Spanish, New York-based architect Andrés Jaque (Office for Political Innovation) has been awarded the 10th Kiesler Architecture and Art Prize by the Mayor of Vienna, citing Jaque’s "capacity to go beyond assumptions about traditional practice and urban life." In 2015 Jaque was declared the MoMA PS1 YAP (Young Architects Programme) winner for COSMO – a complex, and beautiful, water purifying prototype that has been installed in Brooklyn. He and his office are also collaborating with Mark Wigley and Beatriz Colomina on the design for the upcoming Istanbul Design Biennial, Are We Human?
The prize, which is considered "one of the world's most important recognitions for creators working in the intersection of art and architecture" and is awarded every two years, has previously been bestowed upon architects including Cedric Price, Toyo Ito, Frank Gehry, and Olafur Eliasson. €55,000 will be presented to Jaques, funded by the Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna, in honour of "extraordinary achievements in architecture and the arts that relate to Frederick Kiesler’s experimental and innovative attitudes and his theory of ‘correlated arts’ by transcending the boundaries between the traditional disciplines."
Jaque has said: "I believe that daily life is there to be reinvented, discussed and taken care of, that is what we try to do with our work in the Office for Political Innovation. If we had to find friends on this purpose we would put the previous Kiesler awarded on top of the list." Hani Rashid, President of the Frederick Kiesler Foundation, has said: "Andrés Jaque is [...] an architect who fearlessly turns all on its head confronting the banal that at times burdens the pursuit of pure fantastical space. His work stood out this year for its vibrancy, playfulness and uncompromising commitment to seeking out the new and the unorthodox."
