For the tenth consecutive year, the Building Arts Awards, endowed with €40,000, have been presented to four outstanding craftspeople. The award ceremony took place at the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid. The Building Arts Awards are organised by the Traditional Building Cultures Foundation with the support of the Spanish Ministry of Culture and the collaboration of INTBAU Spain and the Higher Council of the Colleges of Architects of Spain (CSCAE).
The awards are divided into four categories: masonry and stonework, carpentry, finishes and other traditional building trades, and glass and metalwork.
The first category, which bears the name of Rodrigo de la Torre in tribute to a master who stood out among our country’s stonemasons and who was also awarded in the past, includes arches and vaults, vaulted stairs, stone carving and other masonry and stonework. The jury opted to give this award to the master stonemason Gaëtan Chapel, based in La Bisbal del Ampurdán (Gerona province) and specialized in stereotomy and stone-carving.
The second category covers wooden roofs, ceilings and structures, furnishings, muqarnas, woodturning, woodcarving, doors and windows carpentry, and other wood works. The award in this 10th edition has been given to the master carpenter Ramón Cañíl González, recognized for his mastery of complex one-of-a-kind wooden structures, and the execution of Mudéjar wooden ceilings.
The third category includes tiles, mosaics, plasterwork, scagliola, sgraffito, decorative flooring and other finishes. The award in this category has been granted to the Granadan brothers Manuel and Jacinto J. Pérez Entrena, masters of the design and laying of cobblestone pavements.
The fourth category focuses on forgework, ironwork, stained glass windows and other traditional metal and glass works. On this occasion the jury selected the Toledan workshop Hijos de F. Potenciano, devoted to reproducing, restoring, and designing lamps, streetlights, leaded stained glass, and other metalwork.
