Les Postawa

(New York – October 19, 2010) – The 2010 annual Stirling Prize from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is the third architectural project engineered by a Thornton Tomasetti principal to win the U.K.’s top architectural award.

The award was presented October 2, 2010 to London-based Zaha Hadid Architects for designing the National Museum of XXI Arts (MAXXI), Italy’s contemporary art museum in Rome.

For Thornton Tomasetti London Principal Les Postawa, this was his third Stirling prize. His other wins were the Barajas Airport in Madrid in 2006, designed by architects Robert Rogers Partnership and Estudio Lamela, and the University of Salford’s Centenary Building in Manchester, U.K. in 1996, designed by architect Stephen Hodder.

The Stirling Prize is awarded annually by RIBA-member architects for one of their buildings in Europe that represents the most significant architectural evolution in the past year. Postawa teamed up in 1999 with Hadid on the international design competition for MAXXI, which took 10 years to complete.

MAXXI opened in November 2009, a concrete building with five main gallery suites, featuring clear spans of more than 40 meters between vertical supports. The museum’s swerving white walls were designed to flow into one another, a concept requiring interwoven, top-lit, column-free gallery spaces.

“It’s quite rewarding to be part of a winning team for three completely different projects, all of which relied on structural engineering in the design’s early concept to shape the overall architecture,” said Postawa. “I’m proud to have been associated with this array of Stirling Prize winners.

About Thornton Tomasetti (www.ThorntonTomasetti.com)
Thornton Tomasetti provides engineering design services to clients worldwide on projects of all sizes and complexity, with practices in building structure, building skin, building performance, construction support services and property loss consulting. From the tallest buildings and the longest spans, to innovative building systems, materials and analysis, we are committed to creating the best solutions through our technical ingenuity, pursuit of excellence, and responsiveness to client needs. Founded in 1956, today Thornton Tomasetti is a 550-person organization of engineers and architects collaborating from offices across the United States and in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

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