The 2021 call for the Rafael Manzano Prize for New Traditional Architecture is open

Entries for the 2021 Rafael Manzano Prize for New Traditional Architecture can be submitted until March 23rd. The award addresses one more year to architecture practitioners who develop their activity in Spain and Portugal. The award selection will be based on the contribution that the applicant has made in the field of architecture and urbanism while respecting their traditional principles in the restoration of monuments, public spaces, and urban settings of historic and artistic value; or in the creation of harmoniously integrated new structures and public spaces based on local traditions.

We invite you to spread this call and, to all those who may be candidates, to apply.

This award does not intend to honor the architects whose works best represent the latest architectural trends, or those whose interventions involve avant-garde transformations of our heritage; on the contrary, it is addressed to those architects whose work has contributed to the preservation, continuation and adaptation to contemporary needs of the building, architectural and urban traditions which define the identity of the places where they were built.

Thus, they are practitioners who, instead of seeking notoriety and novelty through their works, play an important role which is not sufficiently honored because the results, often remain unnoticed, precisely due to their evident continuity with the past.

It is an initiative organised by INTBAU (the International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture & Urbanism), thanks to the support of the Richard H. Driehaus Charitable Trust, through a contribution to the Chicago Community Trust for the Richard H. Driehaus Charitable Fund, and the Fundación Ekaba, with the collaboration of the Fundação Serra Henriques, the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando and Hispania Nostra Association, and with the high patronage of His Excellency the President of the Portuguese Republic.

1

Open to all active architects who have developed their profession in Spain or Portugal for at least ten years.

2

The award selection will be based on the contribution that the applicant has made in the field of architecture and urbanism while respecting their traditional principles in the restoration of mouments, public spaces, and urban settings of historic and artistic value; or in the creation of harmoniously integrated new structures and public spaces based on local traditions.

3

The award may be granted for a particular work or based on the assessment of multiple works carried out over a professional life.

4

Candidates must submit, by 23 March 2021, the following documentation:

• Two recommendation letters signed by architects, architectural historians, preservationists or others of recognized professional standing.
• A written professional biography of 250-500 words.
• Justification of no more than one-page, in Spanish or Portuguese and in English, summarizing the reasons why the nominee should receive the award.
• No more than ten images in digital format (jpg or tiff, 300dpi) for each project submitted with a limit of five projects per candidate. These images should include pictures, plans and drawings of the submitted projects. A brief explanation, in English and in Spanish or Portuguese, may accompany each project totaling no more than 250 words per explanation.

5

Prior applicants may be considered for the 2021 Award by submitting a written request. Candidates may update their submittals with additional images and documentation.

6

The Jury will be composed of personalities from the world of Architecture and Fine Arts.

7

The award will be presented at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid.