Ten Romanian architecture offices among nominees for the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture

Ten architecture offices in Romania and their works are on the 2017 list of nominees for the Mies van der Rohe Award, the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture. The prize is granted every two years to “acknowledge and reward quality architectural production in Europe” and a total of 356 works are nominated for the prize at this edition. The members of the jury will shortlist 40 projects and afterwards select the five finalist works, which they will visit in April. Housing and buildings for cultural programs continue to be the most representative works on the nominees list. They are followed by education buildings and mixed projects, connected to cultural and social programs. More countries are taking part in the competition this year as Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine joined the list of the prize’s nominees for the first time. 260 different sites throughout Europe have works nominated on the 2017 list. London, the most populated city in the competition, has the highest number of nominated works, 8 - on par with Barcelona. Copenhagen has 6 works, while Abrantes and Paphos, both cities of around 35,000 inhabitants, each have 2 works on the list. The Romanian city of Brașov also has 2 works nominated, the same number as Madrid, Sofia or Stockholm. They are House E, a project by EXHIBIT Arhitectura, and House with a view, a project by Attila Kim. The House E project saw the extension of the attic of an early 50s building with a light steel structure covered by a glazed facade. The House with a view project entailed the redesign of a mid 20th century house, located on a hill of Brașov. The Refurbishment of the Blaj Cultural Palace by Vlad Sebastian Rusu Architecture Office is another nominated project from Romania. Built in the 1930s, the original structure had been damaged by a fire. After the refurbishment it works as a multipurpose space suitable for a wide variety of events, from theater performances to exhibitions and conferences. The Rehabilitation of Fortress Square in Baia Mare by 9OPTIUNE looked at transforming the square into an urban space with a mainly cultural and religious purpose. Take a(l)titude by Archaeus ltd. is a “lighthouse” in the Făgăraș mountains, made out of cross laminated timber, a sustainable material. Five projects in Bucharest are on the nominees list. Aaron Florian Apartment Building