Philharmonic Hall in Poland Wins EU Mies Prize 2015

John Hill

8. 五月 2015

Photo: © Simon Menges (All images courtesy of EU Mies Prize)

The European Commission, along with the Fundació Mies van der Rohe, announced today that Szczecin Philharmonic Hall is the winner of the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award 2015.

The building was designed Barozzi / Veiga, the Barcelona-based studio of Fabrizio Barozzi and Alberto Veiga, in collaboration with Studio A4. They received the EU Mies Prize today, May 8, in a ceremony at the Mies van der Rohe Barcelona Pavilion.

Designed for the City of Szczecin on the site of the "Konzerthaus," which was destroyed during the Second World War, the Philharmonic Hall houses a 1,000-seat symphony hall, a 200-seat chamber music hall, a multifunctional space for exhibitions and conferences, and a large foyer. The exterior is covered in glass that glows from the inside in the evening, while the main hall is is clad by triangular wooden acoustic panels gilded with gold leaf. The serrated profile "dialogues well with the silhouette of the nearby Castle," per a statement from the jury.

The jury* summarized the prize in the statement:

The five finalists and the winner of the 2015 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award have been chosen because of their capacity of doing a number of things: to read and transform their context, which is often very complex and precious; to generate a symbiosis between the new and the existing, and between their function and the public realm; to transformed physical, economic or technical constraints into resources; to create a series of spaces appreciated by the users, shaping a welcoming meeting place; and finally, to be able to constitute a bold architectural statement, enabling a dialogue between the evolution of a discipline and the parallel evolution of the values and need of society.

This winning project finds a convincing formal and spatial strategy for a city which strives for a better future in a fast changing economy and social patterns, delivering a dignity to urban life and the same time enhancing the city’s specific historical identity with a contemporary "monument."

Barozzi / Veiga's Szczecin Philharmonic Hall won over the other four finalists – Danish Maritime Museum by BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group, Ravensburg Art Museum by Lederer Ragnarsdóttir Oei, Antinori Winery by Archea Associati, and Saw Swee Hock Student Centre - London School of Economics by O'Donnell + Tuomey – each of which presented their projects to the jury yesterday, May 7.

City landscape (Photo: © Simon Menges)

Entrance Hall (Photo: © Simon Menges)

Concert Hall (Photo: © Simon Menges)

Second floor plan

Cross section through concert hall

*The 2015 Jury:

• Cino Zucchi (Chair of the Jury), Cino Zucchi Architetti
• Margarita Jover, aldayjover architecture and landscape
• Lene Tranberg, Lundgaard & Tranberg
• Peter L. Wilson, Bolles + Wilson
• Li Xiangning, Deputy Dean, College of Architecture & Urban Planning, Tongji University
• Tony Chapman (Representative of the Prize Steering Committee), Head of Awards at RIBA
• Hansjörg Mölk (Upholder of high quality architecture as a Client), CEO MPreis, Völs
• Giovanna Carnevali (Secretary of the Jury, without the right to vote), Director Fundació Mies van der Rohe
• Ivan Blasi (Coordinator of the Prize, without the right to vote), Architect