<Mies van der Rohe Award 2017> was awarded to collective housing in Amsterdam

On Friday, May 12, 2017, the Mies Van der Rohe Foundation in Barcelona announced the winners of the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies Van der Rohe Award 2017. The main prize was awarded to the collective housing project DEFLAT KLEIBURG in Amsterdam by the firms NL Architects and XVW architectuur. The prize for emerging architects was awarded to the Brussels studio MSA/V+ for the housing project NAVEZ in Brussels. This is a triumph of contemporary Dutch architecture and a clear elevation of the theme of collective and affordable housing to the forefront. It is also the first time in the history of the EU prize that the winner is not a new construction but the renovation of an existing building. The awards will be ceremoniously presented at an event in Barcelona on May 26, 2017.

The winning project captivated the international jury with its innovative approach to the renovation of one of the largest residential buildings in the Netherlands, known as Kleiburg. The architects from the Amsterdam studio NL are not newcomers to the Mies Rohe Award; they won the prize for emerging architects in 2005 for BasketBar in Utrecht. The story of the awarded housing complex is also quite interesting, as it was saved from demolition by the DeFlat community literally at the last minute. It underwent a transformation into what is called a "Klusflat," which is a way of living where tenants renovate or modify their housing units themselves. The project thus becomes a collective effort of many people, which the jury clearly highlighted, while also noting that it addresses the highly relevant issue of affordable housing. Jury chairman Stephen Bates, an architectural historian from Great Britain, remarked:

“DeFlatKleiburg directly responds to the current solutions to the housing crisis in European cities, where the only effort year after year is often to build more homes while deeper questions remain unanswered – for instance, what type of housing should be built. Kleiburg helps us to envision this new type of architectural project that aligns with changes in our lifestyle and steps towards a 21st-century home. Revitalizing existing structures and often radically transforming them is just as important as experimenting with new forms, technologies, or materials that have not yet been tried.”

The prize for emerging architects was awarded to the studio MSA / V+ for the NAVEZ project – five housing units located on the northern side at the entrance to Brussels. It is a public investment that demonstrates an innovative approach to caring for suburban areas while also offering exemplary apartments for large families. The jury appreciated the high quality of the individual apartments, each of which is completely unique, and all of which provide benefits in the form of natural light from all directions, impressive views, and dynamic spatial experiences in both shared and private spaces. The jury also highlighted that the architects carefully worked on integrating the building into its surroundings while also giving it such a distinctive character that it has become a landmark for the entire area.

About the Mies Van der Rohe Award
The winners of the Mies Van der Rohe Award 2017 – the European Prize for Contemporary Architecture were selected from a total of 355 nominations from EU member states. The international expert jury selected forty of the best European buildings in January 2017. From this shortlist, the jury selected five finalists in February 2017. Within each member state, individual nominations made by professional organizations, expert institutions, and selected experts also carry significant weight. For the Czech Republic, this year's competition's nominations were submitted by the Czech Chamber of Architects, Osamu Okamura, and Jana Tichá. We informed about the Czech nominations HERE.

Since 1988, the European Union and the Mies Van der Rohe Foundation in Barcelona have organized the biennial competition of completed buildings. The aim of the competition is to highlight the contribution of European architects, to monitor how they apply new concepts and technologies in practice, and to compare the quality of architecture in different European states. The jury for 2017 included architects, architectural historians, and curators Stephen Bates (United Kingdom, chairman), Gonçalo Byrne (Portugal), Peter Cachola Schmal (Germany), Pelin Derviş (Turkey), Dominique Jakob (France), Juulia Kauste (Finland), and Małgorzata Omilanowska (Poland).

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