Zaha Hadid's Riverside Museum Wins European Museum Academy Micheletti Award 2012

The Zaha Hadid Architects-designed Riverside Museum in Glasgow, Scotland has been named the most innovative museum in the fields of technology, labor and social history by the European Museum Academy. Riverside competed against museums in 12 other European countries to win the 17th annual Micheletti Award.

Other shortlisted museums for this year's Micheletti Award were:

• Préhistosite de Ramioul – Musée de la Préhistoire en Wallonie, Flémalle, Belgium
• Brede Works – Museum of Industrial Culture, Lyngby, Denmark
• Science Centre Delft, The Netherlands
• Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments and Museum Bitola, Bitola, ‘the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’
• Santralistanbul Museum of Energy, Istanbul, Turkey

In their citation, the judges noted that: "The careful planning of the museum included involving visitors and volunteers at every stage of the development."

The judges concluded: "The museum has put its budget and its large workforce to excellent use, it is completely publicly oriented, flexible and always on the outlook. It is making a change to a rundown neighborhood, as well as being a showcase of past, present and future transport industries of Glasgow."

Lawrence Fitzgerald, Riverside Museum Manager said: "The judges were particularly impressed by the relationships the museum had built up with people before, during and after opening and by the range of stories told at Riverside." 

Riverside Museum has already attracted more than 1.4million visitors since opening in June.