Heydar Aliyev Centre by Zaha Hadid Architects, Museo Jumex by David Chipperfield Architects and UTEC - Universidad de Ingenieria y Tecnologia by Grafton Architects with Shell Arquitectos are among the shortlist for New Global Prize for Architecture announced by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The RIBA announces the buildings on the shortlist for its  new global architecture award, the RIBA International Prize. The RIBA awards committee visited buildings in over 20 countries in 5 continents this summer and further selection of 21 buildings were recognised by the jury for the RIBA International Award for Excellence.

The RIBA International Emerging Architect prize recognises the achievement of architects in the earlier stages of their career who are working on global projects. The winner of the first RIBA International Prize will be announced on Thursday, 24 November 2016.

The selection follows a rigorous judging process which saw the RIBA awards committee travel to 30 buildings across 5 continents before choosing six buildings which will be visited again in November. Setting a new global standard for architectural achievement, the prize will be judged by a grand jury of experts chaired by world-renowned architect, Lord Richard Rogers of Riverside.

Projects demonstrate a range of innovative responses to the role of public architecture, providing major new additions to their contexts and communities. The finalists in contention for the RIBA International Prize are as follows (alphabetically):

Arquipelago Contemporary Arts Centre, Ribeira Grande, The Azores by Menos é Mais, Arquitectos Associados with João Mendes Ribeiro Arquitecto, Lda

Image © Jose Campos  

Arquipelago Contemporary Arts Centre is located in The Azores, an archipelago of nine small islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Restoring the site of an 1890s sweet potato distillery, the building expertly combines restoration, reconstruction and new build, drawing on the history of the building and its distinctive black Basalt exterior to create a restrained, industrial character.

Constructed over the course of three years, the process revealed a complex of cloisters and cells in the basement of the old distillery, which have been transformed to display artwork - an ancient backdrop for very contemporary use. The building has become a beacon for progress both locally and internationally, and has made a substantial impact on the local community - showing respect for its past and ambition for the future.

Heydar Aliyev Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan by Zaha Hadid Architects with DiA Holding

Image © Hufton+Crow

Designed to celebrate Azerbaijan’s independence and first president Heydar Aliyev, Zaha Hadid Architects’, Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku offers a vibrant programme of arts, music and performance to audiences in the vaulted spaces and distinctive wave-like form that dominates the eastern aspect of the city.

The building represents a break from tradition - not least in the post-Soviet landscape of Baku, and now welcomes over 1000 visitors a day as both a public social space and a cultural nucleus for the city. The complex landscape has been brought together into a single, fluid composition which appears out of the hill. The building is distinctive not only for its scale and undulating form, but for its use of white cladding and paving, a marked departure from the traditional architecture and aesthetic of the city. The heart of the building is found in its sophisticated and welcoming central auditorium; a warm performance space whose innovative use of oak to line and sculpt the interior showcases a sophistication in both vision and joinery.

Museo Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico by David Chipperfield Architects with Taller Abierto de Arquitectura y Urbanismo (TAAU)

Image © Simon Menges  

A structure that celebrates the industrial heritage of its site context in Mexico City, David Chipperfield Architects' Museo Jumex is home to the largest private collection of Latin American contemporary art in the world. Centrally located in a bustling and overcrowded city, the building offers a contemplative space in which visitors can escape the rush of the city.

A large public space is divided across three spacious levels; a glazed Piano Nobile gallery anda flexible secondary space punctuated by a single large window flooding the space with light. The top floor opens out to present the museum’s collection under a soft diffused daylight through original factory roof lights. The quality of light distinctive to Chipperfield’s practice defines the space, as does the consistent sense of quality in the materials and subtle detailing that separate public from work space. A characteristic dialogue of travertine and timber marks the Museo Jumex as a remarkable building.

Stormen Concert Hall, Theatre and Public Library, Bodø, Norway by DRDH Architects

Image © David Grandorge

Stormen Concert Hall and Library has created a new community focus for a small town, with two new civic buildings in Bodø, 100km inside the Arctic Circle. DRDH’s first major building commission, the scheme is expertly stitched into the existing urban fabric, playing off the link to the town centre as well as the nearby harbour and the luminous experience of the Arctic sunshine.

With rigorous attention to detail, material and the user’s experience of both the space of the library building and new concert hall spaces, the architect’s design is matched with technical ambition. The concert hall houses three music venues within its structure, and is considered comparable to the New York’s Carnegie Hall as one of the best in the world for symphonic music.

The Ring of Remembrance, International WWI Memorial of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, France by Agence d’architecture Philippe Prost (AAPP)

Image © Aitor Ortiz

The Ring of Remembrance memorial in Notre-Dame-de-Lorette near Arras commemorates the thousands who died in the region during World War I. The unification of former enemies is the strong idea that underlines AAPP’s design scheme of the ring, inscribing all 600,000 names irrespective of their nationality, creed or rank.

Located on the Hill of Lorette the location has long views over the battlefields of the plain of Artois, the piece sits lightly in the landscape, rooted at one end but cantilevers out precariously as the landscape falls away, and representing the fragility of peace.

UTEC - Universidad de Ingenieria y Tecnologia, Lima, Peru by Grafton Architects with Shell Arquitectos

Image © Iwan Baan  

The UTEC in Lima is a new faculty for a 50 year old engineering university to enable young Peruvians to gain engineering qualifications and to encourage social mobility. This powerful statement of a building symbolises a bold and positive future for Peru, and draws on the temperate climate of the city and cultural environment.

Grafton Architects have created an innovative solution to the architectural program in the design of a vertical concrete campus, with open ended spaces of circulation interlinked with a series of suspended platforms that flow in between the structural frame, offering a balance between enclosed spaces and permeability to the exterior.

The Grand Jury includes Billie Tsien, founding partner of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners based in New York City, Kunlé Adeyemi, founder and principal of NLÉ,  Marilyn Jordan Taylor FAIA, the Dean of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Fine Arts, Philip Gumuchdjian, founder of Gumuchdjian Architects and Chair of RIBA Awards and Chaired by Lord Rogers of Riverside.

The winner of the RIBA International Prize will be chosen from a shortlist of six. These will be given to buildings worldwide that stretch the boundaries of architecture. Irrespective of style, complexity and size of both scheme and budget successful projects should demonstrate visionary or innovative thinking and excellence of execution.

Top image: Heydar Aliyev Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan by Zaha Hadid Architects with DiA Holding. Image © Hufton+Crow

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