12th edition of the European Prize for Urban Public Space: the winning projects
Towards the end of the day on October 29, at Barcelona’s Centre for Contemporary Culture (CCCB), the awards ceremony for the 12th edition of the European Prize for Urban Public Space took place. Since 2000, this biennial honorary competition has recognized the most outstanding projects for the creation, transformation and rehabilitation of public spaces in European cities.
After selecting ten finalists among the 297 candidate projects from 35 different European countries last June, the international jury has finally reached its verdict. AA presents the winning projects.
Chloé Carissimi
The jury for the European Urban Public Space Award, chaired by urban architect, landscape architect and industrial designer Beth Galí, awarded first prize in the General Category to Park on Warsaw Uprising Hill by the studios topoScape and Archigrest; the first prize in the Seafront Category to Beach improvement and harborfront redevelopment in Porto do Son by the studios CREUSeCARRASCO and RVR Arquitectos.
The Park at the Warsaw Uprising Mound, by topoScape and Archigrest, 2023
Through an innovative integration of World War II ruins, the Park on Warsaw Uprising Hill is a new public space combining memory, ecology and leisure.
The jury appreciated the fact that the project was able to appeal to the memory of this place through its materiality. For example, the World War II rubble that shaped the mound is transformed into concrete to create the park’s new structures. The design incorporates the fact that space and the experience of citizens are part of a collective memory, approaching history not through monumentalism, but through a material, ecological and pedagogical approach. The park becomes a memorial in itself.
Beach improvement and redevelopment of the harbour edge by CREUSeCARRASCO and RVR Arquitectos, 2022
A new category has been added to this year’s European Prize for Urban Public Space: the « Seafront Category ». This new category rewards an additional project, and above all, draws attention to the role of coastal cities in extreme weather conditions. This project serves a dual purpose: both to renaturalise the waterfront with protective dunes for a pre-existing park, and to restore the relationship between port activity and the local community.
©rvr arquitectes (à droite)
The jury members especially applaud the fact that the project demonstrates deep understanding of the issues it addresses, including the need to protect and integrate architecture and seafront defences; the urgency of ensuring access to the water for all members of the community by connecting this experience as closely as possible with the urban fabric; the need to provide infrastructure that enhances pedestrian use of the waterfront; and the importance of safeguarding and restoring natural systems in a situation of urbanisation and climate change.
In 2024, AA explored the theme of « Water, a common good » in its September issue, now available on our online shop.
