The Museo Picasso Málaga was amongst the eleven recipients of the 2006 AIA Institute Honor Awards for Architecture, announced recently. These awards are the profession&rsquo";"s highest recognition given in the US to works that exemplify excellence in architecture.

The jury stressed that the Museo Picasso Málaga represented &ldquo";“A beautiful job of restoration architecture&hellip”;" It is appropriately modest, weaving a museum into the fabric of this Mediterranean city&hellip";" New portions were simply and elegantly inserted in and around the 16th century palace, the outdoor courtyards and the city streets&rdquo";“. Other recipients of the 2006 awards included Washington Convention Center (Washington, USA) by D&amp”;“P Mariani PLLC and the Frieder Burda Collection Museum (Baden-Baden, Germany) by Richard Meier &amp”;" Partners. The rehabilitation and expansion of the Museo Picasso Málaga site was designed by Richard Gluckman of Gluckman Mayner Architects, and Isabel Cámara and Rafael Martín Delgado of Cámara/Martín Delgado Arquitectos, in cooperation with ARUP, the engineering firm.

The jury was particularly interested in given recognition to projects that &ldquo";“fit their context&rdquo”;“, whether it was a chapel, an office building, a campus or urban intervention. According to the Jury Chair, the American architect Robert E. Hull, &ldquo”;“In our deliberations and site visits there was the realization of the special qualities, vitality, and importance that great architecture brings to our society.&rdquo”;" Robert E. Hull himself visited the Museo Picasso Málaga on October 26 last year, when he was welcomed and shown around the museum by its director, Bernardo Laniado-Romero. In the opinion of the AIA Jury, &ldquo";“This museum, dedicated to the work of Pablo Picasso, graces the historic city center of Malaga, the artist&rsquo”;“s birthplace. The architects fully restored the 16-century Palacio de Buenavista to house the main entry and collection galleries within a project that also included inserting new buildings into the urban fabric.&rdquo”;"

The award ceremony will be held in June this year at the AIA 2006 National Convention and Design Exposition in Los Angeles.