History
The idea for a Prize that would recognise and commend excellence in European architecture was proposed to the European Parliament by MP Xavier Rubert de Ventós.
On April 28 1987 —just under a year after the reconstruction of the Pavilion was completed— an agreement was signed between European Commissioner Carlo Ripa di Meana and Barcelona Mayor Pasqual Maragall to launch the ‘Mies van der Rohe Award of the European Communities’, with the first biennial edition being held in 1988 as the ‘Mies van der Rohe Award for European Architecture’.
In 2000 the Fundació Mies van der Rohe submitted the model of the Mies van der Rohe Award – with the addition of the Emerging Architect Special Mention that recognises the work of young professionals starting out on their careers – in response to the call for proposals by the European Commission for the ‘European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture’. Upon acceptance of the Fundació’s proposal, in 2001, the Mies van der Rohe Award became the official architecture prize of the European Union.
The Young Talent Architecture Award, launched in 2015, recognizes and rewards the best graduation projects of architecture students throughout Europe and beyond.
In 2022, the three categories were organised under the designation EUmies Awards and renamed as Architecture, Emerging and Young Talent. One same jury is involved in the process of Architecture and Emerging on even years and a different jury takes care of Young Talent on odd years.
Europe is composed of an increasing number of common elements. However local traditions, histories, languages, landscapes and urban contexts continue to characterise its rich and composite identity. The Prize seeks to celebrate the diversity of European architectural expression, emphasising architecture’s role as both a basis for the interchange of ideas as well as a unifying element that defines a common European culture by fostering transnational commissions; supporting emerging architects as they start out on their careers and the cultivation of responsible clients – both public and private – who are committed to building both the European economy and its culture through their commissions.
The European space is also composed of an emulsion of natural and cultural, vernacular and canonical, traditional and artificial elements. Contemporary architecture must assume this ambiguity, project it towards the future and offset the natural wear to which forms are subject by means of a symmetrical process of innovation; a process that has been presided over by works that introduced into an architectural tradition contribute a new inflection or added value that can only be qualified as ‘artistic’.
The purpose of the Prize is to detect and highlight such works – of which the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion of Barcelona is a genuine symbol – whose innovative character acts as an orientation or even a manifesto. This is why the jury will represent the institutions involved, while also reflecting the cultural intentions that endow the Prize with both symbolic and pedagogic value.
The Prize highlights the achievements of European architects in the development of new concepts and technologies and provides citizens as well as public institutions with the opportunity to reach a better understanding of the importance of architecture in the construction of sustainable cities and communities where the essential relationship between the quality of life and the quality of the environment is a key priority.
By doing so, the Prize becomes a platform for investigation, development and implementation of sustainable architectural practices that minimise the negative environmental impact of construction as well as promote the social, cultural and economic benefits of sustainable growth.