervantes 31 W. Ohio St., Chicago, IL 60654 Tel (312) 335 1996 or www.chicago.cervantes.es Free and open to the public RSVP requested. Please call (312) 335-1996 or email [email protected]
Ramon Bosch and Bet Capdeferro are graduate architects of the Escola Tècnica Superior d´Arquitectura de Barcelona (ETSAB). Bet Capdeferro also holds a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the Fundació Politècnica de Catalunya.
In 2003 they founded the office bosh.capdeferrro arquitectures in the town of Girona. Their professional activity has progressed in parallel with teaching in Barcelona, Zurich, and Girona, which facilitates the incorporation of theory and research into their design and construction processes. Their work has been recognized with the FAD prizes and selected for inclusion in several editions of the European Biennial of Landscape Architecture. They were awarded the Young Catalan Architects Prize in 2002 and Girona´s Architectural Prize in 2010.
Lecture: Carolyn Armenta Davis, Designing for the 21st Century: Germany's Black Architects
Thursday, October 13, 6:00 p.m. Goethe-Institut Chicago 150 N. Michigan Ave., Ste. 200, Chicago, IL 60601 Free and open to the public For more information visit: www.goethe.de/chicago
Carolyn Armenta Davis shines a rare spotlight on three architects of African descent with ateliers in Germany 2 in Berlin and 1 in Hannover. Highlighted are built designs and ‘paper’ architecture for Germany and countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Also examined are the varying cultural, economical and ecological landscapes of their innovative and award-winning designs. Davis is an international architectural historian, curator and writer focusing on contemporary African/Black Diaspora architects.
Closing Exhibit Reception and Lecture: HELMUT JAHN
Friday, November 11, 6:00 p.m.
Instituto Cervantes 31 W. Ohio St., Chicago, IL 60654 Tel (312) 335 1996 or www.chicago.cervantes.es Free and open to the public RSVP requested. Please call (312) 335-1996 or email [email protected]
Helmut Jahn born in Germany, graduated from the Technische Hochschule in Munich and came to the United States for graduate studies in architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Today, as President and Chief Executive Officer at Murphy/Jahn, recipient of the 2005 AIA National Firm Award and 2006 AIA Chicago Chapter Firm Award, he has been called Chicago's premiere architect and has dramatically changed the face of Chicago. His growing national and international reputation has led to commissions across the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia.
During the 1960s the firm designed some of the more distinguished buildings in Chicago using a vocabulary of Miesian geometry. Later, Jahn began to embrace the intuitive nature of creative rationalism. This led to a more flexible approach to design and signaled a decisive break with the unchallenged ideology of the Modernist past. Using a "variable, wide-ranging architectural language" to describe a building's contextual relationship, Jahn generated a symbolic code which could be appreciated by both professional architects and the general public.
The Instituto Cervantes is a public, not-for-profit institution founded by the government of Spain in 1991 to promote Spanish language teaching and knowledge of the cultures of Spanish-speaking countries throughout the world. It is now the largest international Spanish teaching organization and has more than 70 centers on 5 continents.
Discounted parking is available in the garage located next to our entrance on Ohio Street. Please validate your ticket at our ground floor security desk.
Instituto Cervantes Chicago 31 W. Ohio Chicago, IL 60654 Tel.: 1 312 335 1996 Fax: 1 312 587 1992 [email protected]
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