Architect. President of the Prize jury (2008)

Internationally renowned architect and urbanist Manuel de Solà-Morales (1939-2012) was a leading light in the evolution of urban space and contemporary architecture. A student of Ludovico Quaroni in Rome and Josep Lluís Sert at Harvard, he also stood out in the fields of theory and teaching. Professor of Urbanism at the Barcelona School of Architecture, and founding director of the Laboratori d’Urbanisme de Barcelona in 1968, he was also director of the Barcelona Graduate School of Architecture between 1994 and 1998. He taught courses in urban design at numerous universities worldwide, and received many national and international prizes and awards.

Author of multiple studies, articles and national and international exhibitions, he was also editor of several collections and architecture magazines. He wrote numerous books, including Cerdà-Eixample (Edicions UPC, 2010), Urbanitat Capil·lar (Lunwerg, 2009), De cosas urbanas (Gustavo Gili, 2008) and Deu lliçons sobre Barcelona. Ten Lessons on Barcelona (COAC, 2008).

His architecture practice was very influential in urbanism in Barcelona, particularly during the Olympic Games and in the transformation of the seafront, with the development of the Moll de la Fusta wharf. Also worthy of mention are the construction of the Illa Diagonal centre with Rafael Moneo, and the projects he developed in other European cities, such as the revitalisation of the Atlantic seafront of Oporto, the transformation of the port area of Saint-Nazaire, in Brittany, and Louvain intermodal station, Belgium.

Last updated: January 2019