CABE and RIBA launch Public Space Award
- Published: 12 February 2008 11:56
- Author: Richard Waite
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- Last Updated: 12 February 2008 14:42
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CABE and the RIBA have teamed up to launch a new award for the best-designed public spaces in the country.
Streets, squares and parks can all be entered into the Public Space Award, set up to 'highlight the importance of innovative and well-designed public spaces'.
Eligible schemes need to be publicly accessible, but can be urban or rural, publicly or privately owned, and designed, redesigned or refurbished for public use.
The award, only open to design teams which include a member of the RIBA, is part of the annual RIBA Awards programme.
The institute's president Sunand Prasad said: 'The quality of public space, no less than the quality of buildings, defines the character of the places we inhabit.
'Unfortunately the design of spaces in between buildings has too often been neglected.'
He added: 'The best examples of such design tend to arise from creative collaboration such as that between architects, landscape architects, urban designers, artists and highway engineers. This award, by recognising this hugely important area of design, will help raise consciousness about place-making and the value of public space.'
The call for entries for the 2008 RIBA Awards closes at 5pm on 21 February – a week earlier than last year.
A prize of £5,000 for the Public Space Award will be handed to the winning team at the Stirling Prize dinner at the BT Convention Centre, Liverpool, on 11 October.
