“[On Set with] Lilly Reich” Awarded the 2nd Lilly Reich Grant for Equality in Architecture

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Fundació Mies van der Rohe and Ajuntament de Barcelona have announced online that the 2nd Lilly Reich Grant for Equality in Architecture has been awarded to the research proposal: “[On Set with] Lilly Reich” by Valencian architects Laura Lizondo Sevilla, Débora Domingo Calabuig, and Avelina Prat García. The granted project was selected by an international jury, composed of three professionals linked to the fields of research and dissemination in architecture and the research and dissemination in the matter of equality.

The Grant that bears the name of the pioneer in the fields of design and architecture Lilly Reich in recognition of her legacy has gathered for its second edition, 17 research projects from Germany, Chile, Mexico, The Netherlands, Argentina, Italy, and Spain. The winning project “[On Set with] Lilly Reich”, was chosen for numerous reasons. In fact, according to Zaida Muxí, one of the members of the jury “the selected proposal has three assets that have made it worthy of the award, the first one is the collective proposal that combines abilities, the second one is the suggested exhibition dissemination format, which is a documentary and the third one is contrasting the contributions of Lilly Reich to what has been said about her, that is, the proposal of a dialogue between facts and historiography”.

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The short film project “[On Set with] Lilly Reich” combines original documental sources with newly created visual material, in order to reflect the limitation of recognition in the professional field to Lilly Reich. Opting for the production and filming of a documentary as a means of disseminating the stated objective, authors Laura Lizondo Sevilla, Débora Domingo Calabuig, and Avelina Prat García have created a story that puts two timelines in parallel: the one of its production and the one of its historical representation. “When we started working on this proposal we realized the great imbalance that existed between the professional work of Lilly Reich and the mentions that literature has made about her, projects and critics that build a part of the history of architecture. Historians hardly ever quote her, despite her regular presence in the professional press of her time- We understood that we had to go back in search of the signs that would allow us to identify and decode her presence in history. Thus, we felt that the format of the documentary was the right one for a visual and temporal reconstruction and more far-reaching dissemination”, stated the Valencian architects.

About the Authors

Laura Lizondo Sevilla: Valencia 1979. Architect and PhD by Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura de la Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). University Professor at UPV. Visiting scholar at the GSAPP, Columbia University (New York) and at Central Saint Martins, UAL (London). Director of the Blanca Valencia Chair and [En Blanco, Revista de Arquitectura]. The results of her research on Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich have been published in high impact scientific journals in the field of architecture and history of art.

Débora Domingo Calabuig: Valencia,1972. Architect and PhD by Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura de la Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and École d’Architecture de Paris- La Défense (França). University Professor at UPV Professora Titular d’Universitat a la UPV. Deputy Director of Research (2012-2016) and Chief Editor of the VLC architecture Research Journal (until 2018). Member of the European Association for Architectural Education, Her interests include the methods, means and impact of architectural research, taking into account its social consideration.

Avelina Prat García: Valencia, 1972. Architect by Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura de la Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and École d’Architecture de Paris-La Défense (França). She practiced the profesión before she devoted herself to film. Since 2004 she has been screenwriter and director of both fiction and documentary films. As a screenwriter, she has taken part in the shooting of more than thirty full-length films alongside prestigious directors and is a programmer at the Valencia International Film Festival – Cinema Jove.