Catalan architecture is experiencing a good moment, as demonstrated by the list of finalists for the Mies van der Rohe Award, with two local works among the seven selected. This award, one of the most prestigious, recognizes the best works of contemporary European architecture, which must have been completed in the last two years and, on this occasion marked by the pandemic, in the last two and a half years. In the previous phase, with 40 finalists, there were five Catalan projects.
The residential social housing building built in Cornellà de Llobregat by the Peris + Toral Arquitectes firm and promoted by the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) is one of the finalists and will compete with four other works for the Mies van der Rohe Award. The Frizz23 (Berlin), Ferme du Rail (Paris), Town House - Kingston University (Dublin) and Z33 (Hasselt) projects are the other contenders. The winner, who will receive 60,000 euros, will be announced at the end of April.
The Cornellà building, located on the site of the old Pisa cinema, is characterized by having eliminated corridors, with the aim of ensuring the maximum possible use of the floor plan. It is also defined by having chosen wood as the predominant material, allowing elements to be industrialized, improving construction quality and reducing execution times and C02 emissions.
Peris + Toral Arquitectes is a firm formed by Marta Peris and José Manuel Toral. Based in Barcelona, their work focuses on collective public housing and urban space. Other examples of works they have signed are the social housing building for young people they built in Can Carelleu and the housing for the elderly, a community center and a CAP they designed in 22@. They are also responsible for the tourist information point in Plaza de las Glòries. Currently, they are in charge of transforming the headquarters of the College of Architects of Catalonia (COAC) in Barcelona into an Open Architecture Center.
The Mies van der Rohe Award also includes an Emerging Architecture category, with a prize of 20,000 euros. With only two finalists, one of them is from Barcelona. The cooperative housing of La Borda, in Sants, will compete against the Enrico Fermi School, in Turin.
Lacol is the architects' cooperative behind La Borda. It defines this housing, also made of wood, as "a self-organization project to access dignified and non-speculative housing." A minimal environmental impact was prioritized, both in its construction and its useful life. The possibility of energy poverty among its inhabitants was also sought to be eliminated, minimizing energy demand by eliminating underground parking, grouping services, and reducing the surface area of the homes.
Other Lacol projects have included the rehabilitation of BlocOnze in Can Batlló; the cooperative space La Comunal, which houses the La Ciutat Invisible bookstore; the El Timbal theater school or the new headquarters of the CGT. Since 2016, it has been a co-founder of LaDinamo, a foundation for the promotion of cooperative housing in Catalonia.