The award ceremony will take place in Paris on Friday, 12 November, at Pavillon Cambon, and will be part of the international congress of the BigMat Group, where all the brand’s partners will gather to celebrate 40 years of BigMat in Europe.
The 14 finalist projects from the over 1000 entries submitted to this year’s edition will be present on Friday, 12 November at the international congress of the BigMat Group, where the seven Finalists, six National Prizes and a 30,000€ worth Grand Prize will be revealed. The event will take place at the Pavillon Cambon, a prominent venue close to the Place Vendôme and Opéra Garnier in the heart of Paris.
This year, the 5th edition of the BigMat International Architecture Award’21 focuses on small-scale projects to mark the 40th anniversary of the BigMat group, the leading international brand of independent construction material distributors.
From among the 1,000-plus projects entered into the competition, the final meeting of award panellists held on 12 July at the Higher Technical School of Architecture in Madrid, comprising Adrien Verschuere, Pavol Panak, Alexandre Theriot, Nicola di Battista, Inês Lobo, Jesús Aparicio, awards chairman, and Jesús Donaire, acting as secretary, short-listed the projects to compete in Paris for the Grand Prize and for the national and finalist prizes for Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain.
In the words of Jesús Aparicio, awards chairman, “The BigMat International Architecture Award’21 has demonstrated the extraordinary pedigree of European architecture and has been a huge success, not only for the record number of projects entered, but also for their quality, covering a broad spectrum of scales and architectural approaches, from ephemeral projects to major urban developments.”
The complete list of short-listed projects is as follows:
Hangar à Sel by GoffartPolomè Architectes
BigMat ’21 Finalist for Belgium
Melopee School by XDGA – Xaveer De Geyter Architects
BigMat ’21 Finalist for Belgium
PragueEyes by Petr Janda / Brainwork
BigMat ’21 Finalist for Czech Republic
White Shed by ATELIER 111 architektis.r.o.
BigMat ’21 Finalist for Czech Republic
Kervalet by Exercice
BigMat ’21 Finalist for France
MaillonTheater by LAN (Local Architecture Network)
BigMat ’21 Finalist for France
Panta Rei Beach by Toffoli Architetti
BigMat ’21 Finalist for Italy
Pirelli Learning Center by Onsitestudio srl
BigMat ’21 Finalist for Italy
Bar & Pavilion in Belém by Bak Gordon Arquitectos
BigMat ’21 Finalist for Portugal
LisbonCruise Terminal by Carrilho da Graça Arquitectos
BigMat ’21 Finalist for Portugal
New Park in Leopoldov by n-1
BigMat ’21 Finalist for Slovakia
New Synagogue by PLURAL
BigMat ’21 Finalist for Slovakia
Casa O Fieiro by Estudio Arturo Franco
BigMat ’21 Finalist for Spain
Viviendas Sociales en Cornellà by Peris + Toral Architectes
BigMat ’21 Finalist for Spain
THE BIGMAT INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE AWARD
The BigMat Group was founded in 1981 with the aim of facilitating the distribution of construction materials through partnerships with business owners. The International Architecture Award originated in Spain in 2005 before expanding internationally after three editions, attracting large numbers of participants.
Since its first international edition in 2013, the BigMat Award has rewarded the best contemporary architectural projects carried out in the seven countries where BigMat operates. Previous editions’ Grand Prize has been awarded to Belgian architect Xaveer de Geyter (2013), Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza (2015), the French office Lacaton&Vassal (2017) and Portuguese architect Souto de Moura (2019).
After over 20,000 applications over the last 8 years, BigMat is proud to celebrate its company’s 40th Anniversary with another edition of the Prize, dedicated to smaller-scale architecture which has become ever more relevant in our uncertain times.
