MWCC and CEIDA have presented the first edition of the Architecture Madrid Awards (AMA). The event was organized by Zhao Kai, president of the China Europe International Design Association (CEIDA) and David García Núñez, president of Madrid World Capital (MWCC), two of the promoters of an event called to be an international benchmark and position the city of Madrid as the world capital of architecture.

After celebrating its editions last year in the cities of Milan (Italy), Paris (France), Los Angeles (USA), Tokyo (Japan) and Beijing (China); Madrid will host its own edition. CEIDA Association, which has more than 500,000 associated international architecture studios, aims to establish a collaboration network between architecture and urban design professionals from different countries. In addition, its goal is to pay homage to those established and emerging national and international projects that are directed by junior studios.

During the press conference it was announced that the AMAs will be held next March 2024, at the headquarters of the Official College of Architects of Madrid (COAM), and will have the support of Madrid Capital Mundial (MWCC), an entity promoted by the Madrid City Council and the Community of Madrid and which currently brings together more than 186 public and private companies.

The meeting was presented by Bertie Espinosa, deputy director of the FEARLESS magazine, who, together with the architects Pietro Paolo Speziale and David Sastre, are listed as local partners of CEIDA and who will organize this international gala every year.

More than 30 awards seeking excellence in architecture

A total of 30 categories will be awarded, divided by subsectors (such as architecture and interior architecture in segments such as hospitality, retail, residential projects, offices, public works and urban planning), to which any project finished in Spain and signed by those architecture and interior design studios that have not been in existence for more than 15 years, thus being able to promote and offer their visibility. In addition, other international projects in similar categories will be awarded. And an honorary prize will be awarded to an established architect.

In autumn 2023, the call will be opened through the website www.madridawards.com, to which any candidate can present their projects according to the category and the competition rules stipulated by the organization, and which can be consulted online.

The jury will be made up of internationally and nationally renowned architects such as Carlos Lamela, Tristán López-Chicheri, Carlos Rubio Carvajal, Lázaro Rosa-Violán or Paloma Sobrini, among other established professionals in the sector who will be joined by other names in the coming months.

Youth, technological innovation, sustainability, people’s well-being, and creativity and avant-garde are the values on which the selection of the winners will be based in the appointment that aspires to become ‘The Goya of Architecture’, awards national ones in which the innovative architectural proposals of the sector within the different areas can be valued.

“The celebration of the AMA in Madrid is one more example of the international positioning of the city, of the good economic, business and social moment that the city and the region are developing. Without a doubt, we are betting on attracting investment in the region and on promoting the Madrid brand as a benchmark in architecture. This is the path by which we continue to grow at MWCC and incorporate a unique business ecosystem in Europe”, stated David García Nuñez during the signing of the collaboration agreement.

“I hope we can take this opportunity to strengthen intercultural and economic communication between China and Spain. Our wish is that CEIDA can help raise Madrid’s position in the field of architecture”, Zhao Kai completed during the press conference.

“With these awards we hope to make Madrid the design capital of Europe. After Paris and Milan, Madrid was the city that was missing to incorporate into this Chinese architecture and design project. At COSMOS IVICSA, which has been working in China for many years, we have supported this platform from the beginning. And that is why we have supported ourselves with industry experts such as FEARLESS to land in Madrid”, added Pietro Paolo, co-founder of the COSMOS architecture studio.