25 Nov 10 Pritzker buildings in Spain
Porcelain tiles, white body or red body from Mykonos Cerámica are used mainly by architects and designers.
That is why we want to dedicate a place in our blog section to post information of interest to our partners in architecture studios.
In this article we are going to review 10 buildings in 10 Spanish cities designed by 10 Pritzker Prize winning architects.
These awards are considered the Nobel Prize for architecture and are awarded annually by the American Hyatt Foundation.
- Norman Foster, Congress Palace, Valencia, 1998
Image via es.wikipedia.org
In the Valencian Community we have a building designed by the Pritzker Norman Foster prize winner, who would receive the award a year later.
As the architect reviews, it is an “authentically Valencian building that looks to the future” with its glass façade to take advantage of natural light, its ponds to refresh the environment and its shadow-creating cantilever.
2. Philip Johnson, Puerta de Europa, Madrid, 1986
Image via wa.wikipedia.org
The Puerta de Europa or Torres Kio, as the general public knows it, has been one of those buildings that receives criticism from its construction to the present day.
The two sloping office skyscrapers that shape Madrid’s Paseo de la Castellana were signed by the first winner of the Pritzker Awards, Philip Johnson.
They are the second tallest twin towers in Spain, after the Torres de Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
3. Jean Nouvel, Torre Agbar / Torre Glòries, Barcelona, 2005
Image via es.wikipedia.org
The French architect Jean Nouvel, who won the award in 2008, designed, together with Fermín Vázquez, the famous Torre Glòries, the third tallest building in Barcelona.
This rounded skyscraper and headquarters of multiple companies was built with concrete, aluminum and glass and is an indisputable part of the city’s skyline.
4. Oscar Niemeyer, Niemeyer Center, Avilés, 2011
Image via wikipedia.es
The modern International Oscar Niemeyer Cultural Center contrasts with the old part of the city that harbor it. It is a must if you want to appreciate
all the elements present in the Brazilian architect’s work: the white color, elementary geometry, curved lines…
Niemeyer, now a myth, donated to the Principality of Asturias what is his first work in Spain, “my most beloved work”, in his own words.
5. Frank Gehry, Marqués de Riscal Hotel in Elciego, 2006
Image via wikipedia.es
Gehry has built several emblematic buildings in Spain. Perhaps the best known is the Guggenheim Museum, but we will highlight one of its wineries in La Rioja.
This imposing 21st century chateau includes the only 5-star hotel designed by the architect and shows the evident starquitect hallmark: waterfalls of titanium (in this case representing the colors of wine: rose, gold and silver), zigzag windows, inclined walls…
6. Aldo Rossi, Museo do Mar, Vigo, 2002
Image via wikipedia.es
The old Alcabre-Molino de Viento cannery became the Galician Sea Museum almost 20 years ago.
This was one of the last projects (and the only one in Spain) of the late architect Aldo Rossi, signed in collaboration with the National Prize for Architecture, the Galician César Portela.
It is configured as a cape, in a paradigmatic place on the coastline, with gardens, patios, squares and a perimeter wall that resists the strong storms in the area.
7. Rafael Moneo, Murcia City Council, 1991
Image via arkimista.es
Moneo is the first Spanish Pritzker Prize winner and the author of the Murcia City Council.
Moneo proposes with his work the visual framing of existing ancient architectures: the 16th century cathedral and the 18th century Episcopal Palace.
In the heart of the city, the architect designs a modern public building as a yellow stone wall with multiple square-based columns.
8. Renzo Piano, Botín Center, Santander, 2017
Image via plataformaarquitectura.cl
The 1998 Pritzker Prize for Architecture, designer of the Pompidou Center in Paris, also designed the Botín Center in Santander.
This art and culture space in the Muelle de Albareda was inaugurated recently, 2017, and commissioned by the president of the bank, Emilio Botín.
The building is made up of two cowled volumes, with a nine-meter-long springboard on stilts that flies over the sea and allows you to contemplate the bay.
9. Zaha Hadid, Zaragoza Bridge, 2008
Image via bubblemania.fr
Zaragoza’s bridge-pavilion was built in 2008 by British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, the first woman to receive the Pritzker Prize in 2004.
The bridge became the main entrance to the International Exhibition dedicated to Water in Zaragoza. With a plant in the shape of a gladiolus, it crosses the Ebro river without any intermediate support.
10. Arata Isozaki, Domus the House of Man, A Coruña, 1995
Image via wikipedia.es
The 2019 Pritzker winner has also made his mark in Spain.
One of his most famous buildings is the one he designed in collaboration with César Portela: the Domus, a science museum dedicated to man and located in La Coruña.
Located in a cliff facing the sea, the Japanese architect’s building stands out for its grandeur.
On its wavy façade made up of 6,600 slate tiles there is also a bronze statue of Fernando Botero.