BRUSSELS.- The results of the 2017 EU Mies Award are presented at BOZAR as a tour of the best 40 works built in the last two years, a critical look at contemporary European architecture.

This exhibition is an itinerary that reflects the discussions held by the 2017 jury. It displays the works reviewed and selected by it, emphasising the importance of the urban character of Europe. The 40-shortlisted works are organised according to the urban fabric where they are found: Exourban, Periphery, Consolidated and Historic Centre; the parts that construct for this exhibition an imaginary city that we call the “City of 40”. As geographer Francesc Muñoz wrote in the Atlas. European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture Mies van der Award 1988-2015, “the EU Mies Award is an architecture prize with a European vocation that celebrates urban fragments of excellence.”

DeFlat Kleiburg in Amsterdam by NL architects and XVW architectuur is the 2017 Winner of Prize. DeFlat is an innovative renovation of one of the biggest apartment buildings in The Netherlands called Kleiburg, a bend slab with 500 apartments in Amsterdam’s Bijlmermeer neighbourhood. Consortium DeFlat rescued the building from the wrecking ball by turning it into a "Klusflat", meaning that the inhabitants renovate their apartments by themselves. The client is Kondor WesselsVastgoed. NL architects were awarded the Emerging Architect Prize of the EU Mies Award in 2005 for their work BasketBar in Utrecht.

The 2017 Emerging Architect Prize has been awarded to the Brussels studios MSA/V+ for the work NAVEZ - 5 social units at the northern entrance of Brussels. This housing project fulfils the double ambition of the local authorities: to represent the urban revalidation scheme with a landmark at the entrance of the city and to provide exemplary apartments for large families. The client is the City of Schaerbeek.

The 4 finalist works have been: Ely Court in London by Alison Brooks Architects; Kannikegården in Ribe by Lundgaard &Tranberg Architects; Katyn Museum in Warsaw by (in alphabetical order) Jan Belina-Brzozowski, Konrad Grabowiecki, Jerzy Kalina and Krzysztof Lang; and Rivesaltes Memorial Museum in Rivesaltes by Rudy Ricciotti, Bandol.

In the exhibition, visitors will find the Winners and Finalists in the spotlight of the “City of 40” emerging as nodes among the other works. They help us move around the exhibition by acting as both physical and symbolic reference points. The exhibition is complemented with the the EU Mies Award Catalogue 2017, a tool to interpret the Award, and the EUMiesAward app which allows us to visit the Prize works throughout Europe.