The exhibition presents the most important architectural realisations to be created in Europe over the course of 2022 and 2023. The forty structures on show are those awarded and titled in the latest edition of the EUmies Awards 2024 - the winners of the main prize, the special prize for young architects and the realisations on the so-called ‘short list’ qualifying for the finals.

The winner of the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture Mies van der Rohe Awards 2024 was the student pavilion of the Technical University of Braunschweig - a project by the studio led by architects Gustav Düsing and Max Hacke. Situated right next to the river, the building stood on the main axis of the campus. The interior of the pavilion is an innovative and open educational space, seamlessly linking communicative and usable areas, which can be easily adapted to the changing needs of users. The single-storey building consists of a series of platforms and bridges to the outside, and instead of fixed walls, zones have been created that can be freely shaped. The building’s modular steel and timber structure can be fully dismantled and follows the principle of re-use.

The Study Pavilion of the Technical University of Braunschweig, photo by Iwan Baan, Fundacio Mies van der Rohe Barcelona

The Study Pavilion of the Technical University of Braunschweig, photo by Iwan Baan, Fundacio Mies van der Rohe Barcelona

The García Márquez Library in Barcelona - winner of a special award for young talent (Emerging Architecture Winner), designed by Spanish bureau SUMA Arquitectura - is a building located in a socially diverse and for many years neglected area of the city. Work on the architectural design was accompanied by a research project to redefine the contemporary library model. The wooden body of the 6-storey edifice resembles a pile of books and sits on an elevated square, accessible to all and surrounded by trees, which is an extension of the pedestrian axis of the neighbourhood.

García Márquez Library in Barcelona, photo by Jesus Granada, Fundacio Mies van der Rohe Barcelona

García Márquez Library in Barcelona, photo by Jesus Granada, Fundacio Mies van der Rohe Barcelona

The five finalists for the EUmies Awards 2024 also include: The Plato Gallery of Contemporary Art in Ostrava, Czech Republic (designed by KWK Promes), the Reggio School in Madrid (designed by Andres Jaque/Office for Political Innovation), the extension of the Convent of St. Francis in Sainte-Lucie-de-Tallano, Corsica (designed by Amelia Tavella Architectes), the square and tourist information office in the Portuguese town of Piódão (designed by Branco del Rio architects) and the Häge public space in Lund, Sweden, designed by Brendeland & Kristoffersen architects.

The EUmies Awards is the European Union’s most important award for contemporary architecture, and has been awarded since 1988 by the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Foundation in Barcelona. There is no limit to the scale or function of buildings in this competition. From large-scale architectural settings to intimate realisations, all editions of the competition to date have included private homes, public buildings, museums and cultural institutions, sports facilities, educational and healthcare facilities, as well as large-scale infrastructure projects and transport systems.

A total of 362 projects from 38 countries were nominated for the 18th edition of the competition, which covers realisations between 2022 and 2023. From these, the members of the jury selected 40 buildings that, in their opinion, best promote smart, socially engaged and sustainable architecture. All these realisations, presented in the form of models as well as large-format photographs, sketches and plans, will be seen in Poland only once - at an exhibition at the Museum of Architecture in Wrocław.

Organiser: Fundació Mies van der Rohe Barcelona

Co-funded by the European Union.