Two Catalan awards at the Spanish architects' prizes

BarcelonaCatalan studios once again shine in the awards sponsored by the Spanish National Council of Architects (CSACE). Specifically, two of the eight winning projects are by architects based in Catalonia. These are the Kunstsilo art museum in the Norwegian city of Kristiansand, by Maestros/Wåge, Mendoza/Partida, and BAX Studio; and the fluvial restoration of the Manzanares River, by the Aldayjover firm.

The Kunstsilo, which won in the Spanish architecture category, is a museum located in a former grain warehouse in the port area of ​​Kristiansand. According to the jury, it is the result of "an extremely delicate architectural exercise," in which the architects were able to "understand the behavior of the concrete volumes to infuse them with the new soul of a cathedral staircase." "It is an intimate sanctuary that transcends the austere Nordic heritage of its origins," the jury also says, "through exceptional mastery in the treatment of light, exquisite care with materials and a noble opening towards the port extension. It gives a building a second chance, respecting its past and incorporating the surroundings into its own."

In the urban planning category, the award went to ex aequo for the river restoration of the Manzanares River in Madrid, and the strategy for the renaturalization of urban hydrological flows in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, by Rodrigo Vargas González. The jury believes that both works complement each other in the "common message" of water as a "life-giving element" in relation to recent tragic experiences such as the DANA. They also provide "a unifying element that integrates social, ecological, and cultural processes, fostering community participation through a multidisciplinary approach and proposing innovative solutions, based on nature and biodiversity, which contribute to increasing the resilience of the territory and, ultimately, improving people's lives."

The values of architecture

In the other award categories, sponsored by Compaq, the profession award went to the stabilization of the urban anthropogenic cave system in Tomelloso, by Aguado + Vellés + Aperte; the sustainability award went to the Biblioteca de los Mil Soles (Madrid), by Miguel Ángel Díaz Camacho; and the habitat award went to the walkway named "Una Línea sobre el Ciervo" (A Line over the Deer). (Vinaroz), by SBP Ingenieros and Burgos & Garrido Arquitectos. The winning project in the renovation category was the Tobacco Factory and Victoria Cinema in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, by fadg estudio. The Concentric Festival of Logroño, promoted by the Cultural Foundation of Architects of La Rioja and directed by Javier Peña Ibáñez, won the Compromís award.

Finally, the Nova Bauhaus award went to the bird and mammal shelter and extreme temperature water tank in Luxembourg, by Atxu Amann, Andrés Cánovas, Nicolás Maruri, and Adelino Magalhaes. As for historical works, the Mérida Conference and Exhibition Centre by Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos, built twenty years ago, won the Scottish Parliament by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue, which built twenty-five this year, in the Permanent category.

On the other hand, the architects and urban planners Joan Busquets (Barcelona, ​​​​1945) and Fernando de Terán (Madrid, 1931) received ex aequo The prestigious Gold Medal for Architecture, the most important distinction in the sector, and the Lluís Comerón Graupera Architect Award went to the architects and volunteers who helped alleviate the consequences of the natural disasters of the DANA in Valencia in 2024, and the eruption of the Cumbre Viejo Lorca volcano (Murcia) in 2011.