Arquipélago - Contemporary Arts Centre project, designed by architect João Mendes Ribeiro, Menos é Mais Architecture Office, Francisco Vieira de Campos and Cristina Guedes, was distinguished in the "Rehabilitation" category of BIGMAT'17 International Architecture Award.
The BigMat'17 award aims to distinguish architectural excellence, privileging dialogue between the different figures who participate in the architectural sector for the benefit of quality construction.
BigMat International is the sponsor of this international award. Established in 1981, it is headquartered in Luxembourg and is present in seven European countries, including Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Slovakia.
In 2016, the Arquipélago - Contemporary Arts Centre was the recipient of the FAD Architecture Prize, a benchmark architecture prize in the Iberian Peninsula. It was also one of the four Portuguese projects awarded at the 10th Ibero-American Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism.
In addition to these prizes, Arquipélago - Contemporary Arts Centre was last year one of the six finalists of the international architecture prize of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and one of the 25 finalists of the 9th European Prize for Urban Public Space; the latter is an initiative of the Centre of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona.
In 2015, the Arquipélago - Contemporary Arts Centre was among the 40 candidates selected from the European Commission's list for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award.