The European Commission and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe announced that Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Oslo, Norway by Snøhetta is the winner of the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award 2009. The Jury also awarded a Special Mention for an Emerging Architect to Lea Pelivan and Toma Plejic STUDIO UP for Gymnasium 46° 09' N / 16° 50' E, in Koprivnica, Croatia. By supporting the prize, the European Commission underlines the role of architecture as a driver for creativity and innovation, opens up culture to audiences beyond national borders and draws attention to the European professionals' contribution in the development of new ideas and technologies that impact Europeans' everyday life.

The € 60,000 Prize is funded with support by the European Union's 'Culture' programme. The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award is one of the most important and prestigious prizes for international architecture and is awarded biennially to built works completed within the previous two years.  The previous winner was the Museum of Contemporary Art MUSAC in León (Spain), by Luis M. Mansilla and Emilio Tuñón.

The announcement has been made online at the European Commission and Fundació Mies van der Rohe websites by the European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, Ján Figel and Francis Rambert, Chair of the Jury.

There will a special granting ceremony at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona on 28 May 2009, and a travelling exhibition and catalogue featuring the works chosen by the Jury – including those of the Prize Winner, the Special Mention, the finalists and the shortlisted works – will be presented in September this year.

The European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, Mr Ján Figel' underlined that architecture is a highly visible showcase of creativity and innovation, and that the prize winners show the benefits of investing in European architectural talent, in creativity and innovation. He also highlighted that this fact is specially relevant this year, as stimulating new ideas and bringing out entrepreneurial efforts are key parts of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009.

The finalist projects were:

• Multimodal Centre – Nice Tramway, Nice (France) by Marc Barani / Atelier Marc Barani.
• Zenith Music Hall, Strasbourg (France) by Massimiliano Fuksas, Doriana Fuksas / Massimiliano Fuksas Architecture.
• University Luigi Bocconi, Milan (Italy) by Shelley McNamara, Yvonne Farrell / Grafton Architects.
• The Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Oslo (Norway) by Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, Tarald Lundevall, Craig Dykers / Snøhetta.
• Library, Senior Citizens’ Centre and City Block Core Zone, Barcelona (Spain) by Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, Ramon Vilalta / RCR Aranda Pigem Vilalta Arquitectes.

The new Norwergian Opera & Ballet is the first element of the transformation of the Bay Area in Oslo which aims to reconnect the city with its waterfront. In addition to providing a building for opera and ballet of the highest international level, the roof covered with marble is a new civic landmark and an architectural landscape open to the public. The interior, which is lined with fine wood using traditional systems of the Norwegian boat builders, comprises a series of distinct spaces that are characterized by carefully chosen materials and the integration of the works of several artists.

The sloping roof of stone, consisting of 36,000 pieces fit-rise as a fjord allows the public, residents and attending to walk above the building.