Three Catalan studios nominated for Mies van der Rohe architecture award

Work by the Catalan studios, Harquitectes, RCR and BASS, have all be chosen as finalists for the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award 2019.

In all, some 40 works have been nominated for the prestigious prize, from architecture studios in 17 different European countries.

Among them is the Lleialtat Santsenca civic center in Barcelona and House 1413 in Ullastret by Sabadell's Harquitectes studio, the De Krook library in Belgium that the RCR studio did with Coussée & Goris architecten, and the Silesia University Radio and Television department in Poland that the BAAS studio in Barcelona did with Grupa 5 Architekci and Małeccy Biuro Projektowe.

Challenges facing European architecture

The jury made up of Dorte Mandrup, George Arbid, Angelika Fitz, Ştefan Ghenciulescu, Kamiel Klaasse, Maria Langarita and Frank McDonald spent three days in Barcelona selecting the nominees after considering the most relevant challenges facing European society and its architecture.

Some of the issues the jury looked at were the high number of works that add to existing structures, the continued importance of housing in Europe, the need for territorial planning and organization, the importance of culture as a program, and the significance of architectonic culture.

Finalists from 17 countries

The finalists come from 17 European countries: seven from France, six from Spain, four from Belgium, three from Austria and three from Denmark.

Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Romania all have two finalists, while Albania, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Portugal, Serbia and Slovakia have one each on the list.

Apart from the three Catalan studios, the Spanish finalists are the Plasencia Auditorium and Congress Centre by the Selgascano studio, Desert City by GARCIAGERMAN architects, Solo House by the OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen and Life reusing Posidonia: 14 Public Housing rental in Sant Ferran, Formentera by the IBAVI studio, as well as the Arvo Pärt centre in Estonia by the Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos studio.