Winner of the RIBA International Prize for Architecture is a university in Peru
The winner of the inaugural RIBA International Prize for Architecture has gone to an engineering university in Peru.
The UTEC building in Lima was priased by judges for being a shining example of merging form and function, with its brutalist design the perfect foil for the no-nonsense academic work that takes place inside.
The judging panel praised the "Exceptional example of civil architecture," adding that the project was "designed with people at its heart."
Designed by Grafton Architects, RIBA says the building has created a new way to think about a university campus, with a distinctive ‘vertical’ layout. The structure is built to respond to the temperate climatic conditions – vital in Lima's changeable weather – and referencing Peru’s terrain and heritage.
Among the other nominees were The Ring of Remembrance at Notre-Dame-de-Lorette and the Stormen Concert Hall in Bodø, Norway. Here are the short-listed projects: