The Center of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB) has announced the 25 finalists for the 2018 European Prize for Urban Public Space. The international jury of the European for Urban Public Space, which met at the CCCB on 18 and 19 April, has selected the 25 finalist projects for this year’s award. 

Representing the best public space interventions in European cities in 2016 and 2017, these works are among the 279 candidates coming from 32 countries. The Prize recognizes the creation, recovery and improvement of public spaces, and understands their state as a clear indicator of the democratic health of our cities.

This year’s jury, chaired by the architect Olga Tarrasó, representing the CCCB, consisted of Matevž Čelik, director of the Museum of Architecture and Design of Ljubljana; Hans Ibelings, Dutch historian and architecture critic; Ewa P. Porebska, Warsaw-based architect and editor-in-chief of the magazine Architektura-murator; Francis Rambert, director of La Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine in Paris; Peter Cachola Schmal, director of the Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt; Katharina Ritter, representing the Architekturzentrum Wien (Vienna); and Ellis Woodman, director of The Architecture Foundation, London.

See all 25 finalist projects below:

Image © Jannes Linders

Cuypers Passage, Amsterdam (The Netherlands), 2016

Image © Ajuntament de Barcelona

Poblenou “Superblock”, Barcelona (Spain), 2017

Image © José Hevia

Street Square, Barcelona (Spain), 2017

Image © Carve (Hannah Schubert)

Playground Landscape “Be-MINE”, Beringen (Belgium), 2016

Image © KARO*

I'm a monument!, Berlin (Germany), 2017

Image © Michiel De Cleene

Memorial 22/3, Brussels (Belgium), 2017

Image © Filip Dujardin

Monument for an Open Society, Brussels (Belgium), 2018

Image © Fernando Guerra+Sérgio Guerra

Community Kitchen in Terras da Costa, Costa de Caparica (Portugal), 2017

Image © STAGE

Temporary Stage, Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine), 2017

Image © Claudia Dreyße; Planergruppe

Zollverein Park, Essen (Germany), 2018

Image © studio ++

Third Garden, Florence (Italy), 2017

Image © Bureau Bas Smets

Renovation of the Himara Waterfront, Himara (Albania), 2016

Image ©  Fernando Guerra FG+SG - Fotografia de Arquitectura

Rehabilitation of the Alameda Manuel Ricardo Espirito Santo, Lisboa (Portugal), 2017

Image © Fernando Guerra FG+SG - Fotografia de Arquitectura

Carmo Convento Chiado Connection, Lisboa (Portugal), 2016

Image © Jan Kattein Architects

Blue House Yard, London (United Kingdom), 2017

Image © 5th Studio

Lea River Park, London (United Kingdom), 2018

Image © Rademacher/de Vries

Recovery of the ENCI Quarry, Maastricht (The Netherlands), 2018

Image © Filip Dujardin

PC Caritas, Melle (Belgium), 2016

Image courtesy of CCCB

The Fold's Childhood, Meyrin (Switzerland), 2017

Image © Moscow Municipal Services Complex

Bringing Gardens Back, Moscow (Russia), 2017

Image © Antoine Espinasseau, Photographer DR.

Refurbishment of Vacant Spaces - Les Courtillières - Pantin (France), 2018

Image © Filip Dujardin

Skanderbeg Square, Tirana (Albany), 2017

Image © MICHELE & MIQUEL

Niel Garden, Toulouse (France), 2016

Image © Matthias Van Rossen

Renewal of the Seafront Promenade, Vlorë (Albania), 2017

Image © Virginia Vrecl

A Square and a Playground below the Castle, Škofja Loka (Slovenia), 2017

The winners will be announced to the public at an award ceremony which is to be held at the CCCB on 20 June, 2018. The 25 finalist projects will be published in the online Archive, which brings together the best projects that have been presented since the Prize was inaugurated in 2000. 

This year will see the tenth award of the Prize, which has become a privileged observatory of good practices testifying to the prolific construction of public spaces all around Europe.

The European Prize for Urban Public Space is an initiative by the Center of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB) co-organized by   The Architecture Foundation (London), the Architekturzentrum Wien (Vienna), the Institut Français d’Architecture / la 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).

Top image: Cuypers Passage, Amsterdam (The Netherlands), 2016, Image © Jannes Linders

> via CCCB