The Royal Institute of British Architects announced the winners of the first RIBA International Prize for the world’s best building this week. The new award goes to the Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología (UTEC) in Lima, by Ireland-based firm Grafton Architects, who has also been nominated for the prestigious Beazley Design of the Year Award.“UTEC is an exceptional example of civil architecture—a building designed with people at its heart,” the grand jury under the helm of Richard Rogers explained in a statement. “Grafton Architects have created a new way to think about a university campus, with a distinctive ‘vertical campus’ structure responding to the temperate climatic conditions and referencing Peru’s terrain and heritage.”“UTEC has been designed to encourage its students to interact in a unique way with the building. The vertical structure provides open circulation and meeting spaces in a succession of platforms that compose the ‘frame’ of the building; teaching rooms, laboratories and offices are enclosed, inserted into and suspended from the exposed concrete structure. The frame is a device providing shade, a place of rich spatial exuberance and a platform from which to view the life of the city. The entire life of this vertical campus is on full display to the people of Lima.”“The RIBA International Prize was created to celebrate civil architecture that empowers people and societies to innovate and progress,” RIBA President Jane Duncan added. “UTEC stood out from all other entries from around the world, clearly demonstrating its understanding, engagement with and concern for those who are lucky enough to live near, visit, teach and learn in it. The RIBA is delighted to award Grafton Architects the 2016 RIBA International Prize.”Further contenders for the 2016 RIBA International Prize included the Arquipelago Contemporary Arts Centre, Menos é Mais, by Arquitectos Associados with João Mendes Ribeiro Arquitecto, Lda; the Heydar Aliyev Centre by Zaha Hadid Architects with DiA Holding; the Museo Jumex, by David Chipperfield Architects with Taller Abierto de Arquitectura y Urbanismo (TAAU); the Stormen Concert Hall, Theatre and Public Library by DRDH Architects, and The Ring of Remembrance, International WWI Memorial of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Agence d’architecture Philippe Prost (AAPP).
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