Hungary’s national football stadium, the Puskás Aréna, has just been nominated for one of the top awards in building design, the Mies van der Rohe – EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture. Recognition is given to recently completed European projects that, because of their quality and cultural significance, are defining works of modern urban development.
The Puskás Aréna, unveiled in November 2019 and due to stage football’s prestigious Euros this summer, has just been nominated for the Mies van der Rohe – EU Prize, the architectural equivalent of the Oscars. Another set of nominations is due in September, and a shortlist will be drawn up from the two selections in January 2022. The winners will be announced the following April.
Two more Budapest buildings, the MOME Campus and the Dezső Gyarmati swimming pool, have been put forward for the September nominations.
The EU Mies Award was established in 1988. Previous winners include the Neues Museum in Berlin, the National Library in Paris and Waterloo International Station in London.
Built at a cost of over €500 million, the Puskás Aréna was designed by György Skardelli to replace the former Ferenc Puskás Stadion, the later name for the legendary Népstadion opened in 1953.
The new arena has already won an award voted for by Polish specialist site Stadium Database, in March 2020. Six months later, it staged its first major international fixture, the UEFA Super Cup, between Bayern Munich and Sevilla. Spectator numbers were limited to 15,000, out of a total capacity of 67,000.
