Six buildings from Brazil, Peru, Mexico, and the USA have made it to the list of finalists for the 2018 Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize. The shortlisted projects, announced by the Director Dirk Denison and 2018 MCHAP Jury Chair Ricky Burdett, include: IMS Paulista in Brazil, Edificio E, University of Piura in Peru, SESC 24 de Maio in Brazil, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., Teopanzolco Cultural Center in Mexico, and True North in Detroit, USA. The winner will be declared in October.Giving an insight into the jury’s selection criteria, Chair Ricky Burdett wrote: “We were not looking for architectural pyrotechnics. We were not interested in one-off iconic objects that could soon go out of fashion. We were not looking for technical ingenuity, however brilliant and ground-breaking. We were interested in buildings that work — for the city, for the institution, for the neighborhood, community, and the individual occupants. Buildings that have meaning and complexity, and enrich the lives of the people who use and inhabit them.”IMS Paulista by Andrade Morettin Arquitetos Associados in São Paulo, Brazil, was described by the jury as a “multi-level, stacked cultural building with galleries, library, and cinema on São Paulo’s iconic Paulista Avenue [that] brings the public and pedestrian experience into the structure.”  Edificio E, University of Piura by Barclay & Crousse Architecture in Piura sits within a dry savannah landscape in the north of Peru. The new university building “creates a compact and complex network of interconnected classrooms, offices, and open spaces specifically designed to accommodate students from disadvantaged backgrounds,” commented the jury.While describing SESC 24 de Maio by Paulo Mendes da Rocha and MMBB Arquitetos in São Paulo, Brazil, the jury wrote: “Shoehorned into a tight site at the heart of São Paulo’s dense but fragile historic center, this institution offers leisure, sports, and medical facilities — including a rooftop swimming pool — to members of its progressive trade association, all connected by a generous 11-story ramp open to all.”Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture by Freelon Adjaye Bond / Smith Group in Washington, DC, USA “[responds] with dignity to the Washington Monument and neighboring historic structures, the slanted copper screens of this new museum embrace a deep, multi-level experience for visitors to this site of pilgrimage for African-American culture,” stated the jury.Teopanzolco Cultural Center by PRODUCTORA and Isaac Broid in Cuernavaca, Mexico, stands adjacent to a Pre-Hispanic pyramid. “The sloping roofs of this new sand-colored cultural center enclose an 800-seat auditorium and performance spaces, offering views of the historic site and city beyond,” wrote the jury.True North by Edwin Chan / EC3 in Detroit, USA, made it to the final list for its “innovative use of industrial Quonset corrugated galvanized steel structures [which] creates a sequence of dynamic external and internal spaces providing affordable accommodation to a new generation of urban pioneers in Detroit’s fragile inner-city communities.”The prize was established in 2013 to recognize the greatest works of architecture built in the Americas, stated ArchDaily. http://www.blouinartinfo.co           Founder: Louise Blouin   Read more