The European Award for Architectural Heritage Intervention, a biennial award organized by the COAC (Association of Architects of Catalonia) and the AADIPA (Association of Architects for the Defence and Intervention in Architectural Heritage), has announced the winners of its fifth edition.
Among a total of 294 entries—the highest number ever in the history of the award—the winner projects are defined by "diverse interpretations in intervention approaches, sensitivity, thoroughness, and respect," according to the jury.
The respectful renovation of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, a large-scale, complex building; the reconversion in Onda, Castellón, of an archaeological site listed as an asset of cultural interest into a living, modern public space; the unique and sensitive approach to the urban landscape of the La Nova Esquerra de l’Eixample neighborhood in Barcelona; or the showcasing of a Japanese methodology that suggests how heritage should be transmitted, are among the awarded projects.
The winners of the 2021 European Award for Architectural Heritage Intervention are:
Category A: Intervention in built heritage
The jury, in a first-round of evaluations, seeking to give visibility to a larger number of works, announced the shortlist of 16 works on 20 May 2021, from which —following its final deliberation— it has selected five finalists, which are:
- Hotel Nomad / Buchner Bründler Architekten (Basel, Switzerland)
- Helsinki Olympic Stadium / K2S Architects + Architects NRT (Helsinki, Finland)
- Royal Museum of Fine Arts (KMSKA) / KAAN Architecten (Antwerp, Belgium)
- Brasserie Gallia / Maxime Jansens Architecture + Erwan Bonduelle Architecture (Pantin, France)
- BIC Monastery of San Pedro de Eslonza / RodríguezValbuena Arquitectos (Santa Olaja de Eslonza, León, Spain)
From among the five finalists, the jury has decided to give the award to:
Royal Museum of Fine Arts (KMSKA) / KAAN Architecten
Antwerp, Belgium
Category B: Exterior Spaces
The jury comprised of Delphine Péters, Ogla Felip, and Isabel Aguirre announced the shortlist of 49, from which —following its final deliberation— it has selected five finalists, which are:
- Deep Matter Garden / CE-A studio + Carlo Ezechieli (Capiago Intimiano, Italy)
- The Dunbar Battery / Rankinfraser landscape architecture (Dunbar, Scotland, United Kingdom)
- Tintagel Castle Footbridge / William Matthews associates + Ney & Partners (Tintagel, United Kingdom)
- Can Sau. Emergency Scener / unparelld’arquitectes (Olot, Girona, Spain)
- Plaza de la Sinagoga (Synagogue Square) / El fabricante de espheras + Grupo Aranea + Cel-Ras Arquitectura (Onda, Castellón, Spain)
The jury has decided that the winning entry is:
Plaza de la Sinagoga (Synagogue Square) / El fabricante de espheras + Grupo Aranea + Cel-Ras Arquitectura
Onda, Castellón, Spain
Category C: Urban Planning
The four finalist projects are:
- Urban planning favors heritage / Vic City Council (Vic, Barcelona, Spain)
- Study of the urban landscape of the La Nova Esquerra de l’Eixample neighborhood / Sara Bartumeus + Anna Renau + Rosa Escala (Barcelona, Spain)
- Special Plan for the walled village Mas de Bondia / TerritorisXL (Montornès de Segarra, Lleida, Spain)
- Preliminary study for the restoration of the Canal de la Infanta and Rec Vell (Old Irrigation Canal) / Eva Jiménez Gómez + Xavier Llobet i Ribeiro + Ferran Sagarra iTrias (Barcelona, Spain)
In category C, the jury has decided that the award goes to:
Study of the urban landscape of the La Nova Esquerra de l’Eixample neighborhood / Sara Bartumeus + Anna Renau + Rosa Escala
Barcelona, Spain
Category D: Dissemination
The five finalists are:
- Two Houses / Verena von Beckerath (Weimar, Germany)
- DOCOMOMO Iberian Records: documentation and dissemination of the Modern Movement / Iberian DOCOMOMO Foundation (Barcelona, Spain)
- Good practices in volunteering for European Cultural Heritage. European Heritage Volunteers
- Industrial Heritage of Tbilisi / MUA (Georgia)
- Re-Edificatoria / Adrià Goula (Barcelona, Spain)
The winning entry is:
Two Houses / Verena von Beckerath
Weimar, Germany
Special Mention for Restoration
The Special Mention for Restoration is an award which, from all the submitted entries, goes to the intervention which, from a technical and methodological perspective, has stood out most for its quality, precision, and respect. Having carefully analyzed all the entries in all the categories, in this edition it has been decided to give this award to two projects whose programs share the characteristic of offering an accessible, restored space that respects the identity of the work.
- Casa Batlló / Xavier Villanueva + Ignasi Villanueva + Mireia Bosch, and Ana Atance, offers a technically high-quality and respectful restoration that enables the resurgence of an initial project that had partially disappeared, successfully reclaiming an altered work
- Tower of the Church of Santa María Magdalena / Pedro Rodríguez Cantalapiedra. This intervention, which is also of an extremely high technical standard, enables an interior part of the building to be revealed by means of an ascent to the tower that offers a new use: the enjoyment of the unparalleled panoramic view of the setting. In short, this work exemplifies how the techniques, rigor, and methodology involved in a restoration project can be more easily appreciated if the program enables the general public to imbue the place with life
