“Building for the climate change also brings with it new aesthetics,” says Angelika Fitz, director of the Architekturzentrum Wien (AzW), summarizing the change currently being observed in building culture. This development is also reflected in the buildings that have now received the Mies van der Rohe Awards. The student house on the TU Braunschweig campus was chosen as the winning project, and the Gabriel García Márquez Library in Barcelona received the young talent award.
Together with the projects that made it to the final or shortlist, the award-winning buildings will be presented in the new exhibition “Europe’s Best Buildings” at the AzW. As an extra, one wall is also dedicated to the 14 Austrian submissions for the prize worth a total of 90,000 euros, for which 362 projects from 38 countries were submitted.
The main prize, endowed with 60,000 euros, was won by the architects Gustav Düsing and Max Hacke, who impressed with the “creation of a flexible and innovative learning environment that promotes the exchange, the creation of interdisciplinary knowledge and the dialogue between students and learners,” as it is stated in the Jury statement is called. What’s special: The slim steel-wood hybrid construction can be completely dismantled and can be expanded, changed or even rebuilt at any time, as Fitz explained. It is also an example of “circular construction”, as components are only screwed at certain points instead of glued and can therefore be reused.
“Projects are increasingly being implemented that achieve more with less,” explained Anna Ramos from Fundació Mies van der Rohe at the press tour on Wednesday, with the “more” primarily referring to social and ecological aspects. Fitz also sees a trend reversal here: If a bank building had won the first award ceremony in 1988, followed by airports, museums and public institutions, a social housing building would have won the award for the first time in 2017. Since then, educational or residential buildings with a special focus on social and societal aspects have been increasingly highlighted.
The young talent award went to SUMA architects, who, with their library, would create new public spaces in the middle of a disadvantaged working-class district that open up both inwardly and outwardly. “By questioning classic library models, the architects create a spatial program that holistically promotes access, exchange and production of knowledge,” said the jury.
Among the 40 projects on the shortlist there are also two Austrian projects, the IKEA Wien Westbahnhof and the Stadthaus Neubaugasse from Vienna, which are presented more comprehensively in the show. The projects are presented with the help of large-format photos as well as plans and models printed on the fabric panels that dominate the exhibition architecture. These include a fire station in Belgium, which can also be used as a multifunctional hall and emergency sleeping area, or an ecological pig farm in Croatia.
All Austrian submissions – including the completely renovated Austrian Parliament, the Heidi Horten Collection Museum or the “Triple Towers” in Vienna – will be presented specifically. If you want to delve further into “Europe’s best buildings”, you can watch numerous videos about the buildings or browse the 500-page catalogue. The symposium “Long live the city!” will take place on November 7th. on the topic of “Circular Building with Existing”, further lectures and a panel discussion entitled “Best of Austria – Best of Europe” will follow on November 13th.
(SERVICE – Exhibition “Europe’s Best Buildings – European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture. Mies van der Rohe Awards 2024” in the Architekturzentrum Wien, October 3rd to January 20th. English-language catalog, 540 pages, 40 euros. www.azw.at )
