Last night we had the honor of attending the 2011 Pritzker Prize Ceremony in Washington D.C., where Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura received this important recognition.

This was the third time we attended the event (after 2009 in Buenos Aires and 2010 in New York) and it was a special evening, not only because of the renowned architects attending the event, but also for the presenting speech by President Barack Obama. Obama, a friend of the Pritzker family, delivered a short but interesting speech to Souto de Moura and the architects. Obama’s interest in architecture goes way back as we’ve heard him state that he thought he could be an architect, but as he said at the speech “I expected to be more creative than I turned out, so I had to go into politics instead”.

It’s worth mentioning that Obama referred to the Pritzker Prize as the Nobel of architecture, a common comparison that puts the importance of this recognition in context.

After several mentions to architecture, his hometown Chicago, Mies (his campaign HQ was in a Mies building), Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Jefferson’s Monticello, he mentioned that architecture is about “creating buildings and spaces that inspire us, that help us do our jobs, that bring us together, and that become, at their best, works of art that we can move through and live in. And in the end, that’s why architecture can be considered the most democratic of art forms“.

About Souto de Moura’s work he mentioned that it was “effortless and beautiful”, and he highlighted the fact that the Braga Stadium was a democratic building, as he not only served the audience but people on the outside.

After Obama and Lord Palumbo (chairman of the Pritzker jury) Eduardo Souto de Moura accepted his recognition, and said something very interesting that made me understand contemporary Portuguese architecture. He developed his work during the 1974 revolution in Portugal, after which the country required to give housing to millions of people. At that time post modernism was starting strong in the country, but that wasn´t the way to do housing (with columns and arches), which led to a late modernism that we see on his works, which in my opinion became a legacy to the new generation of Portuguese architects. More photos after the break:

I first learned about Preston Scott Cohen’s work when I read about the Goodman House, a simple and elegant operation of a concrete shell housing an ancient Dutch barn frame. But after further investigation, I was surprised to see a constant spatial and formal research of his work, that we have witnessed in the latest three public buildings from his office and featured on ArchDaily.

Our profession is very particular. We react very fast to current issues with our ideas, yet our buildings can take quite some time to be erected. For example, the project of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange building by OMA in China was the physical image of the new Chinese economy back in 2006. Five years later this new economy has taken the world by storm yet the building is still under construction.

During the 2011 AIA Convention in New Orleans we had the chance to sit down and talk with Steve McDowell, Principal and Director of Design of BNIM, the 2011 Architecture Firm of the Year. BNIM was founded over 40 years ago with a commitment to design excellence. Currently at the top of their game the Kansas City, Missouri headquartered firm has worked with high profile architects such as Steven Holl to produce the multi-award winning Block Building expansion for the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, they have contributed to advancing education of building sustainability with their innovative design of the Omega Center for Sustainable Living, which is the first project in the world to achieve both ‘Living’ Status and LEED Platinum, and BNIM’s scope of work also includes more rural projects such as the Midwest Retreat.

Architecture filmmaker Vítor Gabriel shared with us this incredible video of the Casa das Histórias, Paula Rego Museum, one of the most recent works by 2011 Pritzker Laureate Eduardo Souto de Moura.

Today, the Pritzker Prize laureate has been announced: Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura.

The 58-year-old architect based in Porto worked on his earlier years at Alvaro Siza’s office, another Pritzker Laureate (1992), and opened his own practice in 1980. Since then he has completed over sixty buildings, most of them in Portugal, and also in Spain, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom and Switzerland.

Along his works we find iconic projects such as the impressive Braga Stadium (2004) and the recent Casa das Histórias Paula Rego.

“During the past three decades, Eduardo Souto de Moura has produced a body of work that is of our time but also carries echoes of architectural traditions. His buildings have a unique ability to convey seemingly conflicting characteristics — power and modesty, bravado and subtlety, bold public authority and a sense of intimacy —at the same time.”

- Lord Palumbo, Chairman of the jury

More projects by Eduardo Souto de Moura after the break:

Portuguese architectural photographer Fernando Guerra FG + SG shared with us a photo set of the Burgo Tower (2007), designed by the 2011 Pritzker laureate Eduardo Souto de Moura.

The building, located in Porto, was described by the Pirtzker jury as “…two buildings side by side, one vertical and one horizontal with different scales, in dialogue with each other and the urban landscape.” Souto de Moura commented that “a twenty story office tower is an unusual project for me. I began my career building single family houses.”

More photos of the Burgo Tower after the break:

The role of the editor, the index of a more and more multidimensional society, the democratization of media, the use of media to create design and collaborative practices.

Founded by Eugene Kohn, William Pedersen, and Sheldon Fox, on July 4th 1976, Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) has a reputation as one of the world’s preeminent architecture practices. Focusing on design excellence coupled with collaboration and dialogue, KPF encourages an open exchange of ideas throughout the creative process both within the firm and between clients.

As we reported last week, Interboro Partners’ “Holding Pattern” was selected as the winner of the 2011 YAP organized by the MoMA and the MoMA P.S.1. As usual, and in order to extend the debate, we are presenting you the running entries.

We present you “Bag Pile” by NY-based firm FormlessFinder. The proposal is based on a series of arches constructed by filling geo textile tubes with gravel and sand at the botton, and recycled foam piles at the top. The heavy elements at the bottom secure the arches, while providing thermal mass to cool down the yard. FormlessFinder’s approach is very different from past installations, on which “temporary” is translated into lightweight elements.

More about Bag Pile after the break:

As we reported last week, Interboro Partners’ “Holding Pattern” was selected as the winner of the 2011 YAP organized by the MoMA and the MoMA P.S.1. As usual, and in order to extend the debate, we are presenting you the running entries.

We present you “Ghost House” by London-based firm IJP Corporation Architects, a light-weight installation with a counter-intuitive material structure exuding an aura of mystery and wonder. A representation of contemporary living, to be built almost entirely with tensed rope to enclose spaces that relate to how we live.

More about Ghost House:

As we reported last week, Interboro Partners’ “Holding Pattern” was selected as the winner of the 2011 YAP organized by the MoMA and the MoMA P.S.1. As usual, and in order to extend the debate, we are presenting you the other entries.

We now present you “Bottle Service” by MASS Design Group. The practice has offices in Boston, Kigali and Monrovia, with a focus on resource-limited settings. They combine design and construction, accompaniment, and research to affect change, construct agency, and develop innovative solutions ranging from unique buildings to the development of national standard and policies.

Their entry proposes a strategy to involve the community  (residents, students,  artists, etc) during the construction of the installation, using materials (tyvek, plastic bottles) that will be recycled after the summer.

More information after the break:

As we told you on a previous article, Italian firm sTARTT has been selected as the winner of the YAP summer installation at the MAXXI museum in Rome, as the result of a partnership with the MoMA and the MoMA P.S.1.

sTARTT’s entry WHATAMI is based on the manufacturing of an artificial archipelago-hill, generating smaller green areas in the garden and potentially outside the museum. The hill works as a garden, injecting “green” into the concrete plateau of the museum’s outdoor space, allowing it to serve as a stage and/or parterre for concerts and other events, or as a space to rest and look at the museum itself.

The artificial landscape will be punctuated by large “flowers” providing light, shadow, water, and sound. The materials proposed for the installation involve a two-fold recycling process, the supplying of the materials for the construction (straw, geo-textile, plastic) and the dismantling of the “hill” (turf, lighting).

stARTT is the brainchild of Simone Capra and Claudio Castaldo, a practice with interesting projects that move between landscape, city, infrastructure, and context. On this project they worked with Francesco Colangeli, Andrea Valentini and Massimo Brizzarielli worked  as green consultants.

More details after the break.

As we told you weeks ago, the MoMA and PS1 have partnered with the MAXXI (the National Museum of the 21st Century Arts in Rome) on their Young Architects Program. This partnership will result in a summer installation in the exteriors of the italian museum (a Zaha Hadid building completed last year). This installation will happen at the same time as the one at the P.S.1, designed by Interboro Partners.

As we reported weeks ago, three New York firms, one Boston firm and one British firm were competing for the 2011 summer installation of the Young Architects Program at the MoMA P.s.1.

Today, Interboro Partners was announced as the winner with their entry Holding Pattern.

The NY firm, formed by Tobias Armborst, Daniel D’Oca, and Georgeen Theodore, not only managed to meet the YAP’s budget and programatic requirements, but also established a dialogue with the neighbors, which resulted in a scheme that doesn’t so much redesign the courtyard as reveal it.

A series of meetings with a nearby taxi company, and also with senior and day care centers, high schools, settlement houses, and the local YMCA, library, and greenmarket (among others) led to a design that includes a series of eclectic objects (benches, mirrors, ping-pong tables, and floodlights) under a very elegant and taut canopy of rope strung from MoMA PS1’s wall to the parapet across the courtyard. These objects will be recycled and given to these groups, further extending the reach of the project to the neighborhood.

More details about Holding Pattern after the break.

Expect a complete coverage of the finalists and the built installation as we have done in previous years: WORK ac‘s P.F.1. Public Farm 1 in 2008, MOS‘ Afterparty in 2009, and SO-IL‘s Pole Dance in 2010.

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A while ago we visited Stephan Jaklitsch and Mark Gardner in New York. Jaklitsch/Gardner Architects, formerly Stephan Jaklitsch Architects, have made a name for themselves by designing buildings that engage their users and respond to their cultures. The conceptual framework of each project derives from the context, time and place of each project.

After two weeks and more than 15,000 nominations, we are proud to announce the finalists for the 2010 Building of the Year Award, a selection of the finest architecture made by our readers.

70 projects in 14 categories are running for the award, and the finalists list is incredible. From headquarters of large corporations, luxury hotels and incredible museums, to a temporary bar, a parking building and small apartments. The list of offices includes renowned international practices such as Herzog & de Meuron, Foster + Partners, REX, BIG, to small young firms from Sweden, Portugal, Slovenia and more.

I’d like to thank everyone who participated during the nominations round, the selection is amazing!

You can vote for your favorite projects starting today and until Feb 13th at midnight EST (all the rules here):

http://www.archdaily.com/building-of-the-year/2010/

Your votes will give you the chance to win an iPad, same as Cody McNeal who just won one for voting during the nominations round.

Remember: the office of the project with most votes during the final round will receive an HP Designjet T2300 eMFP printer.

And the finalists are: