Martínez Lapeña y Torres

Since 1932 the Spanish Government has given the National Award for Architecture, which has gone through many ups and downs and changes of direction over the years, but which is still the most prestigious award in Spain. The prize hadn’t been convened since 2015 – year it went to Rafael Moneo –, and in its 2016 edition it has gone to José Antonio Martínez Lapeña and Elías Torres (JAMLET), the acclaimed duo based in Barcelona which has for forty-five years now been producing works characterized by formal quality and a commitment to experiment with a wide diversity of scales and architectural types. The jury has also acknowledged a body of work of admirable continuity: the continuity thanks to which, despite being conceived for very different contexts as well as very different programs, the buildings of this extraordinary architectural partnership never fail to ooze a recognizable, familiar air; and the continuity manifested by the fact that all these years the partners have maintained a coherent attitude centered on the architectural discipline and largely distanced from fashions.