Faculty in La Coruña and Station in Córdoba 

Two buildings – one in Galicia and the other in Andalusia – share the National Prize for Architecture, bestowed every two years by Spain’s Council of Architectural Institutes in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Works. The La Mancha native Manuel de las Casas is responsible for enlarging an early 20th-century hospital to accommodate the Health Sciences Faculty at the University of La Coruña – with the new construction positioned parallel to the previously existing building, framing the landscape like an enormous concrete window in a place dominated by the meeting of sea and sky. And the Galician César Portela has constructed the new bus station of Córdoba with the intention of it being more than just a utilitarian container, combining the dynamic features of transport architecture with serene spaces for waiting and seating which recreate the characteristic courtyards and streets of the Andalusian capital. Though decidedly divergent in approach, both projects profess the near devout respect for context that their authors have demonstrated in the course of their careers.