Benjamin Romano, former CGBC Visiting Affiliated Faculty Member, accepted the 2018 International Highrise Award for the Torre Reforma in Mexico City.

The International Highrise Award (IHA) was jointly initiated in 2003 by the City of Frankfurt, Deutsches Architekturmuseum and DekaBank and was awarded for the first time in 2004. Since then, it has been biannually organized and financed in partnership and cooperation between Deutsches Architekturmuseum and DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale. It is being bestowed for the eighth time in 2018. It is aimed at architects and developers whose buildings are at least 100 meters high and have been completed in the past two years.

On the way to their decision, the jury’s wide-ranging discussion considered how a high-rise contributes to the urban fabric and how it encourages street life. The following aspects were analyzed, among others: the overall narrative, the sculptural qualities, the structural concept, the mix of uses, and the balance between commerce and culture.

“This award is especially valuable because it comes from my peers – architects, engineers, developers – who can appreciate not only a building on itself, but the inherent financial, structural, environmental and normative challenges,” said Benjamin Romano about the honor. “I believe that the best architecture is the one that finds the answer to these challenges. The one that emanates from needs, context and reality, and not only from someone’s inspiration or aesthetic taste.”

Read more about the award here.