Winners of the International Architecture Awards 2019

The winners of the 2019 International Architecture Awards, one of the most coveted and unique international architecture awards, were announced on June 20 in Vilnius, Lithuania. The award is given out by two non-profit organisations, which are also two museums. One is from the US, the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design, and the other one from Europe, The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies. The Awards, founded in 2005, are open to architecture projects from all over the world, competing for the title of "Global Building of the Year". Another distinctive feature of the Awards is not only that it recognises excellence in the architecture project and in the firm that designed it, but also that it acknowledges the excellence of all those involved, from developers to local authorities, from clients to general contractors, and who intervene in the many stages of the realisation of the architecture project.

The long list of winners includes, among the others: the new Museum Garage designed by Jürgen Mayer H in Miami, Florida; the masterplan for the Royal Academy of Arts developed by David Chipperfield and the Battersea Arts Centre designed by Haworth Tompkins in London; the Russky Dom (Russian House) residential complex designed by Evgeny Gerasimov in St. Petersburg; the Federation Tower designed by Schweger Architekten and Sergei Tchoban in Moscow, the TATA Innovation Centre at the Cornell Tech in New York designed by WEISS / MANFREDI; The Heart in Ikast in Vestergade, Denmark, designed by Møller Architects; the Town Hall in Eystur (Faroe Islands) designed by Henning Larsen; the Huamu Lot 10 Tower in Shanghai designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, The Sir John Monash Centre Monument in Villers-Bretonneux, France, designed by COX Architecture Pty Ltd and the Google Spruce Goose in Playa Vista, California, designed by ZGF Architects.
A list that was the result of a rigorous selection process that brought down the 350 candidate projects to less than 140 finalists from 41 different countries. The projects included in the list of finalists were selected based on a range of criteria including design vision, innovation, originality, capacity to stimulate and engage occupants and visitors, as well as accessibility, sustainability, compliance with function, client’s request and therefore client satisfaction. "Shaping the built environment is a tough challenge for anyone” affirmed Christian Narkiewicz-Laine, president of the Chicago Athenaeum museum, presenting the winners of the 2019 International Architecture Awards while emphasising that architects and all the various innovators working in the architecture sector in general have the important yet difficult task of transforming the way we see the world. He concluded by saying: “I am delighted with this year’s selection and praise these dedicated firms and individuals and their hard work and their commitment to define a better world. Congratulations to all of this year's winners".

Architectures and urban planning projects, selected by the jury of the International Architecture Awards 2019, will give life to an exhibition called "The City and the World" and will be included in a catalogue entitled: Global Design + Urbanism XIX ("New International Architecture"), edited by Christian Narkiewicz-Laine and published by Metropolitan Arts Pres. The exhibition will be previewed at the European Centre in Athens, Greece, on September 13, during the official Awards ceremony, and will remain in Europe until 2020.

(Agnese Bifulco)

Images courtesy of Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design & The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies
www.europeanarch.eu
www.chi-athenaeum.org
www.internationalarchitectureawards.com.

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