Anna Ramos (Mies van der Rohe Foundation) and Hughes Becquart (European Commission – Directorate General for Education and Culture) will be the first to present to the public, at the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO), the five finalists of the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award 2017, who were announced by the jury the day before in Barcelona. Also taking part in the presentation, together with other honorary guests, will be member of the award's advisory committee and director of MAO, Matevž Čelik.

The European Commission and the Mies van der Rohe Foundation have announced the five finalists selected from 40 shortlisted projects among 355 nominees:
deFlatKleiburg, Amsterdam, NL Architects and XVW architectuur, Amsterdam (Authors: Walter van Dijk (NL) and Xander Vermeulen Windsant (NL))
Ely Court, London, Alison Brooks Architects, London (Authors: Alison Brooks (UK))
Kannikegården, Ribe, Lundgaard &Tranberg Architects, Copenhagen (Authors: LeneTranberg (DK) and Boje Lundgaard (DK))
Katyn Museum, Warsaw, BBGK Architekci, Warsaw (Authors:Jan Belina-Brzozowski (PL) and Konrad Grabowiecki (PL))
Rivesaltes Memorial Museum, Rivesaltes/Ribesaltes, Office: Rudy Ricciotti, Bandol (Author:Rudy Ricciotti (FR))

Stephen Bates, architect and Chairman of the Jury declared: “Our instincts could be summed up by the words of Peter Smithson: ‘things need to be ordinary and heroic at the same time’. We were looking for an ordinariness whose understated lyricism is full of potential’.”
Malgorzata Omilanowska, art historian, former Minister of Culture in Poland and member of the Jury, highlighted: “social housing, memory and the problem of context and new constructions in the old city centres have proven to be important to us as a Jury. The finalist works show the problematic of our time; what has happened in the last year reveals the really deep problem of populism and the lack of memory. These 5 projects show the problem that we face as citizens, not only as architecture specialists, but as members of today’s society.”
While Anna Ramos, Director of the Fundació Mies van der Rohe, underlined: “The Jury’s selection consolidates the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award as a strategic element by which to promote research into, debate on and dissemination of contemporary architecture in Europe. Issues such as collective housing, the complexity of the European city – both contemporary and historical – and the ability of architecture to create symbolic spaces provide us with the opportunity to extend the debate on the finalist works beyond architectural circuits, because they respond to the concerns of today’s European society.”

The presentation in Ljubljana will take place in the framework of the Future Architecture platform conference organised by the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO). The Future Architecture patform and the Mies van der Rohe Award are the central projects financed by the European Commission in the field of architecture, and the participants at the MAO conference will also be looking at ways in which the work of these two projects can be connected as effectively as possible.

The award winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona on 26 May 2017. More on the 5 finalists.