Mies van der Rohe Architecture Prizes

The Fundación Mies van der Rohe originated in 1983 with the aim of carrying out a reconstruction of the German Pavilion that Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed for the International Exposition held in Barcelona in 1929. The project for the reconstruction of this emblematic building was directed by the architects Cristian Cirici, Fernando Ramos and Ignasi de Solà-Morales, under the patronage of the City Council of Barcelona. The conservation and administration of the Pavilion was then handed over to the Foundation. The Foundation also carries out activities whose objectives focus on the promotion and diffusion of the debate about contemporary architecture and urban planning on an international level. With these aims, in 1987 the Foundation—together with the European Commission and the European Parliament—created the Mies van der Rohe Prize for European Architecture. Drawing on the experience acquired from that event, in 1998 the Foundation announced the First Mies van der Rohe Prize for Latin-American Architecture, the conditions for which follow the model of the European competition. In both cases the Prize is endowed with 50,000 euros and a sculpture by Xavier Corberó, inspired by the pillars of the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona. The two Prizes follow the same pattern of organisation and administration and pursue the same aims. A wide-ranging panel of experts who are well-versed in the architectural output in their respective geographical areas selects the works to be put forward as candidates, and from those proposals the jury chooses the finalists and the winner. These awards seek to recognise and reward works of contemporary architecture of an exceptional nature which offer outstanding conceptual, aesthetic, technical and constructional solutions. They also provide information about the works selected in order to attract the attention of professionals, institutions and the general public to the importance of the role of architecture in our modern culture and lifestyle. This exhibition offers a first opportunity to see some of the finest examples of contemporary architecture in Latin America and Europe alongside one another in the selections for the two Mies van der Rohe Prizes.