- Dates
- —
- Curated by
- Kenneth Frampton
European Architecture (1984-1994)
European Architecture (1984-1994) as part of the XIX Congress of the International Union of Architects (UIA) Barcelona ’96
27 June – 8 September 1996
The Fundació Joan Miró is presenting the exhibition European Architecture (1984-1994) as part of the XIX UIA Barcelona ’96 Congress, bringing together the winning works and a selection of the finalists of the European Architecture Awards. Organised by the Fundació Mies van der Rohe, the Ministry of Public Works and the Fundació Joan Miró, the exhibition is curated by Kenneth Frampton, Professor of Architecture at Columbia University in New York, and Diane Gray from the Fundació Mies van der Rohe.
The jury will select the shortlisted projects and the winner from proposals submitted by a panel of architectural experts. In addition to the prize-winning projects, the exhibition brings together a selection of candidates from the first four calls and, like the prize itself, is designed to offer a representative sample of the best architecture produced in Europe over the past decade and to reveal part of the creative process involved.
The Mies van der Rohe Pavilion Award for European Architecture is presented every two years by the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe in Barcelona, the institution in charge of organising the award. Created in 1987, the award aims to promote architectural excellence in Europe and, according to its terms of reference, to express the European Commission’s ‘interest in the survival of the European city, which is often trapped between impersonality and familiarity, between the administrative centre and the periphery, and which must recover its own tradition through some unusual but exemplary works’. The award consists of 50,000 ecus and a sculpture by Xavier Corberó that recalls the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion. Rebuilt in 1986 by the Barcelona City Council, the building is one of the most emblematic architectural works of the 20th century and a true symbol of the prize.
The inaugural award was presented in 1988 to Alvaro Siza Vieira for the Borges & Irmão Bank in Vila do Conde, Portugal. In 1990, it went to Foster & Partners for the new terminal at London’s Stansted Airport, and in 1992 to Esteve Bonell and Francesc Rius for the Municipal Sports Stadium in Badalona. The latest prize went to Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners for London’s Waterloo International Station.
In addition to the winners, the exhibition brings together 34 works selected from all the finalist projects. The works present the original materials that make up the process of conceiving and executing the project, including models, sketches and a wide range of presentation and construction drawings.
Organisers
Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona
Exhibition venue and dates
Deutsches Architektur-Museum, Frankfurt, May-September 1995
Nederlands Architectuurinstituut, Rotterdam, December 1995 – March 1996
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, June-September 1996
Junta de Andalucía, Seville, October-November 1996
Royal Danish School of Art and Architecture, Copenhagen, December 1996 – January 1997
Contents
The exhibition includes a total of 38 projects. The material presented consists of models, project sketches and drawings, presentation and construction drawings and photographs. There are also texts briefly explaining the exhibition, the history and aims of the award, and a summary of each project.
In total there are 432 drawings, 25 models and 120 photographs. The exhibition is complemented by a 12-minute video explaining the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion Award for European Architecture, featuring interviews with Kenneth Frampton, Ignasi de Solà-Morales, Peter Buchanan, Norman Foster and Elia Zenghelis.
