The call for entries for the European Award for Architectural Heritage Intervention (AHI), aimed at professionals and associations linked to architectural heritage, is open until March 17, 2023. Its primary objective is to recognize high-quality interventions in built heritage across all its dimensions. In doing so, the award aims to contribute to their dissemination and establish itself as a catalyst and observatory for the new challenges that contemporary architectural globalization poses to the conservation and intervention of built heritage.
Now in its sixth edition, this biennial competition is organized with the support of the Architects' Association of Catalonia (COAC). It considers works completed or published in Europe between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2022, that meet the requirements of the award's four categories.
The categories are: Built Heritage (permanent or temporary architectural interventions in architectural assets of heritage interest), Exterior Spaces (interventions in historic public spaces, surrounding monuments, and cultural landscapes), Planning (works aimed at the protection, conservation, or enhancement of architectural heritage), and Dissemination (initiatives, activities, and actions that disseminate the values of architectural heritage). In this final category, works by European authors carried out in other territories are also accepted.
Each edition of the European AHI Award features an international jury, showcasing a vast array of works and highlighting the high standards of heritage intervention practice in Europe. In the Built Heritage category, up to 15 shortlisted entries will be selected, while the Exterior Spaces category will shortlist a maximum of 10. From these, a winner and a series of finalists will be chosen for each. In the Planning and Dissemination categories, a winner and selected finalists will also be named.
Since 2019, the competition's directors—Ramon Calonge, Oriol Cusidó, Marc Manzano, and Jordi Portal—along with a renowned expert, have awarded a Special Mention for Restoration to recognize an intervention notable for its quality, precision, and respect from a technical and methodological standpoint. Additionally, all submitted works will be included in the catalog published at the end of each edition to document the competition and expand the AHI Archive.
This digital catalog, containing over 1,100 entries from 34 different European countries, will incorporate new search fields by the end of this year, aiming to become a useful tool for analyzing interventions in our environment. The award ceremony will take place in Barcelona in June 2023 during a public event within the framework of the VI AHI International Biennial. This forum for exchanging knowledge and experience will feature a non-European guest country and is organized by the Architectural Heritage Intervention (AHI) platform with the support of COAC and the Generalitat de Catalunya.
The Architectural Heritage Intervention (AHI) platform contributes to the revaluation of architectural heritage and encompasses a European-wide award, an international biennial, a digital archive, and a discussion forum. In this way, AHI understands and disseminates architectural heritage from a plural and contemporary perspective.
For more information and/or to register, visit their official website.
This article was written by Agustina Iñiguez. The translation is powered by AI.
