"The Evelyn Grace Academy", a cutting-edge new secondary school in Brixton, south London by Zaha Hadid Architects has won the prestigious US$ 31 thousand "RIBA Stirling Prize 2011" for the best new European building built or designed in the United Kingdom, reported official site of RIBA. This is the second year running that Zaha Hadid Architects have won the "RIBA Stirling Prize". Last year they won the award for their "MAXXI Museum of 21st Century Art" in Rome, this year they have put the practice's formidable reputation to great use by breaking new ground in school design. The presentation of the UK's premier architectural award took place at a special ceremony on October 1 at the RIBA Stirling Prize-winning (2001) Magna Science Adventure Centre in Rotherham. "The Evelyn Grace Academy" is the first school to win the "RIBA Stirling Prize", with seven schools shortlisted in previous years. It is the first time that Zaha Hadid Architects have designed a school and their first large-scale project in the UK. Previously they designed a "Maggie's Centre" in Scotland and more recently they have completed the "Riverside Museum" in Glasgow and the London "Aquatics Centre" for the 2012 Olympics. With total area 10.745 thousand square meters, construction of "Evelyn Grace Academy" completed in 2010 with budget US$ 58 million. A highly stylized zig-zag of steel and glass, the "Evelyn Grace Academy" is squeezed onto the tightest of urban sites (1.4 hectares - the average secondary school is 8/9 hectares). The architects received a complex brief: four schools under a single academy umbrella with the need to express both independence and unity. This is the 16th year the "RIBA Stirling Prize" has been presented. Last year's winner was" MAXXI, the National Museum of XXI Century Arts" in Rome by Zaha Hadid Architects. Zaha Hadid Architects have been shortlisted for the prize on three previous occasions, in 2005 for the "BMW Central Building", Leipzig, Germany; in 2006 for the "Phaeno Science Centre", Wolfsburg, Germany and in 2008 for "Nord Park Railway" in Innsbruck, Austria.

The Zaha Hadid-designed MAXXI(National Museum of XXI Century Arts) Museum in Rome was announced as a winner of 2010 "World's Best Building of the Year" during the third annual World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Barcelona. Jurors included Arata Isozaki, Barry Bergdoll, Enrique Norten, and Hanif Kara. When Zaha Hadid entered into competition in 1999 for Museum design, she employed only 30 people. Today, her staff numbers more than 350 and she is building major projects around the world. Due to its complex geometry, the building is not easily understandable at first. On both the inside and the outside, the museum works as a series of connected ribbons, a composition that conjures the spirit of Baroque architecture with its play of convex and concave forms. And like buildings designed by Borromini and Bernini, MAXXI manipulates daylight in an almost mystical way - bringing it in from above, through glass roofs shielded by metal grilles, adjustable louvers, and concrete fins. Earlier this year, the Royal Institute of British Architects announced MAXXI Museum the winner of the2010 Stirling Prize with £20,000 award.