The Awards are made in recognition of projects that best reflect the development of Spanish ceramic tiles in cutting edge architecture.
This will be the seventh year of the Awards and the quality of the winning work and the calibre of the juries each year mean that they enjoy considerable recognition and prestige amongst professionals. This year's jury is to be chaired by American architect and director of the Miami Art Museum Terence Riley. Riley is a great expert on contemporary architecture, having led the architecture department at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) from 1992 to 2006. While there he curated the "On-Site: New Arquitecture in Spain" exhibition that showed 52 Spanish architecture projects and focused on architecture's extraordinary moment in Spanish art.
The rest of the jury will comprise prominent architects Beth Galí, Alfredo Payá, Ángela García de Paredes, Luis Fernández-Galiano, interior designer Tomás Alía, and president of the Castellón Guild of Architects Ramón Monfort.
The two main categories in the Tile of Spain Awards are Architecture and Interior Design, which each have a prize fund of 20,000 Euros. There is also a Degree Projects category to the competition which is aimed at students of Architecture and has a prize fund of 10,000 Euros. The Awards are sponsored by Vodafone España, Gas Natural and the Valencia Port Authority.
The Tile of Spain Awards have evolved significantly. Some of the winning projects in the architecture category in the last few years have included: the Spanish Pavilion at the Aichi Expo in Japan by Alejandro Zaera and Farshid Moussavi, the Castilla La Mancha Archives in Toledo by Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra, the renovation of Santa Caterina Market in Barcelona by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue, the revamp of San Vicente Street in Burriana and the Peñíscola Conference Centre by Ángela García Paredes and Ignacio García Pedrosa.Competition entries and all required supporting documents must be received by 31st October.
The architecture category of the Tile of Spain Awards gives recognition to work undertaken in the discipline in the context of new builds, renovation and restoration of existing buildings, urban redevelopment and outdoor landscaping.
The Interior Design category singles out the best work in decorating the interior of a new building, decoration in renovation and restoration projects and the decoration of spaces created for temporary purposes. Work being entered in either of the above two categories must have been completed during the period January 2007-October 2008. It is a basic requirement that these entries use floor and/or wall tiles made in Spain as a significant material in the structure of the building.
Past presidents of the jury include distinguished professionals such as: Eduardo Souto de Moura, Carlos Ferrater, Luís Moreno Mansilla, Patxi Mangado, Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra and Mathías Klotz.