The Mies Crown Hall Americas prize finalists for 2018 are announced
![The SESC 24 de Maio designed by Paulo Mendes da Rocha and MMBB Arquitetos](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ncm5mW56vscFssVvzYVocf-415-80.jpg)
The Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize for 2018 has announced its finalists including the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC by Freelon Adjaye Bond/Smith Group; Andrade Morettin Arquitetos Associados's cultural hub IMS Paulista in São Paulo; Barclay & Crousse Architecture's ‘Edificio E' education building for the University of Piura in Peru; Paulo Mendes da Rocha and MMBB Arquitetos' leisure and medical building, SESC 24 de Maio, in São Paulo; Productora and Isaac Broid's Teopanzolco Cultural Center in Cuernavaca, Mexico; and Edwin Chan/EC3's affordable residential project True North in Detroit.
The biennial prize recognises the best built works of architecture in the Americas, including North and South America, and was conceived by Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture in 2013.
The 2018 finalists were selected from over 175 projects nominated by a network of experts working across the geographical field. This year's jury, who toured each of the sites, interviewing the architects and clients, included Ricky Burdett CBE, chair, Jose Castillo, Ron Henderson, Rodrigo Pérez de Arce and Claire Weisz. A driving point of the jury's conversation was a debate surrounding what ‘quality’ means in architecture in the Americas today.
Interior walkways at SESC 24 de Maio designed by Paulo Mendes da Rocha and MMBB Arquitetos in São Paulo, Brazil
The judges were looking for projects that had potential for lasting influence across architecture and culture, pioneered the development of architecture as a practice, reshaped how we experience the built envrionment and participated in a wider cultural exchange.
‘We were not looking for architectural pyrotechnics. We were not interested in one-off iconic objects that could soon go out of fashion. We were not looking for technical ingenuity, however brilliant and ground-breaking. We were interested in buildings that work – for the city, for the institution, for the neighbourhood, community, and the individual occupants. Buildings that have meaning and complexity, and enrich the lives of the people who use and inhabit them,’ said Burdett.
The IMS Paulista designed by Andrade Morettin Arquitetos Associados in São Paulo, Brazil
Burdett described how the projects each communicate the social and environmental challenges of today with ‘confidence, imagination, and modesty’ – this saw a shared architectural language across the finalists that expressed a similar concern with space as architects working in the mid-20th century. An interest in natural daylight, function prioritised over ‘symbolic facadism' and an honesty of material use including durable choices such as concrete were all flagged: ‘...many of the projects explored the spatial potential of economy of means with maximum impact,’ he said.
The winner of the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize 2018 will be announced on 10 October.
The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture designed by Freelon Adjaye Bond / Smith Group in Washington, DC is a new site of pilgrimage for the African American culture
The SESC 24 de Maio designed by Paulo Mendes da Rocha and MMBB Arquitetos in São Paulo, Brazil is shoehorned into a tight site at the heart of São Paulo’s dense but fragile historic center
The SESC 24 de Maio offers leisure, sports, and medical facilities, including a rooftop swimming pool, to members of its progressive trade association, all connected by a generous 11-story ramp open to all
The IMS Paulista is located on São Paulo’s Paulista Avenue and brings the public and pedestrian experience into its form
The IMS Paulista designed by Andrade Morettin Arquitetos Associados in São Paulo, Brazil, is a multi-level, stacked cultural building with galleries, library, and cinema
The Teopanzolco Cultural Center designed by Productora and Isaac Broid in Cuernavaca, Mexico, encloses a 800 seat auditorium and performance spaces, offering views of the historic site and city beyond
The Teopanzolco Cultural Center is adjacent to a Pre-Hispanic pyramid which influenced its sloping roofs and sandy colouring
The Edificio E at the University of Piura designed by Barclay & Crousse Architecture in Piura, Peru is set within a dry savannah landscape in the north of Peru
The Edificio E university building creates a compact and complex network of interconnected classrooms, offices, and open spaces specifically designed to accommodate students from disadvantaged backgrounds
True North in Detroit designed by Edwin Chan / EC3 shows an innovative use of industrial Quonset corrugated galvanized steel structures to creates a sequence of dynamic external and internal spaces
True North provides affordable accommodation to a new generation of urban pioneers in Detroit’s fragile inner-city communities
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize website
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Harriet Thorpe is a writer, journalist and editor covering architecture, design and culture, with particular interest in sustainability, 20th-century architecture and community. After studying History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Journalism at City University in London, she developed her interest in architecture working at Wallpaper* magazine and today contributes to Wallpaper*, The World of Interiors and Icon magazine, amongst other titles. She is author of The Sustainable City (2022, Hoxton Mini Press), a book about sustainable architecture in London, and the Modern Cambridge Map (2023, Blue Crow Media), a map of 20th-century architecture in Cambridge, the city where she grew up.
-
Commune’s sustainable personal care products look ‘quite unlike anything else’
Commune’s Somerset-made products stand out in the sustainable skincare crowd. Madeleine Rothery speaks with the brand’s co-founders Kate Neal and Rémi Paringaux
By Madeleine Rothery Published
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
2024 RIBA National Awards: browse the list of worthy winners
The 2024 RIBA National Awards have been announced, comprising 26 projects across the UK
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
RIBA International Awards for Excellence 2024 honour 22 extraordinary buildings
The RIBA International Awards for Excellence 2024 winners span from an art museum defying fire and flood in Australia to a school full of holes and sustainable strategies in Iran
By Bridget Downing Published
-
The Activism Award 2024 goes to Studio Bark, architecture’s passionate champions
Architecture’s Activism Award 2024 has been announced, crowning Studio Bark as the winner from a shortlist of six nominees
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
2024 RIBA Gold Medal recipient Lesley Lokko: ‘To be valued, understood and seen by your peers is rare’
Lesley Lokko receives the 2024 RIBA Gold Medal in a dedicated celebration in London, and talks to us about taking stock after a busy few years, and planning for the future
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
The visual feast of the Sony World Photography Awards 2024 is revealed
The Sony World Photography Awards 2024 winners have been revealed – we celebrate the Architecture & Design category’s visual artists
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Riken Yamamoto wins 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize
Riken Yamamoto has been announced as the winner of the 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Prix Claude Parent launches as an award promoting architectural experimentation
The late architect’s imagination and innovation inspired Prix Claude Parent, the new design award launching this year to promote ‘transgressive’ architecture
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
The World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize 2024 goes to Argentina’s Casa sobre el Arroyo
The World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize 2024 is scooped by the Ministerios de Cultura y de Obras Públicas y Municipalidad de Mar del Plata, for its restoration of Argentina’s Casa sobre el Arroyo
By Ellie Stathaki Published