Grace Farms Wins MCHAP 2014-15
John Hill
20. October 2016
Photo: Dean Kaufmann
SANAA's River Building, which snakes its way across the landscape of New Canaan, Connecticut, has won the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP) that is given out every two years by the Illinois Institute of Architecture (IIT).
The announcement was made last night in an award dinner and symposium that were held at IIT's S.R. Crown Hall. Grace Farms by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of Japan's SANAA bested six finalists: Weekend House by Angelo Bucci, UTEC Campus by Grafton Architects,
Tower 41 by Alberto Kalach, Pachacamac Museum by Llosa Cortegana, Star Apartments by Michael Maltzan, and Fort York National Historic Site Visitor Centre by Patkau Architects / Kearns Mancini Architects.
The evening also included the announcement of the winner of the inaugural MCHAP.student award: (a)typical office by Tommy Kyung-Tae Nam and Yun Yun from the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. Tommy Kyung-Tae Nam works as a designer at the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM).
MCHAP was launched in early 2014 by IIT Dean Wiel Arets to recognize the most distinguished architectural works built in North and South America over a two-year period. The inaugural prize was given to two architects that spanned longer time frames: Álvaro Siza for the Iberê Camargo Foundation (covering 2000-2008) and Herzog & de Meuron for 1111 Lincoln Road (2009-2013).
The second biennial prize, which goes to SANAA's Grace Farms River Building (completed in 2015), comes with the MCHAP Award, the MCHAP Chair at IIT Architecture Chicago for the following academic year, and $50,000 in funding toward research and publication.
