The winning projects of the 31st MIPIM Awards are from over ten different countries, including Turkey, China, and across Europe. Announced at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, they were selected as the best achievements and the best “indications of how contemporary cities are changing.” After a field of hundreds of entries was narrowed down to the published shortlist of 46 finalists, the winners of the award’s twelve categories were chosen, along with the overall best project, which received the Special Jury Award. Among the architectural practices celebrating are two Italian firms, GaS Studio with Parisotto + Formenton Architetti, which won the Best Hotel and Tourism Resort category with the Casa di Langa project; and The Blossom Avenue Partners, which won Best Industrial & Logistics Development with its LCP Trecate project. This year, the jury, chaired by François Trausch, global CEO & CIO of Allianz Real Estate, wanted to include among the selection criteria the ability to adapt to the changes brought about by the pandemic in society, social relations, and the ways we use places and architecture.
Best Cultural & Sports Infrastructure
The winning project of the Cultural & Sports Infrastructure category was the Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet in Le Brassus, Switzerland, designed by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group. Built beside two original workshops, this all-glass structure comprises two spirals that seamlessly integrate into the existing landscape.
Best Healthcare Development
The Başakşehir Çam Ve Sakura City Hospital in Istanbul won this category, a project whose concept was the work of Perkins & Will. The project comprised the design, construction, maintenance, and operation of a new integrated hospital with a capacity of 2682 beds, comprising pediatric, cancer, neurology, orthopedics and other departments.
Best Hotel & Tourism Resort
As mentioned, Casa di Langa, designed by GaS Studio with Parisotto + Formenton Architects (Project & cost management by Arcadis Italia), won the Hotel & Tourism Resort category. Built in Cerreto Langhe, in the Italian province of Cuneo, the project is intended to offer a genuine local experience combined with rigorous eco-sustainability. Local materials and colors reinterpreted through a contemporary lens contribute to a project that perfectly integrates into its environment.
Best Industrial & Logistics Development
For this category, the jury selected a project by The Blossom Avenue Partners, an international studio with offices in Milan and New York. The innovative logistics hub in question was designed and built so that all the activities and structures needed could be housed in a single space, while connecting major national and European transport routes.
Best Mixed-Use Development
The winner of the Mixed-Use Development category is Frederiksberg Allé 41 in Copenhagen, designed by Cobe. Although encompassing shops, workshops, and cultural facilities, the project is essentially a condominium with an internal courtyard. The first of its kind in Denmark, the building has direct access to the subway station directly beneath it.
Best Office & Business Development
BNP Paribas Fortis’s headquarters in Montagne du Parc, Brussels, was designed by Baumschlager Eberle Architekten, Styfhals, and Jaspers-Eyers Architects.
Best Refurbished Building
Astoriahuset and Nybrogatan 17 in Stockholm, the work of 3XN, won in the Refurbished Building category for its union of innovation and tradition. The project focused on retaining the form, materials, and architectural details of the existing building.
Best Residential Development
For the Residential Development category, Æbeløen in Aarhus, Denmark, a project by CEBRA architects, was selected. Social diversity is a central value of the project. In fact, Æbeløen was conceived as a shared space that will benefit the community.
Best Shopping Center
CAP3000 in Saint-Laurent-du-Var, France, designed by Groupe-6, won in the Shopping Center category. The development is now regarded as the not-to-be-missed shopping mall on the French Riviera. The center benefits from a unique seaside location, in the Natura 2000 protected area of natural beauty.
Best Urban Project
The winner of this category is Borough Yards in London, designed by SPPARC. Aimed at maximizing public use and enjoyment, it features a series of connecting yards and streets that weave their way through a striking Victorian brick arched railway viaduct.
Best Futura Project
Arboretum in Nanterre, France, designed by Leclercq Associés, DREAM, Nicolas Laisné Architectes, and Hubert & Roy Architectes, was chosen as the best future project. Arboretum is the largest low-carbon office development in Europe. Located just 15 minutes from downtown Paris, it has 1.3 million square feet (125,000 m2) of offices and services built in solid wood and surrounded by 54 acres (22 h) of private gardens. It’s a striking example of post-Covid office that encourages direct access to nature.
Best Futura Mega Project
The jury selected the Hangzhou Alibaba DAMO Academy Nanhu Industry Park in Hangzhou, China, as the winner of this category. Designed by Aedas, the development comprises state-of-the-art offices, research laboratories, visitor and exhibition centers, and ancillary facilities. This world-class scientific research institute stands on the banks of Lake Nanhu.
Special Jury Award
The jury’s special award for the best project overall went to House of Music in Budapest, Hungary, designed by Sou Fujimoto. The design of House of Music, located in City Park near Lake Városliget, was inspired by the relationship between sound and nature. The first sign of this is its undulating roof that recalls sound waves. Supported by a steel structure, the inside of the roof is decorated with thousands of leaves. The large overhanging roof is also punctuated by circular openings, some of which are pierced by trees, which therefore become part of the architecture.
You can read more about Sou Fujimoto’s design in this feature.
“The winning projects of the MIPIM Awards 2022 largely reflected the theme of this year’s MIPIM,” said François Trausch, “namely, ‘driving urban change,’ not only to be more sustainable, but also to be more accessible and enjoyable. What impressed the jury most was the diversity and creativity of the projects submitted, a hallmark of our European cities and an important factor for buildings developed today for the communities of tomorrow.”
Images courtesy of MIPIM
Please refer to the individual images in the gallery to look through the photo credits