Oíza, Távora,Mendes da Rocha, Jiménez, Dieste

Spain, Portugal and Latin America have the occasion to strengthen their ties through the Iber- American Architecture and Civil Engineering Biennial, whose first edition was celebrated in Madrid during the autumn with exhibitions, conferences and debates. Within this setting, several prizes have been created to recognize careers: the Spaniard Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oíza (Cáseda, Navarra, 1918), the Portuguese Fernando Távora (Oporto, 1923) and the Brazilian Paulo Mendes da Rocha (Vitoria, Espíritu Santo, 1928) shared the architecture prize; the engineering one honored the Spaniard José Antonio Jiménez Salas (Zaragoza, 1916); and a final prize rewarded the ‘dual career’ of the Uruguayan Eladio Dieste (Artigas, 1917), who developed a system of light reinforced ceramic shells with which he has built some of the most stunning Latin American architecture of the second half of the century. All are figures of reference not only for their buildings, but for their participative role in education. Their contribution has enriched the cultural, scientific and technical dimensions of architecture and engineering.