This article is taken from the press release by the Royal Institute of British Architects. More fantastic architecture in Valencia being given the recognition it deserves.
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The Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) Stirling Prize winner has been announced,. The debate surrounding which building the jury picked to be the 2007 winner is hotting up. The betting odds published by William Hill, had placed British architect David Chipperfield’s America’s Cup building in Valencia as the favourite, with odds of 3/1 but it lost out to his other entry.
The £20,000 prize, now in its 12th year, is awarded to the architects of the building that has made the greatest contribution to British architecture in the past year. The winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize in association with the Architect’s Journal was announced live on Channel 4 on Saturday 6 October at 8pm.
Joint second favourites were a striking concert hall in Portugal, a modern pavilion in Windsor Great Park, and the Museum of Modern Literature in Germany, also by Chipperfield, the one which took the prize. The final two in the running were the reconstruction of London’s Young Vic Theatre and the redevelopment of Dresden Station.
The six buildings competing for this year’s RIBA Stirling Prize with William Hill’s odds were:
America’s Cup Building, Valencia, Spain by David Chipperfield Architects (odds:3/1)
Casa da Musica, Porto, Portugal by Office for Metropolitan Architecture with Arup-AFA (odds:7/2)
Dresden Station Redevelopment, Dresden, Germany by Foster + Partners (odds:5/1)
Museum of Modern Literature, Marbach am Neckar, Germany by David Chipperfield Architects (odds:7/2) (This won the prize just in front of the Young Vic Theatre)
The Savill Building, Windsor, by Glenn Howells Architects (odds:7/2)
Young Vic Theatre, London SE1 by Haworth Tompkins (odds:7/1)
The RIBA Stirling Prize jury, which had visited all six shortlisted buildings and met for a final time on the day of the presentation to pick the winner. It comprised architecture specialists and lay judges from the arts. The 2007 judges are Tom Bloxham MBE – chair, Urban Splash; Alain de Botton – author and philosopher; Louisa Hutton – architect; Kieran Long – Editor, The Architects’ Journal and Sunand Prasad – architect and RIBA President.
Previous winners include Barajas Airport by Richard Rogers Partnership, The Scottish Parliament by EMBT / RMJM Ltd, 30 St. Mary Axe by Foster + Partners, the Laban Centre by Herzog & de Meuron, Gateshead Millennium Bridge by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, and Peckham Library and Media Centre by Alsop Architects.
