On June 1st, the ceremony for the VI European AHI Prize was held at the Sant Pau Hospital building in Barcelona. This recognition promoted by Architectural Heritage Intervention, in collaboration with the College of Architects of Catalonia and supported by the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Cataluña, the City Council of Barcelona, and the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, arises from the conviction that today, architectural heritage is not only an essential element of knowledge, but also a vital socio-economic resource for the sustainable development of territories.
The international jury awarded the Built Heritage category to the rehabilitation project of the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. An emblematic restoration carried out by David Chipperfield, the recent winner of the 2023 Pritzker Architecture Prize.
In the category of Outdoor Spaces, the award went to the ecological restoration of the El Tanque garden in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. An intervention that "demonstrates sensitivity at all scales," led by architect Fernando Menis. The Regeneration of the Gràcia neighborhoods in Barcelona, a project carried out in collaboration between the Jornet Llop Pastor Arquitectes firm and the Urban Planning Management of the Ajuntament de Barcelona, won the award in the Planning category. Finally, in the category of Dissemination, the documentary "La vie en kit," created by Belgian architect and director Elodie Degavre, was awarded.
Discover in detail the winning projects and other special mentions below.
Neue Nationalgalerie / David Chipperfield Architects
Berlin, Germany.
"Almost as if nothing had happened for everything to happen. This is a painstakingly done work that intervenes even in the smallest technical detail, resulting in a powerful architectural expression. Architecture, heritage, and interventions at their best," said the jury composed of Dikkie Scipio, Susana Valbuena, and Kimmo Lintula.
El Tanque / Fernando Menis
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.
"It works with ecology and heritage to offer a creative, cultural, and socially inclusive public space. The project demonstrates sensitivity at all scales, even in the reuse of industrial waste for furniture and lighting design," said the jury composed of Chris Rankin, Pasqual Herrero, and Maria Viñé.
Regeneration of the Gràcia neighborhoods of Barcelona / Jornet Llop Pastor Arquitectes + Urban Planning Management of the Barcelona City Council
Barcelona
The jury composed of Sara Bartumeus, Maria Chiara Tosi, and Carlo Atzeni highlighted the project for its "innovative proposal to address the challenges of contemporaneity, climate change, and social inclusivity through affordable housing and within the historical context where it is located. The project transfers the principles of preserving built heritage to urban structure, ordinary urban landscape, and proposes urban planning regulations that incorporate the environmental dimension."
Documentary "La vie en kit, une aventure architecturale" / Elodie Degavre
"The singularity of its theme, which allows discovering the little-known history of architects who worked from a utopian and idealistic approach, and how their way of understanding architecture becomes relevant today. The variety of shots and angles with which the documentary is filmed also stand out, capable of conveying the compactness and functionality of the architecture it shows," highlights the international jury composed of Devi Kituashvili, Nicola Regusci, and Verena von Beckerath.
The New European Bauhaus (NEB) Mention Jury was composed of Ramon Calonge, Oriol Cusidó, Marc Manzano, and Jordi Portal and selected two Spanish projects:
Jury composed of Ramon Calonge, Oriol Cusidó, Marc Manzano, Jordi Portal, and Pedro Rodríguez Cantalapiedra.
Discover the 26 finalist projects in the Built Heritage / Outdoor Spaces categories and the winning projects from past editions at eu-architecturalheritage.
