OMA receives BNA Kubus 2007 (NL)

The Royal Institute of Dutch Architects will grant its highest honor, the annual Kubus Award, to the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) for its entire oeuvre. The jury praises the enormous influence of OMA's work for architecture in the Netherlands and far beyond.

The BNA Kubus jury 2007 was unanimous about granting the award to OMA for its special contribution to architecture in the Netherlands. The jury appreciates the excellence in craftsmanship as illustrated by the body of OMA's built work. According to the jury OMA's impressive oeuvre in the Netherlands stands for optimism and audacity. Dutch works include Kunsthal Rotterdam, the Netherlands Dance Theatre in The Hague, the Utrecht University campus building Educatorium, the Souterrain subterranean tram stations in The Hague, the new city center of Almere and as a piece of Dutch territory abroad: the Netherlands Embassy in Berlin, Germany.

The jury believes that OMA is not only able to create spaces of unique beauty that show a profound attention to detail but also that the methods employed by the office have an extremely strong influence on the smooth running of projects. The office maintains a non-conventional way of design and approaches every commission with unconditional energy. OMA is able, says the jury, to tackle a commission head on and to question the brief in unique and original ways thereby managing to find solutions that are beyond the conventional.
With this award the jury honors the extensive range of completed works in the Netherlands and abroad and recognizes OMA's unique contribution to the profession of architect and office practice on both a national and international scale.

The award was presented on November 10th in OMA's Kunsthal by the Dutch minister for the Environment and Spatial Planning, Jacqueline Cramer. The award was accepted by OMA partners Ellen van Loon, Floris Alkemade and managing partner Victor van der Chijs.
Tha BNA Kubus is the highest form of recognition from the Royal Society of Dutch Architects awarded for special merit for architecture in the Netherlands. It is highly unusual that an office receives the honor as a collective, usually the award is granted to a single person. The BNA honors by this the Office for Metropolitan Architecture as an outstanding collaborative practice.

Source: OMA

Related News