Oct 2 2007
With just one week to go before the Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) Stirling Prize winner is announced, debate surrounding which building the jury will pick to be the 2007 winner is hotting up. The latest betting odds published by William Hill, put British architect David Chipperfield’s America’s Cup building in Valencia as their current favourite, with odds of 3/1.
The £20,000 prize, now in its 12th year, is awarded to the architects of the building that has made the greatest contribution to British architecture in the past year. The winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize in association with the Architect’s Journal will be announced live on Channel 4 on Saturday 6 October at 8pm.
Joint second favourites are a striking concert hall in Portugal, a modern pavilion in Windsor Great Park, and the Museum of Modern Literature in Germany. The final two in the running are the reconstruction of London’s Young Vic Theatre and the redevelopment of Dresden Station.
The six buildings competing for this year’s RIBA Stirling Prize with William Hill’s current odds, are:
- America's Cup Building, Valencia, Spain by David Chipperfield Architects (odds:3/1)
- Casa da Musica, Porto, Portugal by Office for Metropolitan Architecture with Arup-AFA (odds:7/2)
- Dresden Station Redevelopment, Dresden, Germany by Foster + Partners (odds:5/1)
- Museum of Modern Literature, Marbach am Neckar, Germany by David Chipperfield Architects (odds:7/2)
- The Savill Building, Windsor, by Glenn Howells Architects (odds:7/2)
- Young Vic Theatre, London SE1 by Haworth Tompkins (odds:7/1)
The RIBA Stirling Prize jury, which has visited all six shortlisted buildings and will meet for a final time on the day of the presentation to pick the winner, comprises architecture specialists and lay judges from the arts. The 2007 judges are Tom Bloxham MBE – chair, Urban Splash; Alain de Botton – author and philosopher; Louisa Hutton – architect; Kieran Long – Editor, The Architects’ Journal and Sunand Prasad – architect and RIBA President.
Previous winners include Barajas Airport by Richard Rogers Partnership, The Scottish Parliament by EMBT / RMJM Ltd, 30 St. Mary Axe by Foster + Partners, the Laban Centre by Herzog & de Meuron, Gateshead Millennium Bridge by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, and Peckham Library and Media Centre by Alsop Architects.
This year’s RIBA Stirling Prize is presented in association with The Architects’ Journal. The evening’s Associate Sponsors are Autodesk, SIV Architectural Career Management and Buro Happold.