"We are happy that the exhibition has garnered so much interest," says Marta Czyż, Spokesperson at the Architecture Museum. "Around 300 people visit the exhibition daily. Similar interest was attracted by 'Picasso Dali Goya. Tauromachia.'"
"Made in Europe" brings 150 models that showcase the best architectural designs in Europe: the icons of contemporary architecture, works by the best architects and architecture studios throughout Europe and designs that have changed contemporary cities as we know them.
In total, the exhibition features 3 thousand such buildings. "Made in Europe" tells a unique story about the last 25 years in the history of European architecture. The exhibition serves as a summary of the Mies van der Rohe Award's history, the EU's most prominent award in the field of contemporary architecture. "The exhibition was created for the 2014 Biennale in Venice, and later travelled to Shanghai. Now we are making a stop-over in Wroclaw," says the exhibition's curator Ivan Blasi. "We were trying to define what we mean by contemporary architecture, and this served as an inspiration to record interviews with 60 best known architects and architecture studio representatives throughout Europe. You can now see them at the exhibition," he added.
The competition puts no limits as to the size or the function of the objects. The awarded designs range from large architectural layouts to intimate projects: all editions to date have equally acknowledged private housing, public buildings, museums and cultural institutions, sports facilities, education and health facilities and large infrastructure and transport systems. They all share one thing: they contribute to reshaping contemporary cities and serve as a testimony to the difference European architects have made in developing latest architectural solutions, technologies and environmentally friendly ideas.
The exhibition brings together 150 models awarded with both the main prize and the special prize for young architects as well as designs short-listed for the final and ca. 3,000 visualisations of the designs registered for the Award since 1988.
The highlights include: Stansted Airport Terminal, London; Waterloo Railway Station, London; Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; Netherlands' Embassy, Berlin; Opera House, Oslo; a middle school in Koprivnica, Croatia; Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland; a public transport hub at the Wroclaw Stadium in Maślice, designed by Zbigniew Maćków's architecture studio.
The exhibition is open to the public until 13 March, but the next instalment in the "Made in Europe. 25 Years of European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award" cycle is scheduled for 15 February. The event is expected to showcase both the winners of and the designs short-listed for the 2015 edition of the Award.
