The nine winning projects of the second edition of the ARQUITECTURA Awards, organized by the Superior Council of Colleges of Architects of Spain (CSCAE), have been announced. Showcasing fundamental values of architecture and urbanism—such as social responsibility, cultural preservation, and environmental sustainability—the awards received a total of 429 submissions. In the first stage, the Official Colleges of Architects and Regional Councils selected 177 proposals, which were narrowed down to just 21 finalists.
The winning projects of the CSCAE ARQUITECTURA Awards aim to improve the quality of the built environment, public health, and global sustainability, spanning architecture, urban planning, research, education, and innovation. The proposals address values of architectural outreach and dissemination, innovation, and entrepreneurship, alongside universal, cultural, artistic, professional, and ethical principles—core tenets of architecture and urban planning, including rehabilitation, renovation, and regeneration.
In addition, three special distinctions were awarded: the Spanish Architecture Prize, the Spanish Urbanism Prize, and the Permanence Award. Since 1981, the CSCAE has recognized outstanding career achievements; this year, César Portela received the 2023 Gold Medal of Spanish Architecture.
The jury consisted of Moisés Castro Oporto, second vice president of the CSCAE; Nuria Matarredona, general director of Urban Agenda and Architecture at the Ministry of Transport, Mobility, and Urban Agenda; Edgar González, expert in architectural dissemination; Agnieszka Stepien, expert in innovation and entrepreneurship; Juan Carlos Sancho Osinaga and Sara de Giles Dubois, architects of renowned professional experience; Manuel Herrero Sánchez, president of the Union of Associations of Urban Planning Architects; Javier García Solera, winner of the Permanence Award in the previous edition; Mª José Peñalver Sánchez, treasurer of the CSCAE and member of the Awards and Distinctions Working Group; Paco Sanchis, CEO of COMPAC; and Laureano Matas Trenas, general secretary of the CSCAE. Explore the winning projects below.
Sustainability and Health Award: Universal Values
Social Housing in Ibiza / Pep Ripoll Vaquer, Juan Miguel Tizón Garau
Located on the boundary between a residential zone and a flood-prone area in Ibiza, the building steps away from its immediate surroundings, drawing inspiration instead from the island’s vernacular architecture of white walls, solar protection, and shaded spaces. The project consists of stacked and terraced housing, where interior spaces connect courtyards and porches to create communal areas.
In the words of the jury, “The project displays extreme confidence, where both plan and section generate architectural quality. Steering clear of a mainstream trend that associates social housing with bare finishes and faux craftsmanship, it embraces the complex simplicity of spatial relationships and straightforward material qualities. This achieves highly rich and versatile living spaces alongside a distinctive form and image. Decorative elements drawn from ancestral local craftsmanship root the proposal in the vernacular. Timeless values in an architecture for today.”
New Bauhaus Award: Cultural and Artistic Values
Wildgarten Quartier Wien / Arenas Basabe Palacios Arquitectos (Enrique Arenas Laorga, Luis Basabe Montalvo, and Luis Palacios Labrador); M&S Architekten, Vienna (urban planning), Buschina & Partner, Vienna (architecture)
The Wildgarten project in Vienna proposes an innovative approach to inclusive and democratic urban planning, designing a new neighborhood through a collaborative process involving public entities, developers, citizens, and cooperatives. It is organized around a matrix of gardens that structure the site and create outward-facing plots, fostering architectural diversity and a communal space named ’Allmende’. It is currently under construction, enriching the social mix of the neighborhood.
As the jury states, “The project presents an innovative practice of inclusive and democratic urban planning, featuring a coherent urban expansion resulting from negotiation and coexistence. This process begins with planning but thrives and continues through development, construction, and use, ultimately reaching the management of diverse and rich community spaces. It showcases the collaborative management of services in a high-quality built environment, resulting in a community architecture that shapes the very community it houses.”
Commitment Award: Values Associated with Innovation, Diversification, Outreach, and Dissemination
Domestic Dawns: COLLECTIVE HOUSING THEMES IN 21ST-CENTURY EUROPE / Carmen Espegel, Andrés Cánovas, José María de Lapuerta
Published by Ediciones Asimétricas and designed by César Ávila of Gráfica Futura, the book compiles the “Domestic Dawns” exhibition at the ICO Museum, continuing the “Housetag” research on 21st-century European housing. The exhibition at the ICO Museum focuses on seven themes through interviews with the residents and architects of seven outstanding buildings. Additionally, the projects were redrawn and rephotographed for the exhibition, incorporating various thinkers and relevant news.
The jury noted that “the publication stands out for its ability to present research on European housing typologies, redrawing housing types based on the study of served and servant spaces.”
Profession Award: Professional and Ethical Values
Formed as an informal settlement 25 years ago, Villacurí emerged in the Peruvian desert—a human settlement lacking urban planning and with only a few local shops. Due to a lack of government support, the vulnerable population was left isolated, which also affected the school. It was recently rebuilt thanks to the intervention of the NGO All Hands and Hearts in 2019, after being damaged by an earthquake in 2007.
The community’s identity is rooted in a diversity of cultures and building techniques. Local materials are used to foster a sense of ownership and dignify regional building methods, while implementing solutions to combat desert heat and improve security, privacy, and parental access. Overall, the project reflects the harsh environment by highlighting local elements like wild cane and woven reed mats.
From the jury’s perspective, “In a context of climate emergency, and conscious of the need to promote responsible architecture to guarantee everyone’s well-being, Preschool 140 stands out for its architectural quality and its commitment to environmental, social, and economic sustainability. This is evident in the use of unclad, locally sourced materials and its thoughtful bioclimatic response, which provides shade and cross-ventilation to mitigate high temperatures.”
Rehabilitation Award: Values Associated with Rehabilitation, Renovation, and Regeneration
1822 Office Renovation / David Lorente, Josep Ricart, Xavier Ros, Roger Tudó - HARQUITECTES
Focused on the renovation of an industrial building, the project houses the new offices of a pharmaceutical company, adapting the existing open-plan space and offices to the company’s needs. The proposal involves improving the building envelope to regulate temperature and organizing the workspace into two areas: a large open-plan space for industrial activity and an office building.
The jury appreciated that “the renovation successfully transformed an old industrial building into a coworking and residential space, utilizing a bioclimatic strategy that fosters collaboration and natural comfort. The project reoccupied the industrial-scale space, giving it a more domestic feel by creating warm, flexible environments that define work dynamics and the relationship with the immediate surroundings through green courtyards. With great sensitivity, it integrates solutions that unite sustainability and beauty while respecting the building’s original character, reusing existing structures, improving quality of life, and contributing to urban regeneration.”
Habitat Award: Basic Values of Architecture and Urbanism
Within the natural landscape of Flecha del Rompido, the Real de la Almadraba was built around 1929—an architectural complex representing the traditional art of tuna fishing on the Huelva coast. Abandoned in the 1970s, the complex was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in 2015. Its rehabilitation focused on the industrial structures and completing the site with a pedestrian path linking the Piedras River with the Atlantic Ocean. In short, the project aims to recover the heritage and ethnological legacy of this ancient fishing technique in harmony with the coastal environment of Huelva.
As the jury states, the project “stands out for the clarity, elegance, and beauty of the intervention. Its ability to subtly integrate into the landscape while respecting existing structures recovers the identity of a way of life that existed in harmony with nature. An emotional and evocative proposal, it captures and merges the magical light of the southern seas into its design.”
Spanish Architecture Prize: Special Distinction
House in Red / estudio_entresitio (María Hurtado de Mendoza Wahrolén, César Jiménez de Tejada Benavides, and Alvar Ruiz Villanueva)
Located in Calas de Guisando, Ávila, the project stands out for its respect for the surrounding landscape and vegetation. The “House in Red” integrates harmoniously with its environment through a stilt-like architectural structure, barely touching the ground. The home’s layout adapts to the topography and existing trees. Through various intermediate levels, the house connects with its surroundings, offering private spaces linked to both the outdoors and the communal area. Built using cross-laminated timber, the project prioritizes sustainability and energy efficiency.
The jury noted that it “stands out for its ability to navigate the slope of the plot along the edge of the reservoir, generating its form as a manifestation of red wood and glass from the upper entrance, creating a succession of interior descents and openings to spectacular views of the landscape. Each exterior and interior level serves as an opportunity for sensory perception and adaptation to the terrain.”
1822 Office Renovation / David Lorente, Josep Ricart, Xavier Ros, Roger Tudó – HARQUITECTES
In the words of the jury, the proposal is “a timely and successful intervention in one of many obsolete industrial buildings. It demonstrates the capacities and opportunities of the volume suggested by the original construction system, regenerating a new productive environment of high environmental and spatial quality through replicable and exemplary strategies.”
Spanish Urbanism Prize: Special Distinction
n'UNDO Plan #Manilva_towards a Local Urban Agenda / n'UNDO Technical Office (n'OT), represented by Beatriz Sendín Jiménez, Verónica Sánchez Carrera, and Alejandro del Castillo
Conceived as a tool for the improvement and regeneration of Manilva's urban and territorial environment, this study follows the criteria established by national and international Urban Agendas, aiming to raise standards and align with recommended ranges for various aspects of urban environments. It analyzes current urban planning in detail, identifying areas for improvement in fields such as sustainable land use, renaturalization, decarbonization, climate change resilience, access to quality housing, mobility, and accessibility, in order to improve the urban and territorial environment of Manilva in the short, medium, and long term.
As the jury stated, “it is a coherent proposal with a new approach to 21st-century urban planning, aimed at organizing, regulating, and improving the existing reality in the face of increasing natural resource consumption. It establishes precise guidelines for rigorous urban planning, based on the principles of international urban agendas, through a triple cross-cutting approach: 'do not do,' 'redo,' and 'undo.' In this way, it builds an innovative, brave, and socially committed process in a difficult environment, where its message gains greater value as a reference point for an alternative way of approaching responsible urban planning—one unequivocally directed at improving people's lives.”
Permanence Award: Special Distinction
Murcia Congress Center / Paredes Pedrosa Arquitectos (Ángela García de Paredes, Ignacio G. Pedrosa)
The Congress Center completes the program of uses of the Murcia Auditorium, a work by Paredes Pedrosa where exteriors and interiors converge, configuring a layout of halls and courtyards within a garden that serves as a meeting point, creating a permanent visual relationship between both spaces. After 20 years since its construction and intensive use alongside the Auditorium's musical program, its halls have hosted everything from congresses and exhibitions to events and celebrations.
According to the jury, “the designed facility stands out for a timeless sobriety and simplicity which, combined with its spatial solidity and versatility, achieves a perennial balance. The Congress Center completes the program of uses of the Murcia Auditorium, whose bold triangular geometry did not allow for a physical addition. The building, autonomous and independent from the auditorium, is linked to it through its materials and chromatic range, enhancing the open spaces as an extension of both buildings. In this way, it creates a meeting space and a permanent visual relationship between the two, maintaining its relevance and vitality.”
News via CSCAE.
This article was written by Agustina Iñiguez. The translation is powered by AI.
