Biblioteca municipal de Tarrasa

Organized jointly by the Ministry of Public Works, the Council of Architectural Institutes, the University of Alcalá and Menéndez Pelayo International University, the fifth Biennial of Spanish Architecture selected 21 projects in which formal moderation, tailored budgets and social dimension have become the guidelines. With ‘The Public Place’ as motto and César Portela as guide, the categories most represented numerically were housing, with six nominations, and community services, with four. But it was the municipal library of Tarrasa by Josep Llinás that walked away with the Manuel de la Dehesa Award, which since the second Biennial has singled out one work among all of the finalists. This year for the first time, two honorable mentions were awarded to three Navarrese: the civic center at Nanclares de la Oca built by Roberto Ercilla & Miguel Ángel Campo, and the rehousing facility for Valencia’s Carmen quarter designed by Eduardo de Miguel – emphasizing, hence, the character of an edition whose principal objective was to highlight the social and communitarian dimensions of the discipline.