The Official Association of Architects of Madrid has awarded the 2018 COAM First Prize ‘ex aequo’ to the renovation of Sala Equis, designed by architects Lorenzo and Luis Gil (Plantea Estudio), to Espacio SOLO by Juan Herreros and Jens Richter, and to the book Oiza by Javier Vellés.
Regarding Sala Equis, the jury highlighted that the renovation of the former Duque de Alba cinema “equips the available space with contemporary uses, materials, and furniture, balanced with the memory of the existing structure,” and emphasized that it “encompasses the traditional movie theater alongside other activities surrounding this main function.”
For Espacio SOLO, the jury also highlighted “three singular moments in the project” of Espacio SOLO, such as “the main entrance from Puerta de Alcalá, the double-height space at the furthest point from the entrance, and the logistics area,” noting that “it is a space both intimate and collective, a setting for the pleasure of leisure time, a multi-format meeting point to connect people in all possible conversations.”
Meanwhile, regarding the book Oiza by Javier Vellés, the jury highlighted the introduction to the second part, written by Juan Ignacio Mera, which describes the pages as “a cry for freedom. They are a manifesto that places ideas before aesthetic dictates.”
Additionally, the jury awarded seven 2018 COAM Prizes to the following projects:
Pontejos 9 / Victoria Acebo García + Ángel Alonso Ortiz
099.+MAD+ / elii
New Corporate Headquarters of Banco Popular / Arquitectos Ayala
Ferrocarril 4BIS Building / Israel Alba Ramis
Renovation of the Basement Level at the Bank of Spain / Paredes Pedrosa
Comprehensive Renovation of Castellana 81 / Antonio Ruiz Barbarin
Exhibition Design: Arniches y Domínguez. La arquitectura y la vida, for the ICO Museum / María Carrascal Pérez + Candelaria López Romero + Alejandro Muchada Suárez
Furthermore, the 2018 Luis M. Mansilla Prize went to the Historical Archive of the State of Oaxaca by Ignacio Mendaro Corsini, which the jury described as “an architecture wise to the climate that merges with the vegetation, allowing transparency.”
Meanwhile, the 2018 COAM +10 Prize was awarded to the renovation of Nave 17C-Intermediae Matadero Madrid by Arturo Franco Díaz and Fabrice Van Teslaar, defining it “as prototypical and a model followed by numerous interventions since then, and, more than ten years later, radically relevant.”
Via COAM
This article was written by Nicolás Valencia. The translation is powered by AI.
