The Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize 2023 winner has just been revealed, and the gong has gone to the renovation and expansion of the Anahuacalli Museum in Mexico City by Taller | Mauricio Rocha. Awarded every two years by the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) College of Architecture, the prize ‘recognises a built work in the Americas that best embodies architectural excellence’.
The Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize 2023 winner: the Anahuacalli Museum by Taller | Mauricio Rocha
The members of the jury, headed by chair and architect Sandra Barclay, were impressed by the project's sensitivity and the 'open dialogue' it creates with the existing Anahuacalli Museum. The historical structure was conceived by artist Diego Rivera in the 1940s and built in collaboration with architect Juan O’Gorman. Situated in Mexico City's volcanic landscape of Pedregal de San Ángel, both old and new elements respect and celebrate their context.
The winner was chosen from a shortlist of six pieces of work, including Guadalupe Market by Colectivo C733; The Menil Drawing Institute by Johnston Marklee; Park in the Prado neighbourhood by Mayor’s Office of Medellín – Secretary of Infrastructure; The Polygon Gallery by Patkau Architects; and Valois Housing Building by José Cubilla.
Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP) director Dirk Denison said: 'All six finalists give more than what is asked for. They set the stage for a more generous future. The MCHAP finalists all do more with less. This is the charge they answer and the lesson they offer.'
'Mauricio Rocha proposes a typology of independent and permeable volumes, giving continuity to the floor of the existing plaza and, in turn, the rough and irregular topography of the natural lava flow,' Barclay added.
As a result of his win, Mauricio Rocha will receive $50,000 in funding 'toward research and the development of a publication as well as the MCHAP Chair of Architecture at IIT.'
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