Siza Pavilion wins prize at Hombroich’s former NATO rocket station

The Siza Pavilion, designed by Álvaro Siza and Rudolf Finsterwalder for the old rocket station at Hombroich, has been distinguished with the Grand Prix of the 2014 Fritz Höger Prize. On 20 September, this new main prize was awarded for the third time since 2008. Exhibition location: DAZ, Taut-Saal, Köpenicker Str. 48/49, 10179 Berlin, Germany
Duration: until 19 Oktober 2014

According to the jury, “the Siza Pavilion, freed from conventional design ideas, unites architecture, art and nature to produce an impressive composition. The staging of the location succeeds with the reduced museum edifice. Actually, the focus is less on the staging, and more on portraying the architecture.” As are the pavilions designed by Erwin Heerich, the façade of the Siza Pavilion, which was completed in 2009, is clad in irregular brickwork sourced from demolished houses. Used materials allow the architects to stress the timeless quality of the brick.

More than 70 nominated projects were chosen from more than 500 submissions to the competition. At the end of the selection process, the Jury decided on a total of 9 prizewinners. Along with the two main winners, Álvaro Siza and Rudolf Finsterwalder, the following projects were also awarded the Fritz Höger Prize in gold:

Public buildings, sports and leisure
VON M, Stuttgart, Germany
Museum Luthers Sterbehaus (place of Luther's death)

Office and commercial buildings
Boltshauser Architekten, Zurich, Switzerland
Conversion of "Atelierhaus" (studio house) Dubstrasse

(Multi-story) Residential building
vir.mueller architects, New Delhi, India
Defence Colony Residence

Single family houses / semidetached houses
H Arquitectes Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain
1101 House

Sustainable refurbishment
Dohse Architekten, Hamburg, Germany
Funeral forum Hamburg, Ohlsdorf district

Extensions and construction in existing contexts
Witherford Watson Mann Architects, London, UK
Astley Castle

Newcomer-Award
Jan Rösler Architekten, Berlin, Germany
Haus Stein ("Stone House")

Newcomer-Award
M+DB Architecten, Den Haag, Netherlands
House LS in Madampe, Sri Lanka

The Fritz Höger Prize for Brick Architecture, first awarded in 2008, is endowed with a total of 10,000 euros and is awarded every three years by the Initiative for Building with Brick, an association of Germany’s 14 leading brick manufacturers. Since 2011, the competition has been supported in a partnership with the Association of German Architects (BDA).