Ring of Memory: International Memorial of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette Ablain-Saint-Nazaire (France), 2014.

The International Jury of the 9th European Prize for Urban Public Space 2016, meeting on 28 and 29 April at the CCCB, selected this year’s 25 finalists, representing the best interventions carried out in public space in European cities in 2014 and 2015. This year, 276 candidatures from 33 countries were submitted to the prize, which recognises the creation, recovery and improvement of public spaces, as clear indicators of the democratic health of our cities.

The international jury, on this occasion presided by the architect Enric Batlle on behalf of the CCCB, is made up of Matevz Celik, Director of the Museum of Architecture and Design of Ljubljana, Hans Ibelings, a Dutch architecture historian and critic, Juulia Kauste, Director of the Museum of Finnish Architecture in Helsinki, Ewa P. Porebska, an architect and architecture critic from Warsaw, Francis Rambert, Director of the Institut français d’architecture in Paris, Peter Schmal, Director of the Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt, Dietmar Steiner, Director of the Architekturzentrum Wien, and Ellis Woodman, Director of the Architecture Foundation in London.

The jury’s verdict will be announced at the awards ceremony, to be held at the CCCB on 4 July 2016. The 25 finalist works will be included in the touring exhibition which, over the next two years, will be visiting various European cities. The works will also be published in the Online Archive, which contains the best projects submitted since the Prize was created in 2000. The Prize has become a recognised showcase of the evolution of public space in Europe, and is a finger on the pulse of the main concerns of European cities today.

See the 25 finalists below: 

Temporary bridge over Charleroi canal Brussels (Belgium), 2014.

Wooden benches in the main square Bürchen (Switzerland), 2015

Vantage point and protective building at Genovés Park Cadiz (Spain), 2015.

Recovery of the irrigation system of the spa allotments Caldes de Montbui (Spain), 2015

R-Urban: network of urban commons Colombes (France), 2014.

Nørreport Station Copenhagen (Denmark), 2015.

Remodelling of Tåsinge Square Copenhagen (Denmark), 2014

Cykelslangen cycle bridge Copenhagen (Denmark), 2014.

Public baths in the harbour Fåborg-Midtfyn (Denmark), 2014.

New lift to the historic centre Gironella (Spain), 2015

New Coastal Defence Katwijk (The Netherlands), 2015

Garden of the Heavenly Hundred Kiev (Ukraine), 2016

Barkingside town centre improvements London (UK), 2015

Escaravox Madrid (Spain), 2014.

New multiuse porch Molenbeek-Saint-Jean (Belgium), 2015.

Decoration of Sant Miquel Square Olot (Spain), 2015

Arquipélago, contemporary art centre Ribeira Grande (Portugal), 2014

Silence! Riga (Latvia), 2014.

Test site Rotterdam (The Netherlands), 2015.

Cycle network between Santa Pola and Alacant Santa Pola (Spain), 2015.

Przelomy Centre for Dialogue in Solidarnosc Square Szczecin (Poland), 2015.

Clearing in the wood Uster (Switzerland), 2014.

Remodelling of the Promenada Velenje (Slovenia), 2014

Fish market Vodice (Croatia), 2015.

The European Prize for Urban Public Space is an initiative of the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), organized jointly with The Architecture Foundation (London), the Architekturzentrum Wien (Vienna), the Institut français d’architecture / Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine (Paris), the Museum of Finnish Architecture (Helsinki), the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (Frankfurt) and the Museum of Architecture and Design (Ljubljana).

All images courtesy of CCCB

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