Poland’s Szczecin Philharmonic Hall wins EU contemporary architecture prize

Poland’s Szczecin Philharmonic Hall by Spanish studio Barozzi Veiga has won the EU contemporary architecture prize — the Mies van der Rohe Award 2015. The structure, which features a translucent ribbed-glass facade and a spiky roof, fought off competition from the student centre at the London School of Economics and the Danish Maritime Museum in Helsingør, Denmark for the prize of €60,000.

Erected on the ground of the Konzerthaus, a concert hall destroyed during the Second World War, the Szczecin Philharmonic hall can hold up to 1,000 spectators, and includes an additional hall for chamber music, a multifunctional space for exhibitions and conferences and a foyer for events.

The award, one of the EU’s most prestigious contemporary architecture prizes, gives a platform to projects under two years old which best represent the prize’s goal of design and technological innovation. Previous winners include the Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre in Reykjavik; the Neus Museum in Berlin and the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo.