The James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin Wing designed by Rick Mather Architects + SMBW. (Photography by Bilyana Dimitrova)
RICHMOND, VA - The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the 2011 RIBA International Awards for buildings displaying architectural excellence, and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is one of the 13 recipients, among only three United States projects. From Foster + Partner's futuristic Masdar Institute and Zaha Hadid's curvaceous Guangzhou Opera House to Rick Mather Architects + SMBW's John W. and Frances G. McGlothlin Wing at VMFA, the awards recognize a star-studded cast of imaginative and breathtaking buildings.
This year also sees the dramatic rebuilding and renovation of buildings including the Iron Market in Port au Prince - seen as Haiti's "Eiffel Tower" - and the transformation from empty factory to housing of the Stanislavsky Factory in Moscow, both by John McAslan + Partners.
The RIBA International Awards are presented to architecture practices based outside of the United Kingdom for buildings anywhere outside the United Kingdom, or for practices based in Britain and working outside of the European Union. All winners are eligible for the RIBA Lubetkin Prize, which is awarded to the best international building by a RIBA member. The winner of the RIBA Lubetkin prize will be announced on October 1, 2011 at Magna Science and Adventure Centre in Rotherham, England, and will be broadcasted along with the RIBA Stirling Prize as a special edition of BBC TWO's The Culture Show.
The full list of 13 RIBA International Award winners:
• Masdar Institute, Masdar City, Abu Dhabi
• Brain and Mind Research Unit - Youth Mental Health Building University, Sydney, Australia
• Guangzhou Opera House, Guangzhou, China
• Iron Market, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
• Alila Villas Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia
• Stanislavsky Factory, Moscow, Russia
• School of the Arts, Singapore
• Galleria Centercity Department Store, Cheonan, South Korea
• Laboratory Building, Basel, Switzerland
• Loft Gardens, Istanbul, Turkey
• Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass.
• North College, Rice University, Houston, Tex.
• Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Va.
For additional information, call 804-340-1400 or visit www.vmfa.museum.
• To read a 2009 A! Magazine story on the VMFA and the McGlothlin Wing, click here.
About RIBA: The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) champions better buildings, communities and the environment through architecture and its members. The RIBA Lubetkin Prize is named in honor of Berthold Lubetkin, the Georgia-born architect who worked in Paris before coming to London in the 1930s to establish the influential Tecton Group. He is best known for the two Highpoint apartment blocks in Highgate and the Penguin Pool at London Zoo. For more information, visit www.architecture.com.
About the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts: With a collection of art that spans the globe and more than 5,000 years, plus a wide array of special exhibitions, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is recognized as one of the top comprehensive art museums in the United States. The museum's permanent collection encompasses more than 23,000 works of art, including the largest public collection of Fabergé outside Russia and one of the nation's finest collections of American Art, Art Nouveau and Art Deco. VMFA is home to acclaimed collections of English Silver and Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, British Sporting and Modern & Contemporary art, as well as renowned South Asian, Himalayan and African art. In May 2010, VMFA opened its doors to the public after a transformative expansion, the largest in its 75-year history. Programs include educational activities and studio classes for all ages, plus fun after-hours events. VMFA's Statewide Partnership program includes traveling exhibitions, artist and teacher workshops, and lectures across the Commonwealth. General admission is always free.
