European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture / Mies van der Rohe Award

ArchDaily complete coverage

Videos

The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award is one of the most important and prestigious prizes for architecture within Europe. First established in 1987, the prize is awarded every two years, and a look at the projects over the years offers unique insight into the development of architecture across Europe. To better understand the significance and uniqueness of the award we spoke with two previous award winners – Kjetil Trædal Thorsen and Craig Dykers from Snøhetta and Dominique Perrault from Dominique Perrault Architecture – as well as Peter Cachola Schmal, an architect, critic and the director of DAM, the German Architecture Musuem, and Josep Lluís Mateo of Mateo Arquitectura and a professor of Architecture and Projects at ETH-Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule/ Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich.

The Kindergarten – of the German School of Athens in this case - is the first public building a young child comes in contact with, and hence, attributes to it a dilated importance.

If you didn't get to see "Made in Europe" -- the incredible exhibition presented by The European Commission and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe -- during this year's Venice Biennale, you're in luck. Though the show officially closed on August 4th, the projects featured in exhibition can now be viewed online.

Located in the north coast of the Rhuys peninsula, the house takes place at the edge of a lightly residential area and a wood overhanging the sea. The project set up in this wooden hill and offers several living areas connected to the outside in a particular way. The structure of the building and the windows are made out of a wood as well as the facade which is lined with vertical wood slats. The ground floor proposes an entire free space in which two enclosed wheeled beds allows to sleep both inside and outside in the courtyard or on the terrace facing the garden. On the first floor, the main bedroom opens onto the exterior through a large window providing a particular experience with the landscape.

The Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design in partnership with the Fundació Mies van der Rohe have launched an exciting program of discussions and workshops titled: «Rethinking Europe - European experience in the city development»

ArchDaily is pleased to announce our partnership with the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award. The following is an essay from Constructing Europe by Pedro Gadanho, member of the 2013 Prize jury.

The Mies van der Rohe Award, today one of the most important and prestigious prizes for architecture within the European competition, was first set up in 1987 by the European Union, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe – Barcelona. This prize which involves a total sum of 80.000 EUR is organised and awarded every two years.

"European-ness Porosity" is presented as part of “MADE IN EUROPE: 25 years of the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award.”

"Is there a distinguishing feature in European architecture beyond the fact that it is 'Made in Europe'?" This question (and others) will be answered in an exhibition which highlights the archives of the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award. Coinciding with the 2014 Venice Biennale, The European Commission and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe present “Made in Europe.” Showing a unparalleled and unique examination of the development in architecture over the past 25 years, the exhibition will draw on material from Europe's largest collection of documents (more than 2,500 projects and 230 original models) on contemporary architecture.

Houseboat or house? It’s both. PORT X defies all notions of deeply rooted house or houseboat, as we know it. Its elegant curves represent clean, timeless and functional design as well as unique harmony of modern hi-tech and natural materials.

After climbing the hill we thought, ingenuously, that the best way of being established here would be to lie down on a carpet protected from the Sun for a parasol. A carpet that we’d be able to wrinkle to be more comfortable, a parasol that rises and goes down, changing the character of the space that it covers, adaptable to the positions of the body. House and body are recognized in that both are opened systems, in constant exchange with the exterior.

It is a ground floor object based on rectangular plan. The most visible element of the house is the roof formed by ruled surfaces. Longitudinal edges of the roof are bended curves, which determine the shape. The one in the north facade sag upwards in one third of its length. Curve in southern facade sag down in the middle. The shape of the roof is affected by the function of internal space. The common living areas have a higher ground clearance and a more representative character. In children's bedroom in the middle, the height decreases and the space is more intimate. Generally the height of the rooms grows towards the garden; space opens to sun and green. Funnel shape of the south facade is about absorbing maximum of the garden. Roofed terrace lies in front of bended façade in loggia style it is a part of the house.

Following an RIBA competition, DSDHA were commissioned to design a SureStart building to serve the St Anne's area of Colchester. A public consultation process followed based around 3 possible sites for the new St Anne’s Sure Start building, where this green field site on Harwich Road, which leads into Parsons Heath recreation ground was selected.

Jo Coenen & Co Amsterdam Public Library

A green clearing surrounded by forest was the only context for the proposed small house. Hence the idea to “carve out” a piece of the grass-covered site, move it up and treat it as the roofing to arrange all the required functions underneath. When the whole was ready, the client came up with another request, to create some space for a small recording studio and a conservatory. The latter was obtained by linking the ground floor with the grassy roof through an “incision” in the green plane and “bending” the incised fragment down, inside the building.

Kew Garden's Tree Top Walkway opened on 24th May 2008, Kew’s Year of the Tree, to over 9,000 visitors. The Walkway is a thrilling experience, taking visitors 18m high into the tree canopies for a birds-eye view of Kew, providing insights into the special role of trees in our breathing planet and the intimate views of a deciduous woodland and its inhabitants from within the tranquillity of the leaves. Inspiration for the walkway was drawn from the ancient Fibonacci sequence found repeatedly in nature.

Marks Barfield’s Lightbox opened in September 2007 and won the UK 2008 Arts Fund Prize. It is a new kind of community cultural centre, and Woking’s first museum and gallery.