"Our Foundation has had the honour of having architect Gino Valle accept the role of sole judge for the Premio Década 2001, which will evaluate works built in Barcelona during 1991.

◻️ For some media outlets, Gino Valle may seem like a figure with little media appeal, especially considering that last year the judges were Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. However, our choice of these architects was not because they were in the news, but because of the unquestionable quality of their work, both theoretical and built. In this regard, we consider Gino Valle to be a top-tier architect, a late representative of the great post-war Italian school, that of Albini, Gardella, Rogers, Quaroni, Ridolfi...

◻️ Valle is probably the best active Italian architect; he dazzled us in the early sixties, and continues to interest us today. Moreover, Valle builds a great deal, and all his work maintains an extremely high level, whether it is in a field as unglamorous and neglected as industrial architecture, or in urban design – where his already historic Giudecca district and his recent interior block in the Olympia area of Paris constitute two remarkable milestones that are already part of history.

◻️ We acknowledge that Valle is not currently fashionable, and that it would have been more media-friendly to bring in a more trendy architect; but as we have created a prize that – by judging works from ten years ago – aims to remain above the triviality of the recent, we can afford this luxury; because having Architect Gino Valle is truly a luxury."

Oscar Tusquets Blanca

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Jury report for the Premio Década 2001 (Works completed in 1991)

"The Premio Década 2001, awarded to a work from 1991, is granted to the PORT OLÍMPIC URBAN DEVELOPMENT. According to history and metropolitan legend, it was ten years ago when the plan was conceived that completely transformed the city, opening it up to the sea. I have known Barcelona for many years, before, during, and after this revolution. To see these places now, so naturally inhabited by the people, brings back memories: from the transformation that began timidly in Port Vell to the explosion triggered by the grand event of the Olympics. I was in Barcelona in 1995, in the middle of the decade. At that time, things had started, but they were still suspended, caught in the tension of not being able to fully express or live out. Now, it is an extraordinary pleasure to see how, under the direction of the MBM plan, and after the Olympics, the city has naturally embraced the sea it has won back. The various interventions by the architects coexist and have balanced one another over time; time evidenced by the growth of the vegetation, the park, and the streets. Time has resolved, with small adjustments in urban design, some contrasts that, in their ‘raw state,’ were bothersome, so that we have now reached the ‘cooked state’ in this extraordinary plan, the gem of which is Álvaro Siza’s piece, a reference landmark along the coastline.

▪️ The prize for this extraordinary decade goes to Oriol Bohigas, Josep Maria Martorell, David Mackay, Albert Puigdomènech, and Joan Ramon de Clascà, who, with perseverance and skill, have provided the city with a new way of living."

Gino Valle

Barcelona, 11 May 2001

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{Photography on the award ceremony by  Rafael Vargas}