Fabrizio Nevola awarded RIBA Sir Nikolaus Pevsner Award for Architecture

RIBA Bookshops has announced the winner of the 2008 RIBA Sir Nikolaus Pevsner International Book Award for Architecture as Fabrizio Nevola for his book 'Siena: Constructing the Renaissance City' (Yale UP, 2007)

The winning books were announced on Wednesday 28th May at a prestigious ceremony at the The Athaeneum Club in Pall Mall, London. The event was attended by a large number of people representing the worlds of architecture, construction, interior design and publishing. Speaking at the ceremony and representing the awards juries were Max Fordham, Dikkie Scipio, Doug Atherley, and Adrian Forty, who provided the reasons why the judges chose the winning titles.

Also speaking was the RIBA President Sunand Prasad who described the evening as one of his favourite RIBA events of the year.

Architecture and architectural history, preservation and theory directly or indirectly engage public consciousness. Buildings shape attitudes and conduct and many other aspects of daily life. Equally important is the role of architecture in cultural life. It offers a platform for - often passionate - argument and the exchange of views on the debate between architectural expression and its social and environmental impact.

The 2008 award has been presented for the book that best contributes to this debate and reflects the values and qualities it embodies

Siena, one of the major artistic centres of medieval and Renaissance Italy, is renowned for its striking architecture and its beauty as a city. This book is the first to focus on Sienese architectural and urban history during the 15th and early 16th centuries. Fabrizio Nevola offers a comprehensive picture of the city, describing in detail how the layout and appearance of Siena changed between 1400 and 1520, as political and social events triggered a variety of initiatives that transformed the city's urban core.

Weaving together social, political, economic and architectural history, the book explores the role of key patrons in Siena's urban projects, including Pope Pius II Piccolomini and his family and, later, the quasi-despot Pandolfo Petrucci 'The Magnificent'. Nevola also considers how the government used architecture to forge a local identity and establish authority, the influence of important architects and architectural theorists, and the way that ritual events contributed in special ways to the changing face of the city. Enhanced with a beautiful collection of historic and new photographs, the book offers a fresh and engaging account of Siena's unique architectural achievements. 

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