6th Ascer Architecture and Interior Design Award

Feb 14, 2008

Announced the day before the opening of Cevisama and presented at the end of the annual press conference organised by the Spanish ceramic tile manufacturers’ association Ascer, this year’s architecture and interior design awards went to José Durán Fernández and María Hurtado de Mendoza Wahrolén, César Jiménez de Tejada Benavides and José María Hurtado de Mendoza Wahrolén.
Now in their sixth edition, the awards are presented to the best projects making innovative use of Spanish ceramic tiles.

The jury, led by renowned international architect Eduardo Souto de Mora and consisting of Rafael de La-Hoz and Jacob Van Rijs from the Dutch firm MVRDV, Felipe Pich-Aguilera from Pich Architects, Fernando Menis, Mercé Berengué from the firm Roldán+Berengué, and Ramón Monfort, chairman of the College of Architects of Castellón, unanimously assigned the architecture category award to the project Colour Revolution by José Durán Fernández. According to the jury’s statement, the redevelopment project for the San Vicente de Burriana road in Castellón “makes use of only two materials – ceramic tiles and colour – transforming the road into a new urban entity”.

In the interior design category, the jury unanimously awarded the first prize to the project Centro Municipal de Salud de San Blas in Madrid, work of the firm Entresitio of María Hurtado de Mendoza Wahrolén, César Jiménez de Tejada Benavides and José María Hurtado de Mendoza Wahrolén. The project was judged to be of merit for its “consistency in the use of materials in the interior and exterior, which include ceramic as a mirror to reflect light through courtyards and skylights”.

The jury also gave an honourable mention to the Palencia Law Court project by Isabel Garcia Vazquez. “A disquieting grouping of boxes where the quality of ceramic and the light orient the observer and lend order to the labyrinth”.

Degree thesis project

In addition to the awards presented to professionals who are already in their careers, Ascer also assigns an award to the best final degree project in which ceramic plays an important role carried out by Spanish or international architecture students at the end of their degree courses.

For this category the jury assigned the first prize to the project ‘CDAC – Contemporary Architecture Documentation Centre’ by Sergio Bruns Banegas. The jury commented on the project’s “perfect integration with the urban fabric, where ceramic tiles are used consistently with the concept of territorial integration”.