PREVIOUS EDITIONS
The Architecture Award originated in Spain back in 2005 and following three back-to-back national editions it extended its scope to become an international event with overwhelming levels of interest. The first edition of the BigMat International Architecture Award took place in 2013, with the grand prize going to Belgian architect Xaveer de Geyter at the awards ceremony held in Granada, Spain, in November of that year. Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza was proclaimed the winner of the second edition of the event held in Berlin in November 2015. In the third edition held in 2017, French architecture studio Lacaton & Vassal emerged victorious at a ceremony held in Florence. The fourth edition, held in 2019, was won by Portuguese architect Souto de Moura at the Palais de la Bourse in Bordeaux. At the last edition of the event held in 2021, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the BigMat International group, Belgian architect Xaveer de Geyter once again won the prestigious award, this time in Paris. The upcoming 2023 edition will be the award’s sixth outing, as it sets out once again to recognise works of outstanding architecture created within the last four years across the seven countries in which BigMat is present.
Out of a total more of 1000 projects presented across the seven European countries taking part (Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain), the panel of judges chaired by Jesús Aparicio and comprising Adrien Verschuere (Belgium), Pavol Paňák (Czech Republic + Slovakia), Alexandre Theriot (France), Nicola Di Battista (Italy), Inês Lobo (Portugal + Spain) and awards secretary Jesús Donaire, singled out the following projects:
INTERNATIONAL GRAND PRIZE BMIAA’21 (30,000 euros)
Melopee School XDGA
Ghent, Belgium
Xaveer De Geyter Architects
NATIONAL PRIZE SPAIN BMIAA’21 (5,000 euros)
SPECIAL MENTION FOR YOUNG ARCHITECTS BMIAA’21 (1,500 euros)
Casa O Fieiro
Lugar de O Fieiro, Mazaricos, La Coruña, Spain
Estudio Arturo Franco
NATIONAL PRIZE CZECH REPUBLIC BMIAA’21 (5,000 euros)
Prague Eyes – Revitalization of Prague Riverfront Area
Prague, Czech republic, Rašínovo and Hořejší riverfront
Petr Janda / Brainwork
NATIONAL PRIZE FRANCE BMIAA’21 (5,000 euros)
Kervalet
Saint Avé, Brittany, France
Exercice
NATIONAL PRIZE ITALY BMIAA’21 (5,000 euros)
Pirelli Learning Center
Viale Sarca, Milano, Italy
Onsitestudio srl
NATIONAL PRIZE PORTUGAL BMIAA’21 (5,000 euros)
Lisbon Cruise Terminal
Lisbon, Portugal
Carrilho da Graça Arquitectos
NATIONAL PRIZE SLOVAKIA BMIAA’21 (5,000 euros)
New Synagogue
Zilina, Slovakia
PLURAL
Out of a total more of six hundred projects presented across the seven European countries taking part (Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain), the panel of judges chaired by Jesús Aparicio and comprising Stéphane Beel (Belgium), Petr Pelčák (Czech Republic + Slovakia), Philippe Prost (France), Paolo Zermani (Italy), Fuensanta Nieto (Portugal + Spain) and awards secretary Jesús Donaire, singled out the following projects:
INTERNATIONAL GRAND PRIZE BMIAA’19 (30,000 euros)
Power Plant for the “Foz Tua” Dam
Foz do Tua, Portugal
Souto Moura Arquitectos S.A.
NATIONAL PRIZE BELGIUM BMIAA’19 (5,000 euros)
Refuge II: Temporary House
Nevele, Belgium
Wim Goes Architectuur BVBA
NATIONAL PRIZE CZECH REPUBLIC BMIAA’19 (5,000 euros)
Kindergarten Nová Ruda
Liberec, Czech Republic
Petr Stolín Architekt s.r.o.
NATIONAL PRIZE FRANCE BMIAA’19 (5,000 euros)
The Chris Marker Student Residence
Paris, France
Éric Lapierre Experience
NATIONAL PRIZE ITALY BMIAA’19 (5,000 euros)
Belvedere per una persona
Roma, Italy
Amanzio Farris Architetto
NATIONAL PRIZE SLOVAKIA BMIAA’19 (5,000 euros)
Adaptation of the former factory Mlynica
Bratislava, Slovakia
gutgut, s.r.o
NATIONAL PRIZE SPAIN BMIAA’19 (5,000 euros)
IMPLUVIUM_Community Center in Reinosa
Reinosa, Spain
RAW/deAbajoGarcia
SPECIAL MENTION FOR YOUNG ARCHITECTS BMIAA’19 (1,500 euros)
Balenmagazijn Gent
Gent, Belgie
TRANS architectuur stedenbouw
Out of a total of almost nine hundred projects presented across the seven European countries taking part (Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain), the panel of judges chaired by Jesús Aparicio and comprising Xaveer De Geyter (Belgium), Henrieta Moravcikova (Czech Republic + Slovakia), Marc Barani (France), Francesco Isidori (Italy), Paulo David (Portugal + Spain) and awards secretary Jesús Donaire, singled out the following projects:
BIGMAT ’17 INTERNATIONAL GRAND PRIZE (30,000 euros)
FRAC (Regional Contemporary Artwork Collection) of the North Region
Dunkerque, France
Lacaton & Vassal
BIGMAT ’17 NATIONAL PRIZE BELGIUM(5,000 euros)
A Building-Square
Herstal, Belgium
Multiple Architecture & Urbanisme
BIGMAT ’17 NATIONAL PRIZE CZECH REPUBLIC (5,000 euros)
The Prototype of a House in Posazavi
Posazavi, Czech Republic
A69 – Architekty
BIGMAT ’17 NATIONAL PRIZE ITALY (5,000 euros)
Law Court Offices in Venice
Venezia, Italy
C+S Architects
PRÉMIO NACIONAL BIGMAT ’17 PORTUGAL(5,000 euros)
Abade Pedrosa Municipal Museum
Santo Tirso, Portugal
Alvaro Siza Vieira + Eduardo Souto de Moura
BIGMAT ’17 NATIONAL PRIZE SLOVAKIA
Footbridge Sulin
Sulin, Slovakia
ZeroZero
BIGMAT ’17 NATIONAL PRIZE SPAIN (5,000 euros)
Royal Collections Museum
Madrid, Spain
Mansilla + Tuñón Architects
Out of a total of almost eight hundred projects presented across the six European countries taking part (Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, the Czech Republic and Portugal), the panel of judges chaired by Jesús Aparicio and comprising Olivier Bastin (Belgium), Martin Rajnis (Czech Republic), Henry Ciriani (France), Francesco Dal Co (Italy), Manuel Aires Mateus (Portugal), Antonio Ortiz (Spain) and awards secretary Jesús Donaire, singled out the following projects:
BIGMAT ’13 INTERNATIONAL GRAND PRIZE FOR ARCHITECTURE (30,000 euros)
Office Building
Zamora, Spain
Estudio de Arquitectura Campo Baeza
BIGMAT ’15 NATIONAL PRIZE FOR BELGIUM (5,000 euros)
KAU Gymnasium
Court Saint Etienne, Belgium
URA Architects
BIGMAT ’15 NATIONAL PRIZE FOR THE CZECH REPUBLIC (5,000 euros)
Facilities for a Biotope
Honětice, Czech Republic
Prokš Přikryl architekti
BIGMAT ’15 NATIONAL PRIZE FOR THE CZECH REPUBLIC (5,000 euros)
Facilities for a Biotope
Honětice, Czech Republic
Prokš Přikryl architekti
BIGMAT ’15 NATIONAL PRIZE FOR FRANCE (5,000 euros)
The Ring of Remembrance
Notre-Dame de Lorette, France
Agence d’Architecture Philippe Prost
BIGMAT’ 15 NATIONAL PRIZE FOR ITALY(5,000 euros)
La Pedevilla Pliscia 13
Enneberg, Italy
Pedevilla Architects
BIGMAT ’15 NATIONAL AWARD FOR PORTUGAL
Casa Da Severa
Lisboa, Portugal
José Adrião Arquitetos
From among the 18 finalists, the
BigMat ’15 Special Mention for Young Architects went to
Dialogue Entre Matiere Et Paysage
Nozay, France
a+ samueldelmas architectes urbanistes
Out of a total of almost nine hundred projects presented across the five European countries taking part (Belgium, Spain, France, Italy and the Czech Republic), the panel of judges chaired by Jesús Aparicio and comprising Marie Vanhamme (Belgium), Carlos Ferrater (Spain), Dominique Perrault (France), Cino Zucchi (Italy), Zdenek Lukeš (Czech Republic) and awards secretary Jesús Donaire, singled out the following projects:
BIGMAT ’13 INTERNATIONAL GRAND PRIZE FOR ARCHITECTURE (30,000 euros)
Elishout Kitchen Tower Campus COOVI
Brussels, Belgium
Xaveer De Geyter Architects (XDGA)
BIGMAT ’13 NATIONAL PRIZE FOR THE CZECH REPUBLIC (5,000 euros)
Memorial to Victims of Communism
Liberec, Czech Republic
Petr Janda / Brainwork + Sporadical
BIGMAT ’13 NATIONAL PRIZE FOR THE CZECH REPUBLIC (5,000 euros)
Student Residence
París, France
LAN Architecture
BIGMAT ’13 NATIONAL PRIZE FOR ITALY (5,000 euros)
Via Padovani Housing
Imola, Italy
Lelli & Associati Architettura + Magazè S.R.L.
BIGMAT ’13 NATIONAL PRIZE FOR SPAIN (5,000 euros)
Atrio Relais & Châteaux Hotel and Restaurant
Cáceres, Spain
Mansilla + Tuñón
From among the 15 finalists, the
BIGMAT ’13 SPECIAL MENTION FOR YOUNG ARCHITECTS went to
Faculty of Cellular and Genetic Biology
University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
Héctor Fernández Elorza
The panel of judges handed a
SPECIAL MENTION FOR THE RECOVERY OF A HISTORIC SITE
Atrio Relais & Châteaux Hotel and Restaurant
Cáceres, Spain
Héctor Fernández Elorza
The awards ceremony was held on Friday 12 November at the Pavillon Cambon in Paris, France. In attendance were the 14 teams of architects competing for the grand prize, along with the members of the international panel of judges and representatives from the various companies belonging to the BigMat group.
Out of a total more of 1000 projects presented across the seven European countries taking part (Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain), the panel of judges chaired by Jesús Aparicio and comprising Adrien Verschuere (Belgium), Pavol Paňák (Czech Republic + Slovakia), Alexandre Theriot (France), Nicola Di Battista (Italy), Inês Lobo (Portugal + Spain) and awards secretary Jesús Donaire, awarded the BigMat International Grand Prize’21 to the Melopee School, located in Ghent, Belgium, by Belgian architect XDGA – Xaveer de Geyter Architects.
Delivering the Grand Prize was the President of BigMat International, Fabrice Maud.
The awards ceremony was held on Friday 22 November at the Palais de la Bourse in Bordeaux, France. In attendance were the 14 teams of architects competing for the grand prize, along with the members of the international panel of judges and representatives from the various companies belonging to the BigMat group.
Out of a total of 628 entries from the seven different European countries taking part (Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain), the panel of judges chaired by Jesús Aparicio and comprising Stéphane Beel (Belgium), Petr Pelčák (Czech Republic + Slovakia), Philippe Prost (France), Paolo Zermani (Italy), Fuensanta Nieto (Portugal + Spain) and awards secretary Jesús Donaire, awarded the BigMat International Grand Prize ’19 to the Power Plant for the ‘Foz Tua’ Dam, located in Foz do Tua, Portugal, by Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura.
The panellists praised the studio for “…the mastery with which Souto Moura controls the different scales conveys the importance that architecture has as a mediator between engineering and landscape…”. Delivering the Grand Prize was the President of BigMat International, Claude Coutant.
The awards ceremony was held on Friday, 24 November 2017 in the Salone dei Cinquecento of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. In attendance were the 14 teams of architects competing for the grand prize, along with the members of the international panel of judges and representatives from the various companies belonging to the BigMat group.
Out of a total of 880 entries from the seven different European countries taking part (Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain), the panel of judges chaired by Jesús Aparicio and comprising Xaveer De Geyter (Belgium), Henrieta Moravcikova (Czech Republic + Slovakia), Marc Barani (France), Francesco Isidori (Italy), Paulo David (Portugal + Spain) and awards secretary, Jesús Donaire, decided that the BigMat’17 International Architecture Award should go to architecture studio Lacaton & Vassal for its FRAC building (Regional Contemporary Artwork Collection) of the North Region, located in Dunkirk, France.
The panellists praised the studio for “…getting its attitude spot on when tackling a modern-day programme, and for wisely combining the contemporary design of the building with a respectful understanding of its existing surroundings…”. Delivering the Grand Prize was the President of BigMat International, Claude Coutant.
The awards ceremony took place on Friday, 20 November 2015 at the historic BOLLE Festsäle building in Berlin. In attendance were the 18 teams of architects competing for the grand prize, along with the members of the international panel of judges and representatives from the various companies belonging to the BigMat group.
Out of a total of 750 entries from the six different European countries taking part (Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain), the panel of judges chaired by Jesús Aparicio and comprising Olivier Bastin (Belgium), Martin Rajnis (Czech Republic), Henri Ciriani (France), Francesco Dal Co (Italy), Manuel Aires Mateus (Portugal), Antonio Ortiz (Spain) and awards secretary, Jesús Donaire, decided that the BigMat ’15 International Architecture Award should go to the office building located in Zamora, Spain, by Campo Baeza architecture studio.
The panellists praised the studio for “…getting its attitude spot on when tackling a modern-day programme, and for wisely combining the contemporary design of the building with a respectful understanding of its existing surroundings…”. Delivering the Grand Prize was the President of BigMat International, Claude Coutant.
The awards ceremony took place on Friday, 22 November 2013 at the Parque de las Ciencias building in Granada, Spain. In attendance were all the architects competing for the grand prize, along with the members of the international panel of judges and representatives from the various companies belonging to the BigMat group.
Out of a total of 864 entries from the five European countries taking part (Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Italy and Spain), the panel of judges chaired by Jesús Aparicio and comprising Marie Vanhamme (Belgium), Carlos Ferrater (Spain), Dominique Perrault (France), Cino Zucchi (Italy), Zdenek Lukeš (Czech Republic) and awards secretary Jesús Donaire, decided that the BigMat ’13 International Award for Architecture should go to the Elishout Campus COOVI kitchen tower in Brussels, Belgium, by Xaveer De Geyter Architects.
The panellists praised the winning project for being “… a triumph in terms of the actual construction and for establishing a new point of reference in a city in need of landmarks, such as Brussels…”. Delivering the Grand Prize was the President of BigMat International, Claude Coutant.
To coincide with the awards ceremony for each BigMat International Architecture Awards event, we publish a catalogue featuring images and a description of the winning entries and runners-up chosen by the panelists. These catalogues also contain the comments and thoughts of each of the panelists in relation to the winning projects. In the middle of the catalogue readers can find photographs and drawings of the winning entries and there is also an appendix providing a list of all the winning projects.
BIGMAT INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE AWARD’21
BIGMAT INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE AWARD CATALOGUE 2021
Published by: BigMat International SA
Edited by: Jesús Donaire, Jesús Aparicio + BigMat International SA
Design: Gráfica Futura
Year: 2021
BIGMAT INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE AWARD’19
BIGMAT INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE AWARD CATALOGUE 2019
Published by: BigMat International SA
Edited by: Jesús Donaire, Jesús Aparicio + BigMat International SA
Design: Gráfica Futura
Year: 2019
BIGMAT INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE AWARD’17
BIGMAT INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE AWARD CATALOGUE 2017
Published by: BigMat International SA
Edited by: Jesús Donaire, Jesús Aparicio + BigMat International SA
Design: Gráfica Futura
Year: 2017
BIGMAT INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE AWARD’15
BIGMAT INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE AWARD CATALOGUE 2015
Published by: BigMat International SA
Edited by: Jesús Donaire, Jesús Aparicio + BigMat International SA
Design: Gráfica Futura
Year: 2015
BIGMAT INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE AWARD’13
BIGMAT INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE AWARD CATALOGUE 2013
Published by: BigMat International SA
Edited by: Jesús Donaire, Jesús Aparicio + BigMat International SA
Design: Gráfica Futura
Year: 2013
