We have already written about the current season of the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Prize, when 383 nominees were announced. Now a short list of 40 objects has been formed, and in February it is planned to determine the five finalists.
France became the leader in the number of structures included in the short list, Spain and Belgium are slightly behind. For the first time in the short list - Albania, Serbia and Slovakia. Recall that the participation in the award of countries outside the European Union - and this is the official architectural award of the EU - is specifically spelled out in the rules. Not a single British building is among the contenders for the victory, although they were nominated, and the country has not yet withdrawn from the European Union. As for the functional purpose of buildings, cultural institutions are in the lead here - 15 objects, including the only British building among the forty applicants, however - in France: the art museum in Nantes by the Stanton Williams bureau.
The chairman of the jury of the award, Danish architect Dorte Mandrup, stressed that the selected buildings reflect a new agenda, requiring a new way of thinking; high quality and craftsmanship are still in demand, but they are not enough - buildings should, among other things, encourage architects to think differently about their profession.
Archi.ru has already talked about some of the East European representatives of the shortlist in detail. These are the building of the Faculty of Radio and Television of the University of Silesia in Katowice, the reconstruction of Skanderbeg Square in Tirana, the Composer Arvo Pärt Center near Tallinn. The pavilion of Alexander Brodsky's chacha ceremonies in Tbilisi, unfortunately, did not make it into the first qualifying round.
Below are a few more noteworthy projects, and all the structures of the short list can be viewed here.
The winner of the award will be announced on 7 May 2019 at a ceremony at the Barcelona Pavilion of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
