Highlights of the XII Biennial

B Congress Center, Cartagena by selgascano. Photo: Iwan Baan

Announced last May, we present highlights from the 15 winning projects and 27 finalists of the XII Biennial of Spanish Architecture, for works completed between 2011 and 2012.

The jury was led by Fuensanto Nieto and Enrique Sobejano, and included Andrés Jaque, Sol Madridejos, Rafael Aranda (of RCR), Matthias Sauerbruch and Wilfred Wang.

All photos from the Biennial web page (visit it here).

Lalín City Hall by Mansilla + Tuñón

Campo de la Cebada, Madrid

This public garden on an empty lot owned by the city has been developed by an open, non-hierarchical collective of architects, neighbors, neighborhood associations and cultural groups. It is one of several such projects in the city's center.

Subsidized housing, San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, by Aldredo Payá. Photo: David Frutos

Restoration, Hippodrome de la Zarzuela, Madrid by Junquera Architects

Eduardo Torroja's great thin-shell vaults, from 1936, part of Carlos Arniches and Martín Domínguez's design for the racetrack, restored by the firm that has restored other works by the architects in Madrid. The project is a functioning racetrack.

Pilgrimage Museum, Santiago de Compostela, by Manuel Gallego

Gallego: 

"The building is not indifferent to its proximity to the Cathedral." 

"The route through the exhibition also leads towards a vision of the city and the Cathedral..." 

"Intensity is the necessary precondition for architecture."

Consolidation of Roman remains at Can Tacó, by Toni Gironés

The archeological site dates from the II Century BC and is located in a natural reserve in Montornès del Vallès, Barcelona.

School for Infants, Pamplona, by Pereda Pérez Architects. Photo: Pedro Pegenaute

Cineteca, Matadero, Madrid, by Churtichaga+Quadra-Salcedo Architects

Medialab-Prado, Madrid, by Langarita-Navarro Architects

Like the Matadero complex above, this is another restoration of an old factory in Madrid's center. And like many new cultural facilities around Spain, the project lacks funding to go into operation due to the crisis. Victor Navarro is the son of architect Juan Navarro Baldeweg (see next project).

Hertzian Library, Rome, by Juan Navarro Baldeweg

Built in the former gardens of the Palacio Zuccari, which were orignally part of the terraced gardens of Lúculo, a Roman villa, a circumstance that Navarro took into account in his design.

Local government offices, Zamora, by a team lead by Alberto Campo-Baeza

I've left out some urban projects in the above listings. 

From the finalists, the following projects looked interesting:

Recreation Center, Azuqueca de Henares, Madrid, by Ábalos+Sentkiewicz

 Iñaki Ábalos is the new Chair of the architecture department at Harvard's GSD.

Susidized housing, Coslada, Madrid, by Amann, Canovas + Maruri

Lounge Tepoztlan, Morelos, Mexico, by Cadaval & Solà-Morales

Youth Factory, Mérida, by selgascano

Subsidized housing, Sa Pobla, by José Ripoll + Juan Miguel Tizón

Restoration, Goián fort and river beach, Tomiño, Pontevedra, by Pablo Galleo Picard

Pedro is the son of architect Manuel Gallego (see above).

Dreamhamar, Norway, by Ecosistema Urbano

Public Housing Gets the Prize

The awards of the XI Biennial of Spanish Architecture and Urbanism were announced early this month.

The event is organized by the central government's housing office, architects' professional associations and other sponsors. A jury headed by the architects Félix Arranz and Joaquín Sabaté chose 40 finalists and prize winners in several categories from among 734 entries, over twice the number of previous editions and an all-time record.

Jury members included Lluis Clotet, the urban planner José María Ezquiaga, Manuel Gallego, Belinda Tato of Ecosistema Urbana, and Llàtzer Moix, architecture critic for La Vanguardia newspaper in Barcelona, among others.

Prize for Architecture
Subsidized housing, Mieres (Region of Asturias)
Zigzag Arquitectura (Bernardo Angelini + David Casino)
(Pictured above)

Mentions:
Residential development in Caramoñina, Santiago de Compostela
Víctor López Cotelo

 House in Paderne (Province of Lugo)
Carlos Quintáns Eiras
(Pictured above)


Special Recognition:
Álava Archeological Museum, Vitoria (Province of Álava)
Francisco Mangado

Museum of Water, Lanjarón (Province of Granada)
Juan Domingo Santos
(Pictured above)

Can Framis Museum, Barcelona
Jordi Badía
  

Young Architects' Prize
Rowing Center, Alange (Province of Badajoz)
José María Sánchez García 
(Pictured above)

Mentions:
Mercat de Ferreríes Civic Center, Tortosa (Province of Tarragona)
Josep Camps + Olga Felip

Municipal Environmente Services Headquarters, Zaragoza
Jaime Magén + Francisco Javier Magén

Prize for Subsidized Public Housing
22 Apartments for renters under 35, El Rastro, Madrid
Mónica Alberola, Luis Díaz-Mauriño + Consuelo Martorell
(Pictured above)

Mentions:
Housing block in Salou (Province of Tarragona)
Toni Gironés

Student housing, Bellaterra Campus, Autonomous University of Barcelona
Eduard Bru

Prize for Urbanism
Municipal Plan, Montmeló (Province of Barcelona)
Jornet, Llop + Pastor

Mentions:
Port of Malpica (Province of A Coruña)
Juan Creus + Covadonga Carrasco

The Munch Area, Oslo, Norway
Juan Herreros Architects

Special Recognition:
Waterfront Promenade, Poniente Beach, Benidorm (Province of Alicante)
Carlos Ferrater

Prize for Research
Ex Aequo
Media-TIC Building, Barcelona
Enric Ruíz Geli

Territorial Plan for Housing in Cataluña
Josep María Vilanova +Ricard Pie

Mentions:
"Esto no es un solar" Program, Zaragoza
Patrizia di Monte + Ignacio Grávalos

Font de la Mina Library, Sant Adrià del Besós (Barcelona
Alfonso Soldevila

For pictures of more winners,
see the Arquitectura Viva web page