Selected among 27 candidates from 16 countries, José María Sánchez García is the fourth architect – the first European – to take home the BSI Swiss Architectural Award, after Solano Benítez of Paraguay, Diébédo Francis Kéré of Burkina Faso and Studio Mumbai. Co-sponsored by the Federal Office for Culture in Bern and the Academy of Architecture of Mendrisio, and totalling 100,000 CHF, the prize acknowledges the career of architects under 50 who “have made a significant contribution to contemporary architecture, in particular by demonstrating environmental awareness (...)” These are the requirements that Sánchez García, born in 1975 in Don Benito (Badajoz) fulfilled. Sánchez is the author of exquisite pieces in sensitive contexts, like the Sports Innovation Center in Cáceres or the restoration of the Temple of Diana site in Mérida, works which in words of Jury president Mario Botta “are evidences to the maturity of an architect who, though under the age of 40, is able to work with rigor and precision in a wide variety of contexts, from restoring archaeological sites in urban areas to building sports facilities in a striking landscape.”