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2017 Pritzker Architecture Prize Goes to Spanish Trio
In a first, three architects share the win. Their collaborations focus on structures that blend with landscapes
Many media outlets, including The New York Times, say the announcement signals what could be the end of ‘starchitects’, those big-name celebrity architects who have won the prize in past years, such as the late Zaha Hadid (2004) and Rem Koolhaas (2000). Pigem becomes the third woman to win the award, joining Hadid and Japan’s Kazuyo Sejima, who shared the award with partner Ryue Nishizawa in 2010.
This marks the second year in a row that the prize has gone to Spanish-speaking architects. Last year, Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena was awarded the prize.
As for their work, the colleagues focus heavily on using the landscape to drive their designs, which often feature recycled steel and plastic. Their structures, most of which are in Spain and France, span a range of functions and include an open-air theatre, a kindergarten, a senior citizens’ centre and library, a museum, a winery and an outdoor restaurant. “The siting of buildings, the choice of materials and the geometries used are always intended to highlight the natural conditions and pull them into the building,” the jury wrote.
Aranda, Pigem and Vilalta designed the row house shown here to sit between two stone walls.
This marks the second year in a row that the prize has gone to Spanish-speaking architects. Last year, Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena was awarded the prize.
As for their work, the colleagues focus heavily on using the landscape to drive their designs, which often feature recycled steel and plastic. Their structures, most of which are in Spain and France, span a range of functions and include an open-air theatre, a kindergarten, a senior citizens’ centre and library, a museum, a winery and an outdoor restaurant. “The siting of buildings, the choice of materials and the geometries used are always intended to highlight the natural conditions and pull them into the building,” the jury wrote.
Aranda, Pigem and Vilalta designed the row house shown here to sit between two stone walls.
The home features a single space with floating platforms that create different living levels, such as the dining and kitchen area shown here, looking from the living room, with a bedroom above.
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The three architects completed their studies together in 1987 at the Vallès School of Architecture. A year later, they founded their firm, RCR Arquitectes, using the initials of their first names.
Since the beginning, their work has been intensely collaborative. “The process they have developed is a true collaboration in which neither a part nor whole of a project can be attributed to one partner,” wrote the nine-member jury in its announcement of the award on Wednesday morning. “Their creative approach is a constant inter-mingling of ideas and continuous dialogue.”
Here, the courtyard of a senior citizens’ centre appears sunken into the surrounding city of Barcelona.
Since the beginning, their work has been intensely collaborative. “The process they have developed is a true collaboration in which neither a part nor whole of a project can be attributed to one partner,” wrote the nine-member jury in its announcement of the award on Wednesday morning. “Their creative approach is a constant inter-mingling of ideas and continuous dialogue.”
Here, the courtyard of a senior citizens’ centre appears sunken into the surrounding city of Barcelona.
“For us, it’s very important to work together – one of the most important things we talk about is shared creativity,” Pigem told the The New York Times. “It’s not a question of one person; it’s all three. Sometimes we say six hands, one voice.”
Here, children play on a porch area of El Petit Comte Kindergarten, built in 2010 in Besalú, Spain. Vertical tubes of different diameters create the multicoloured exterior, which some have compared to coloured pencils.
Here, children play on a porch area of El Petit Comte Kindergarten, built in 2010 in Besalú, Spain. Vertical tubes of different diameters create the multicoloured exterior, which some have compared to coloured pencils.
Photo by Ramon Prat
“It is quite obvious that their architecture is raw and simple – very much like Peter Zumthor’s, a previous laureate,” says Houzz Spain editor Rafael Fernández Bermejo. “In the case of the athletic track Tossols-Basil [pictured], they saved the trees inside the track, and that simple gesture made them very well known.”
“It is quite obvious that their architecture is raw and simple – very much like Peter Zumthor’s, a previous laureate,” says Houzz Spain editor Rafael Fernández Bermejo. “In the case of the athletic track Tossols-Basil [pictured], they saved the trees inside the track, and that simple gesture made them very well known.”
Cor-Ten steel covers much of the building, which consists of several cubes that merge with the surrounding landscape.
A pavilion in the foundry blurs the lines between inside and out.
In a sign that the topic of globalization seems to be permeating conversations in every corner of the world, the Pritzker jury cited it as another reason for their selection of the three architects. “In this day and age, there is an important question that people all over the world are asking, and it is not just about architecture; it is about law, politics, and government as well,” the jury wrote.
“We live in a globalized world where we must rely on international influences, trade, discussion, transactions, etc. But more and more people fear that, because of this international influence, we will lose our local values, our local art and our local customs. They are concerned and sometimes frightened. Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem and Ramon Vilalta tell us that it may be possible to have both.”
The architects will receive the award, which includes a $100,000 prize, in Tokyo on May 20.
Have you been inspired by a particular architect? Who is your favourite? Tell us your thoughts in the Comments below.
In a sign that the topic of globalization seems to be permeating conversations in every corner of the world, the Pritzker jury cited it as another reason for their selection of the three architects. “In this day and age, there is an important question that people all over the world are asking, and it is not just about architecture; it is about law, politics, and government as well,” the jury wrote.
“We live in a globalized world where we must rely on international influences, trade, discussion, transactions, etc. But more and more people fear that, because of this international influence, we will lose our local values, our local art and our local customs. They are concerned and sometimes frightened. Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem and Ramon Vilalta tell us that it may be possible to have both.”
The architects will receive the award, which includes a $100,000 prize, in Tokyo on May 20.
Have you been inspired by a particular architect? Who is your favourite? Tell us your thoughts in the Comments below.
For the first time since its inception in 1979, the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the industry’s highest honour, has been awarded to three architects.
Spanish architects Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem and Ramon Vilalta, pictured from left, got their start 30 years ago in Olot, a small town in the Catalonia region that’s a far cry from the flashier architecture scene in Barcelona, about 70 miles away. Pigem and Vilalta are married to each other.
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