Mar 17th 2016

MCHAP.emerge Finalist Announcement

IIT College of Architecture Dean Wiel Arets and Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP) Director Dirk Denison announced the MCHAP.emerge 2014/15 Finalists. The finalists will be celebrated at the April 1, 2016 MCHAP.emerge Symposium and Award Dinner at which the MCHAP.emerge 2014/15 recipient will be announced.

MCHAP is a biennial prize that acknowledges the best built works of architecture in the Americas. MCHAP.emerge is the corresponding biennial prize for the best built work from an emerging architecture practice. MCHAP was created by Dean Wiel Arets who, in his 2013 inaugural address, offered “Rethinking Metropolis” as a strategic device for the college, for research, for the development of knowledge and skills, for taking part in design exercises, for debate, and for making. Dean Arets outlined his plan for a revitalized curriculum in NOWNESS, a publication in which he announced MCHAP among other initiatives. MCHAP was officially launched in February 2014 at an event hosted by Phyllis Lambert at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal and which featured Kenneth Frampton, President of the inaugural MCHAP Jury.

The MCHAP.emerge 2014/15 Finalists were selected by the MCHAP 2014/15 Jury, led by Jury President Stan Allen, from among the 55 MCHAP.emerge 2014/15 NOMINATED WORKS of architecture in the Americas, realized between January 2014 and December 2015, which have been put forward by 95 nominators from throughout the Americas. Nominations were received in January and February and were included in the MCHAP 2014/15 Exhibition held at S. R. Crown Hall on March 4th and 5th at which time the jury held its first jury session.

The five MCHAP.emerge 2014/15 finalists are:

C.I.D.; Road to Ayquina, Chile; Emilio Marin & Juan Carlos Lopez arquitectos

Haffenden House; Syracuse, United States; Jon Lott, PARA Project

OZ Condominiums; Winnipeg, Canada; 5468796 Architecture

Pavilion on the Zocalo; Mexico City, Mexico; Productora

San Francisco Building; Asunción, Paraguay; Jose Cubilla & Asociados

The MCHAP 2014/15 Jury includes Jury President Stan Allen, architect and former Dean of Princeton University’s School of Architecture (New York); Florencia Rodriguez, editorial director of Piedra, Papel y Tijera publishers (Buenos Aires); Ila Berman, Professor of Architecture, University of Waterloo (Waterloo); Jean Pierre Crousse of Barclay & Crousse (Lima), and Dean Wiel Arets (Chicago).

The MCHAP.emerge 2014/15 Symposium and winner announcement will be held on April 1, 2016 at S. R. Crown Hall. In afternoon sessions the practices of the finalist projects will present their work and engage in substantive discussions with the jury, the IIT Architecture faculty and student body, as well as the larger MCHAP Network and Chicago architecture community. The MCHAP.emerge 2014/15 recipient will be announced at the evening award dinner. The authors of the winning project will be recognized with the MCHAP.emerge Award, the MCHAP Research Professorship in the College of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology for the following academic year, and funding of up to $25,000 USD in support of research and a publication related to the theme of ‘Rethinking Metropolis.’

MCHAP Finalist Announcement in late June

The MCHAP Jury will announce the finalists for the MCHAP 2014/15 in late June after the jury tour of the finalist sites. The tour will include visits with members of the MCHAP Network of architects, academics, and schools and is part of a strategy to build a vibrant network that unites architects working in the Americas and opens the discourse with others around the world. The exact date of the finalist announcement is to be determined.

MCHAP Symposium and Winner Announcement on October 19, 2016

IIT ‘s College of Architecture will host a day-long symposium including sessions for students, faculty and the architects and clients of the finalists in dialogue about the nominated works and how they contribute to the college’s continuing conversation -- Rethinking Metropolis. Later in the afternoon, the general public will be invited to a moderated discussion between the architects and jury about the context of contemporary practice. At the end of the day of activities the winner of the Americas Prize 2014/15 will be announced at the MCHAP Award Dinner. The author of the MCHAP winner will be recognized with the MCHAP Award, the MCHAP Chair at IIT College of Architecture for the following academic year, and funding of up to $50,000 USD, in support of research and a publication related to the theme of ‘Rethinking Metropolis.’