2012 RIBA Stirling Prize Shortlist Revealed
The Royal Institute of British Architecture (RIBA) has released the shortlist for this year’s Stirling Prize, the UK’s most prestigious architecture prize that is presented annually to the ‘building that has made the greatest contribution to the evolution of architecture in the past year’. This year’s six shortlisted projects range from seemingly simple yet highly innovative London Olympic Stadium to the thoughtful and intimate Maggie’s Cancer Centre in Glasgow. The winner will be announced in October at the RIBA Stirling Prize dinner.
Follow the break for the complete shortlist and more details about the RIBA Stirling Prize.
Zaha Hadid wins 2011 RIBA Stirling Prize
For the second year in a row, Zaha Hadid was announced as the winner of the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize. Often labeled as the UK’s most important architecture award, Hadid will be awarded £20,000 for her design of the Evelyn Grace Academy in London. Recognizing the ‘architects of the building that has made the greatest contribution to the evolution of architecture in the past year’, to be considered the project must be built in Britain or the architects head office must be in the UK.
Zaha Hadid’s Evelyn Grace Academy was shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize along with O’Donnell and Tuomey’s An Gaelaras, David Chipperfield Architects’s Folkwang Museum , AHMM’s Angel Building, Bennetts Associates’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre, and the Velodrome by Hopkins Architects. Last year Hadid was awarded the prize for her design of the MAXXI Museum of Modern Art in Rome.
This year’s award was a bit controversial; former president of the RIBA, George Ferguson’s reaction, ‘This is an appalling result and the worst decision since the Magna Centre beat Girmshaw’s Eden Project to win the Stirling Prize in 2001. It’s a great big own goal. It is also the worst possible message to send to [education secretary] Michael Gove. In fact it reinforces his case. A good school is one that can be replicated. But this can’t. It’s a one-off. The prize [has become] an award from architects for architects. It makes me angry.’
More reactions regarding the 2011 Stirling Prize can be found at the Architects Journal.
RIBA Stirling Prize Shortlist 2011 Revealed
The Royal Institute of British Architecture (RIBA) recently released the shortlist for this year’s Stirling Prize, the UK’s most prestigious architecture prize. Presented annually to the architects of the ‘building that has made the greatest contribution to the evolution of architecture in the past year’ this year’s six shortlisted projects range from the most expensive city academy school every built to a 1932 refurbished theater. The winner will be announced in October at the RIBA Stirling Prize dinner, held at the Magna Science and Adventure Centre in Rotherham, winner of the 2001 RIBA Stirling Prize.
Follow the break for the complete shortlist and more details about the RIBA Stirling Prize.
RIBA takes the Stirling Prize to the BBC
The RIBA has announced that this year’s Stirling Prize will be shown on BBC Two’s The Culture Show, after viewing figures dipped to an all time low on Channel 4 last year.
The awards ceremony will continue to be hosted by Kevin McCloud but will be shown in an earlier slot, airing from 6.30 pm on Saturday October 2 live from London’s Roundhouse.
Only 500,000 viewers tuned to watch Rogers Stirk Harbour’s Maggies Center win the Stirling Prize live on Channel 4 last October, falling from 1.2 million in 2004.
The show was broadcast between 8pm-9pm and the RIBA blamed the low viewing figures on a clash with the X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing. But the figures prompted calls from the architectural community to rethink the format of the show, which has been broadcast on national television for ten years.
RIBA president Ruth Reed described the new union between the RIBA and the BBC as “fantastic”. Mark Bell, the BBC’s commissioning editor for art, said: “As part of the BBC’s commitment to the arts we’re delighted to be shining the light on the very best in British architecture. The Culture Show, which reflects the best of the cultural landscape, is the perfect vehicle for delivering a strong live programme about architecture.”
Seen at bdonline.
