Yarışmalar-Competitions

The Philippe Rothier European Prize For Architecture
for town and city reconstruction 2005

For 25 years Philippe Rotthier has searched throughout Europe for new architecture which respects the spirit of a place, acknowledges today’s demand for comfort and is ecologically sound; buildings which are part of the town or countryside without damaging them, buildings which waste neither land nor energy; buildings which establish a dialogue with history and the past.

This quest has led Philippe Rotthier to set up a prize for architecture. The works are selected by juries composed of not only architects but also writers, journalists, artists, art historians and politicians. They have included Matali Crasset, Bruno Foucart, Sergio Frau, Charles Jencks, Françoise Lalande, François Loyer, Dimitri Porphyros, Oscar Tusquets, David Watkin, amongst others.

The choices selected always tend towards works of architecture often unknown outside the small circles of the initiated. Institutions have also been rewarded, for example the town hall in Bayonne, France, and the one in Havana, Cuba. The juries have not hesitated to look outside the frontiers of the old Europe when they felt it was worthwhile, awarding, for example, prizes to the Egyptian Abdel Wahed El Wakil and the Tunisian Tarak Ben Miled, to a real estate company in Mayotte, etc.

Any prize, even after .. years, cannot claim to be exhaustive, but it can open up
vistas, show the way, stimulate our curiosity, provoke emulation.
The prize, as envisaged by Philippe Rotthier, is not directed against modern
architecture. However, he wants to give a platform to works of quality which
don’t always attract the media’s attention for a variety of reasons, the principle one being that they do not pander to the ever-changing tastes of the day.
The prize also accentuates the importance of ecological considerations. Too many architects, incidentally splendid, spend without counting the cost: waste energy by using materials both expensive to produce and maintain, waste land by not controlling the spread of buildings over the land. The juries take note of the materials used as well as how they are used, the conditions under which the buildings are built, social integration, training given, and the passing on of a body of knowledge.

The prize aims to reward those works which hold hands with history, establishing
a dialogue between the generations. It stands firmly opposed to the clean slate
theory, artistic egocentricity or historical parody.

The Philippe Rotthier European Prize will be awarded for the seventh time in
October 2005. The prize is worth a total of 30.000 €, given in one or more awards. To meet the criteria for entry in the competition works must have been completed (or be in the process of being completed) between 2002 and 2005.  

Jury and calender
The jury will be composed of European architects Piercarlo Bontempi (Italy),
Stéphanie Celle (France), Maurice Culot (France), Eulàlia González (Spain), Frank Hetherton (Ireland), Marcel Kalberer (Germany), Léon Krier (France), Elie Levy (Belgium), Rudy Ricciotti (France), as well as journalists Gilles de Bure (France), Françoise Lefébure (France), Martin Mosebach (Germany), Piet Swimberghe (Belgium), a builder Patrick de La Rivière (France), a photographer Christian Carez (Belgium), a philosopher Toni Marí (Spain).

Philippe Rotthier, the architect and founder of the competition, will also take part
in the jury’s deliberations. The Fondation pour l’Architecture will ensure the
smooth running of the competition. The jury will sit in Brussels on 10th and 11th
of June 2005.

The official prize-giving ceremony will take place on 21st and 22nd of October
2005 at the Fondation pour l’Architecture, in the International Centre for
Urbanism, Architecture and Landscape, in Brussels.

A catalogue of the prize winning entries and a book about the previous winners
since 1982 will both be published after the jury has deliberated. The prize-winning
entries will also be the subject of an exhibition to be mounted by the Fondation
pour l’Architecture in Brussels.

Presentation of entries
The prizes will be awarded after careful examination of all the relevant materials
– position, plans, cross-sections, elevations, building details, photographs,
etc. to be presented in a A. folder. The entrants are required to show
how their project fits into and enhances its environment. The submissions
can include scale models and/or any form of audio-visual support. They will
be returned to candidates on request and at their own expense.
Entries must be submitted no later than the 15th of April 2005
to the Fondation pour l’Architecture.

Fondation pour L'Architecture
E-mail: [email protected] 
Web: www.fondationpourlarchitecture.be/en/prix/prix.htm