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Set up in 1982 by the architect Philippe Rotthier, this triennial prize aims to reward contemporary examples of architecture that best illustrate those urban architectural principles on which our most beautiful European cities were based.

The prize will be awarded for the sixth time in February 2002.

The prize is worth a total of 30,000 euros, given in one or more awards.

It is one of the rare prizes that rewards projects that consciously identify with the traditional concept of the town or city as seen through European eyes.It aims to break the isolation and silence which surrounds an important part of modern architectural production and to draw attention to work which is often ignored by the journals and exhibitions dedicated to architecture.Its aim is also to encourage the general public, elected representatives and sponsors to have high standards concerning architecture and urbanism.
This prize shows that quality architecture and renovation, of which Europeans can be rightly proud, is still possible today and that shoddy design, like bad food, is not necessarily inevitable.

Prize-winning projects from the previous five awards have included:a face-lift for the historic centre of Bordeaux,the rebuilding of a whole district in the town of Fuentarrabia in the Basque country, the expansion of the village of Gassin in Provence,the rebuilding of Saturday Square in Frankfurt,the expansion of a village on the Greek island of Spetses,the creation of four housing developments in the Parma region,the reconstruction of the area surrounding Orleans cathedral ,the rebuilding of a street in the heart of Brussels,not forgetting the creation of a new covered market in Bayonne, local authority housing on the island of Mayotte, a rural school in Rumania.

Many well-known European personalities from the world of art and architecture have sat on the various juries: amongst them the architects Maurice Culot, Anne-Thérèse Dazelle, Abdel Wahed El-Wakil, Alberto Ferlanga, Charles Jencks, Léon Krier, Antxon Martinez, Manfred Sunderman, Pierre Sicard, the art historians Bruno Foucart, François Loyer and David Watkin, the journalists and critics Dan Cruickshank, Sergio Frau and Gabriel Lefèvre.

Any project undertaken between 1998 and 2001 and which contributes in some way to the improvement of the world of buildings, public spaces or the landscape, is eligible for entry.

The jury will be particularly interested in work that is part of a coherent whole, in harmony with its surroundings, integrating local and regional details, and in general making use of durable, eco-friendly materials and methods. They will also reward projects that make allowances for the history of the place and the fragments that make up the whole, that are involved in creating streets and squares, that use appropriately the local styles of architecture and know-how.

The competition is open to all types of buildings and developments. Restoration and conversion work will only be eligible if it includes new additions or extensions that are in harmony with the original building.

The projects must be completed or close to completion and must not have been started prior to January 1998.

In 2001, the jury will be composed of the following, among the european architects Maurice Culot, Bernard Huet, Léon Krier, Alexis Pontvik, Oscar Tusquets,as well as the following well-known figures: Jean Clair, Matali Crasset, Amos Gitaï, Maïté Hudry, Françoise Lalande, Batolomeu Mari, Marie Nagy, Jean-Paul Pigeat, Joëlle Pigeaudier, Anne et Patrick Poirier, Herman Reynders.

Philippe Rotthier, the architect and founder of the competition, will also take part in the jury’s deliberations.Nathalie Filser will ensure the smooth running of the competition under the auspices of the Fondation pour l’Architecture.

The jury will sit in Brussels in October 2001.

The official prize-giving ceremony will take place in February 2002 at the CIVA, Centre International pour la Ville, l’Architecture et le Paysage, in Brussels. A book summing up the Philippe Rotthier European prize for architecture, including details of the latest prizewinners will be published to coincide with this ceremony. The prize-winning entries will also be the subject of an exhibition to be mounted by the Fondation pour l’Architecture, a member of CIVA, in Brussels.

Entries must be submitted no later than :

The 15thof september 2001 to the
Fondation pour l’Architecture
55, rue de l’Ermitage
1050 Bruxelles / Brussels
Belgium
Tel. 32. (0)2 / 642 24 80
Fax. 32. (0)2 / 642 24 82
E-mail. fondation.architecture@skynet.be