Marble Architectural Awards (MAA) 2002

The winning projects will be on display, with plenty of technical information and pictures, in the official MAA catalogue, that will be presented during CARRARAMARMOTEC, the 23rd International Fair for Marble, Machinery and Services, due from May 29th to June 1st. At a technical seminar on May 31st, the authors after receiving their prizes will be asked to illustrate to architects and businessmen the meaning of their works and the technical and designing problems they found and so successfully solved.

Section I – External facings - First prize
Snøhetta Hamza Consortium for Bibliotheca Alexandrina - Alexandria - Egypt - 2001
The first prize was awarded for the external facing section to Snøhetta Hamza Consortium, who won it with their Bibliotheca Alexandrina, built in Alexandria, Egypt, in 2001 with a local stone, Schulman grey granite. Significant is the fact that, to make a work that has such a long-standing tradition in that city, stone was chosen to embody historical continuity. The building is in its turn an exemplary victim of the tensions that are upsetting the land on both sides of the Sinai: even if it has been finished for months, it has not yet been inaugurated with a worthy ceremony because the rulers of the country have other concerns at the moment.

Section II – Interior design - First prize
Mario Botta Architect for The Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Centre - Tel Aviv, Israel - 1998
In the Interior Design section, the first prize was awarded to Mario Botta, an architect who is erecting works all over the world with his universally-acclaimed skills in the use of natural stone. Botta’s prized work is the Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Centre, built in Tel Aviv in 1998. The materials used in the project are Pietra di Prun (Italy) in the external facings, Pietra dorata (Italy) in interior decorations and interior claddings and absolute black granite from South-Africa in the floors. The building has been known for a while now, especially for its external appearance, while its interiors, who won the MAA prize in 2002, are still to be fully appreciated in the play of materials and lights that concur to give a special atmosphere to the synagogue.

Section III – Urban landscape - First prize
Mehrdad Iravanian for Koran Gateway Landscaping - Shiraz, Iran - 1995
The first prize for the Urban Landscape section was given to Mehrdad Iravanian for the Koran Gateway landscaping of Shiraz, Iran, 1995. The materials used in this imposing park are two types of Iranian limestone: Ciman limestone and Gandomak fars limestone, that help to make such an impressive and meaningful work fit in perfectly with its surroundings.

This is all the more significant since it concerns an area, especially the Middle East, which has experienced very complex political events in the last few years, that have not prevented stone, however, from being significantly used in these countries, that on the other hand have a very long-standing traditions in the field.

These features have been highlighted by the panel of judges who examined the projects entered in the contest and selected buildings that successfully embody different symbolic values: an Israeli synagogue, a public park in the heart of Islamic Iran and the reborn Library of Alexandria, the symbol of timeless knowledge which lives in harmony with the values of faith and religion..

The Marble Architectural Award is a prize designed to give prominence to architectural projects completed in different areas provided marble and granite have been excellently used, and to choose the winner of the 2002 prize the international judges have been busier than ever trying to give a rating to the high and qualified number of projects entered in the three sections, not only for their aesthetic results, but also for their clear connections to local traditions.