European Prize for Urban Public Space 2012 Announces Joint Winners

The Jury of the European Prize for Urban Public Space 2012, chaired by Spanish architect Josep Llinàs, has announced two joint First Prize winners, as well as three Special Mentions and one Special Category winner. The top entries were selected from 347 projects from 36 European countries.

The members of the Jury, presided over by the architect Josep Llinàs on behalf of the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), are: Dietmar Steiner, director of the Architekturzentrum Wien (Vienna); Ole Bouman, director of the Nederlands Architectuurinstituut (Rotterdam); Sarah Mineko Ichioka, director of The Architecture Foundation (London); Francis Rambert, director of the Institut Français d’Architecture (Paris); Juulia Kauste, director of the Suomen Rakennustaiteen Museo (Helsinki), and Peter Cachola Schmal, director of the Deutsches Architekturmuseum, acting as board members, and David Bravo, architect, acting as secretary.

The European Prize for Urban Public Space is an award created by the CCCB in 2000 to acknowledge and encourage the creation and recovery of public spaces in European cities, and to highlight urbanistic interventions that promote the public dimension of urban space and its role in social integration. The biennial prize is awarded not only to the professionals responsible for the urban intervention, but also to the institutions that develop it.

JOINT WINNER: RENOVATION OF THE RIVER LJUBLJANICA
Ljubljana (Slovenia), 2011

Authors: Boris Podrecca, ATELIER arhitekti, URBI, BB ARHITEKTI, ATELJE VOZLIČ, DANS arhitekti, TRIJE arhitekti and MEDPROSTOR

Renovation of the banks of the River Ljubljanica in the section flowing through the old city centre, a collective effort that concentrates resources in a range of specific interventions.

JOINT WINNER: LANDSCAPING OF THE PEAKS OF THE TURÓ DE LA ROVIRA
Barcelona (Spain), 2011

Authors: JANSANA, DE LA VILLA, DE PAAUW, ARQUITECTES SLP and AAUP. Jordi Romero i associats SLP

Landscaping and improved accessibility to a lookout where the remains of an anti-aircraft gun emplacement combine with those of a shanty village that was later constructed there.

SPECIAL MENTION: EXHIBITION ROAD
London (United Kingdom), 2011

Author: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

A main road in one of London’s cultural districts has been repaved and rid of architectural barriers, while vehicular traffic has been regulated by means of a “shared surface” system that achieves a balance of consensus between traffic and pedestrians.

SPECIAL MENTION: ANNORSTÄDES / ELSEWHERE / AILLEURS
Malmö (Sweden), 2010

Author: Tania Ruiz

A permanent installation projects moving images on to the platforms of an underground railway station, thus making the waiting period more enjoyable for passengers.

SPECIAL MENTION: MEMORIAL TO THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY
Nantes (France), 2011

Authors: Krzysztof Wodiczko & Julian Bonder, Wodiczko+Bonder, Architecture, Art & Design

A wharf on the Loire River where slave ships once docked has been renovated with a new riverside walk that replaces a car park, while a memorial space commemorates the slave trade.

SPECIAL CATEGORY: OCCUPY PUERTA DEL SOL
Madrid (Spain), 2011

A large-scale demonstration by citizens demanding improvements in the democratic system by means of a temporary occupation of one of Madrid’s most representative squares.