Initiatives
Rafael Manzano Prize for New Traditional Architecture
The Rafael Manzano Prize of New Traditional Architecture is mainly aimed to promote in Spain and Portugal traditional architecture as a tool for upgrading the contemporary practice, both in the restoration of architecture or urban ensembles and in new built works which, based on local traditions, are able to harmoniously draw on the context where they are built. It is organised by INTBAU, thanks to the collaboration of Kalam, 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. The winner is awarded a €50,000 prize and a commemorative plaque, thanks to the generosity of the American philanthropist Richard H. Driehaus. It was first awarded in October 2012. Since then, it is granted annually to working practitioners who carry out their activity in Spain and, since 2017, also in Portugal.
Richard H. Driehaus Architecture Competition
It is an International Competition created to promote the practice of an architecture and urbanism which help with preserving and upholding local the cultural heritage and the architectural traditions of each region. It is organized annually by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda and INTBAU, thanks to the collaboration of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Rafael Manzano Prize for New Traditional Architecture and the Council of Architecture Institutes of Spain. The competition is conducted in two stages. In the Phase One, municipalities throughout Spain are invited to submit possible topics and sites for the project locations and an international jury chose the three submissions that best met the proposed objectives and criteria. In the second stage, architects and urbanists from anywhere in the world are encouraged to submit architectural and urban design proposals for any of the three sites that had been selected. The winning proposals for each location receive €12,000 and up to three honourable mentions are also awarded, 2,000€-worth each.
Richard H. Driehaus Building Arts Awards
The Richard H. Driehaus Building Arts Awards are awarded in Spain to the main masters in the diverse traditional building crafts, those who have stood out in preserving and keeping them alive. They are annually organized by INTBAU (International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture and Urbanism) thanks to the collaboration of Kalam, the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Rafael Manzano Prize and the Council of Architecture Institutes of Spain. Traditional building works have been grouped for these awards into four categories, each one of them awarded an annual prize of €10,000 and a commemorative plaque. In order to increase the number of proficient building arts practitioners the jury will select one of the four awardees to train an apprentice for one year, granting this master support of up to an additional €14,000 if the agreed results are achieved. The trainee also receives economic support of up to € 12,000.
Spanish Network of Traditional Building Crafts Masters
The Spanish Network of Traditional Building Crafts Masters is a national directory of best practices in the fields of traditional construction and restoration. It intends to gather all individuals and companies developing an outstanding work in the various traditional building crafts, looking for those who excel in each region at preserving and maintaining them. This directory makes these crafts more accessible to society as a whole, thus contributing to the knowledge about them and their valuation. In addition, thanks to the visibility that it provides to the masters included in it, it favours an increase in demand of their work and, with that, supports the continuation and transmission of their work. Of no less importance, is that those architects or technicians, who face the task of restoring a patrimonial property or a new construction in environments of special value, will be able to locate with greater facility the best experts to realize it satisfactorily. In both the new traditional architecture, and the restoration of historic buildings, there is generally a problem sourcing the appropriate craftsmen for each piece of work in the region where it is built. Often, the widespread ignorance of these crafts adds to the lack of diffusion of these small companies, which cannot compete with the advertising presence and accessibility within the large industry; especially on the Internet, where having a good and well positioned webpage is usually out of reach. This encourages the choice of industrial and standardized products and techniques that are foreign to local cultures and economies. This project aims to help correct this situation by providing these masters with greater visibility on a national level. It does not pretend to be a simple directory of craftsmen in construction, but also a pedagogical database, explaining the different processes of each of these arts in different geographical regions of Spain. It has been sought that the professionals involved specify their techniques, systems and tools so that they are accessible and can thus be recognized and valued in their right measure, without being confused with vulgar substitutes. More than 1900 professionals have been identified and studied, of which, after evaluating their work, more than 400 have been selected who already have their profile on the web directory. The initiative is being implemented by INTBAU with assistance from the Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute (IPCE) of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and the Rafael Manzano Prize.
Richard H. Driehaus Heritage Preservation Medal
The Driehaus Heritage Preservation Medal is a companion award to the Manzano Prize for New Traditional Architecture. As exemplified by the model of Richard Driehaus, the Medal will recognize entrepreneurs, developers, heads of foundations or other institutions that are making significant contributions to preserve and build upon heritage and architectural traditions in Spain and Portugal. There is no cash award associated with this prize but a medal, designed by Rafael Manzano Martos, will be given during the Rafael Manzano Prize ceremony at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. A video about the laurate will be shown during the ceremony. It is fitting to name this medal after Richard H. Driehaus as his support for the heritage of Spain and Portugal and the opportunity to draw on this heritage as inspiration and guidance for new work provides an outstanding model of it.
Donald Gray Grants for Building Arts
In order to increase the number of proficient building arts practitioners, among the four awardees of the Richard H. Driehaus Building Arts Awards, the jury selects one each edition, to train an apprentice for one year, granting this master support of up to an additional €14,000 if the agreed results are achieved. In selecting this master, the jury will consider the greatest need among the categories and the most likely potential for long-term success. At the same time, the trainee, who will be selected among all possible applicants, will also receive economic support during the trainee’s training. This support will amount to a total of up to € 12,000, also if the agreed results are achieved.
Journal of Traditional Building, Architecture and Urbanism
This magazine is aimed at all those people and institutions interested in traditional building, architecture and urbanism. Its articles are related to the theory and practice of these disciplines. Its objective is to promote the creation of places and buildings that are in harmony with the local culture and tradition and that are respectful of the environment and its natural resources. It also aims to provide a better knowledge of the traditional constructive cultures of the various regions of the world and, with it, a greater respect towards them that may contribute to their better preservation and to their continuity.
The publication of the Journal is organized by INTBAU Spain and the Rafael Manzano Prize for New Traditional Architecture.
International Seminars
These conferences bring together annually renowned personalities of traditional building, architecture and urbanism both national and international for two days, along with an audience made up of students, professors and other professionals. Each year, the driving force of the lectures is a topic related to traditional building, architecture or town planning, such as the conservation of tangible and intangible heritage, the preservation of the local identity, the creation of places, traditional crafts linked to construction or the existing relationships between architecture and humanism. As a result of these lectures, very interesting debates always arise and the results of many initiatives related to the discussed topics are shared together there. They are organized by INTBAU, the Rafael Manzano Prize for New Traditional Architecture and the School of Architecture of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, thanks to the collaboration of Kalam, the Fundação Serra Henriques, the Escola Superior Gallaecia, the Universidad Alfonso X el Sabio, and the Centro de Investigación de Arquitectura Tradicional (CIAT-UPM).
Summer Schools
The participants of these Summer Schools have the opportunity to study and analyse the traditional building, architecture and urbanism of the areas where these Summer Schools take place, gathering data and drawing by hand the streets and buildings and the characteristic details of the local constructive culture. During the last days of the Summer School, proposals are also carried out to improve different public spaces of the area. The aim is not only to document, to get to understand and to take in the existing relationship between architecture and urban structure of that particular landscape and culture, but to raise the awareness on the fact that we can, still today, continue to work without breaking this bond. This work is completed with visits to the workshops of master artisans and many lectures by several professionals and researchers – both local and international – on history, ethnography, architectural and constructive traditions, and many other topics related to the preservation of cultural heritage and local identity. That International Summer School is annually taking place in different locations between Spain and Portugal, and it is organized by INTBAU and the Rafael Manzano Prize for New Traditional Architecture, thanks to the collaboration of Kalam, the Fundação Serra Henriques, Alireza & Mina Sagharchi, as well as numerous universities and cultural institutions. Till now, the following institutions have collaborated: the Fundación Botín, the Universidad de Navarra, the Universidad del País Vasco, the Universidad de Cantabria, the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, the Universidad de Sevilla, the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, the Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, the Universidad Alfonso X el Sabio, the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas (Philippines), the schools of architecture of the Judson University, the Benedictine College, the University of Miami and the University of Notre Dame (USA), the Escola Superior Gallaecia, the Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), the Universidade do Algarve and the Universidade de Évora (Portugal), the Prince’s Foundation, the Institución Príncipe de Viana, the Centro de Investigación de Arquitectura Tradicional (CIAT), the Real Academia Sevillana de Buenas Letras, the Fundación Medinaceli, Infraestructures do Portugal, the Government of Cantabria, through the Consejería de Medio Rural, Alimentación y Pesca, the Câmara Municipal de Marvão, the Junta de Freguesia de Beirã, the Sociedad Aranzadi, the town halls of Madrid, Valderredible, Baztán and Marvão, among others.
Iberian Meetings
The so-called Iberian Meetings, organized by INTBAU Spain and INTBAU Portugal, bring together many professionals of many different nationalities to share their diverse approaches to the selected topic for each edition, always revolving around traditional building, architecture and urbanism, both from the conservational point of view and from the point of view of using them as a model, oriented to develop better contemporary practices. This initiative has had the support of the following universities and institutions, the Basque Government’s Department of Environment, Territorial Planning and Housing, the Provincial Council of Vizcaya, the Bilbao Town Hall, the Institute of Basque-Navarre Architects, the Escola Superior Gallaecia (ESG), the Universidad del País Vasco, the Universidad de Navarra, the Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio (UAX), the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, the Centro de Investigación de Arquitectura Tradicional (CIAT-UPM) and the Town Hall of Vila Nova de Ceveira (Portugal). In parallel to these gatherings, other complementary activities take place, such as the architectural drawing workshop of traditional constructive elements which was carried out during the first edition of these gatherings.
Exhibitions
INTBAU, thanks to the collaboration of diverse institutions, organizes annually an exhibition on traditional building, architecture and urbanism.
– With the collaboration of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Rafael Manzano Prize for New Traditional Architecture and the Council of Architecture Institutes of Spain, organizes annually an exhibition that presents the results of the Richard H. Driehaus Architecture Competition and Richard H. Driehaus Building Arts Awards.
– In 2021, with the collaboration of CentroCentro of the Madrid City Council, organized the exhibition Timeless Architecture which presents a election of the building materials, techniques and trades, and the practice of traditional architecture and urbanism. The samples chosen are based on work carried out over the last years by INTBAU.
– Moreover, it is worth mentioning the collaboration of INTBAU Spain in the organization of several exhibitions on the results of its different initiatives which have been exhibited in places such as the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, the Ministry of Public Works or the Casa da Arquitectura de Oporto.
Workshops organized by Terrachidia
INTBAU Spain collaborates with the NGO Terrachidia in the Earthen Construction and Restoration Workshops that this NGO carries out in Morocco. They are presented as a cultural immersion in the Oasis of Mhamid. There, the aim is to carry out the restoration of one relevant architectural element of its heritage, in collaboration with the local community and always by means of using traditional techniques and under the close supervision of local building masters, who introduce the participants into techniques such as adobe, rammed earth, earth renders or the tadelakt. In parallel, the tangible and intangible heritage which has shaped the landscape of this place is studied and documented.
Workshops organized by the Centro de Investigación de Arquitectura Tradicional (CIAT-UPM)
INTBAU Spain collaborates with the Centro de Investigación de Arquitectura Tradicional (CIAT) of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. The CIAT carries out different types of activities by means of researching, training and promoting the values of traditional architecture and construction, the historic city, the cultural landscape and the built heritage.
Workshops organized by Homo Faber
Homo Faber is a project carried out by Francisco Azconegui Morán and Mónica Martín Sisí. They have over thirty years of teaching and professional experience and focus their professional activity on the restoration and diffusion of ideas related to traditional building crafts. Their aim is to transmit the good work carried out in the past to be able to achieve good results in the present, by carrying out correct rehabilitations and by building new healthy homes, which are also both beautiful and sustainable.
Other initiatives which INTBAU Spain collaborates or has collaborated with
INTBAU Spain also supports or contributes in the promotion of many other workshops, seminars and conferences on topics such as the restoration of heritage, traditional and vernacular architecture, construction with earth and other traditional building techniques, and local identity. Among these, it is worth highlighting the VerSus, SOSTierra and ResTAPIA congresses, the Vault Workshops in Chiloeches and Guadalajara and the Gothic Construction Workshops in Madrid.
