This week in architecture, global recognitions and new unveilings underscored the field's growing commitment to climate awareness, cultural continuity, and adaptive reuse. From Expo 2025 Osaka's closing ceremonies to international award announcements, the focus turned to architects and designers redefining the relationship between place, material, and community. Alongside these recognitions, major new projects, from Dubai to California, illustrated how design continues to evolve across scales: shaping cities, preserving heritage, and addressing urgent global challenges through context-driven architecture.
The Créateurs Design Awards (CDA) announced Xu Tiantian, Founder and Principal Architect of DnA_Design and Architecture, as the recipient of the 2026 edition of Le Prix Charlotte Perriand. The award celebrates architects whose work embodies innovation, social responsibility, and a deep engagement with community and place. The architect was recognized for her transformative work bridging urban and rural communities through innovative design interventions. Her approach to architecture was acknowledged as a tool for cultural preservation and rural revitalization, making her an exemplary recipient of this honor, previously awarded to prominent architects such as Frida Escobedo, Jeanne Gang, Kazuyo Sejima, and Ryue Nishizawa.
The European Cultural Centre Italy has organized the ECC Awards since 2010 to recognize artists, architects, designers, and academics in their respective fields. The Awards highlight projects featured in the Time Space Existence exhibition, which runs in parallel with the Venice Architecture Biennale and showcases tangible approaches to building more sustainably, aiming to position architecture as a force for environmental and social repair. The seventh edition of Time Space Existence is a group exhibition spanning three Venetian venues: Palazzo Bembo, Palazzo Mora, and the Marinaressa Gardens. This year, the exhibition focuses on the themes of Repair, Regenerate, and Reuse, emphasizing the essential role of architects and designers as agents of positive change in shaping sustainable, inclusive, and regenerative ways of living.
Today, September 2, the seven winners of the 16th Cycle (2023–2025) of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture were announced, following on-site reviews of the 19 shortlisted projects revealed in June. Established in 1977, the Award seeks to identify and encourage building concepts that respond to the physical, social, and economic needs of communities with a significant Muslim presence, while also addressing their cultural aspirations. To understand the vision behind this cycle's winners, ArchDaily's Editor-in-Chief, Christele Harrouk, spoke with Farrokh Derakhshani, who has been with the award for over four decades. He described the initiative as "a curated message to the world," a message that evolves with the times.
Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD) has announced Maura Marinelli, co-founder of franzosomarinelli, as the winner of the 2025 Wheelwright Prize. The annual $100,000 grant supports emerging architects in pursuing investigative research that addresses contemporary architectural challenges with a global perspective. Marinelli's winning proposal, "Topographies of Resistance: Architecture and the Survival of Cultures," explores how architecture can sustain and revitalizerural, mountainous regions that confront climate change, infrastructure limitations, and cultural erosion. His research aims to develop design strategies that promote autonomy, sustainability, and local identity by comparing contexts in the Alps, Andes, and Himalayas. Through fieldwork and analysis, the project seeks to propose architectural approaches that empower communities and challenge urban-centric perspectives.
The selection was made by a jury composed of Melike Altınışık, Hans-Petter Bjørnådal, Eleni-Stefania Kalapoda, and Adrian Yap, who evaluated submissions from a range of scales and typologies. The winning projects will be presented in the exhibition "40 Young European Architects with New Visions," opening on December 5th, 2025, at The European Centre, Contemporary Space Athens. A special yearbook publication by Metropolitan Arts Press will also document the selected works, making them accessible to international audiences. Submissions are now open for the 2025–2026 edition, with a deadline of December 15, 2025.
The Japan Art Association has named Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura as the 2025 Praemium Imperiale Laureate for Architecture. Now in its 36th edition, the award honors artists for their lifetime achievements in the fields of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Music, and Theater/Film. The Praemium Imperiale was established in 1988 to recognize individuals whose work has contributed significantly to the enrichment of the global cultural landscape. Souto de Moura was recognized for producing architecture that thoughtfully engages with the present moment while maintaining a timeless quality.
The European AHI Award recognizes architectural heritage interventions across Europe, highlighting their role as a forward-looking model for 21st-century architecture with tangible social, environmental, and economic benefits. In its seventh edition, the award honored six projects, four first prizes and two special mentions, during a ceremony held in early June at the Paranimf Ceremonial Hall of the Escola Industrial in Barcelona. A total of 238 projects from architecture studios in 24 European countries were submitted. The selected winners are located in Antwerp, Kortrijk, Olot, Ancient Corinth, and Milan.
Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP) has announced the five finalist projects for the 2025 Americas Prize, highlighting projects from Argentina, Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The announcement was made by MCHAP Director Dirk Denison and this year's Jury Chair Maurice Cox. The biennial award established in 2013 by the Illinois Institute of Technology's College of Architecture, recognizes exceptional architectural achievements across North, Central, and South America. Considering projects completed between June 2022 and December 2023, it aims to highlight those projects that significantly contribute to their communities and elevate professional standards.
The winning project will be announced on May 5 during a symposium at the Illinois Institute of Technology. The winning authors will receive the MCHAP Award, a chair at IIT's College of Architecture, and a $50,000 research and publication grant.
We invite you to participate in the ArchDaily 2025 Building of the Year Awards. We ask you to recognize and reward the projects that you feel are creating the largest impact in the built environment, that ArchDaily has published on our projects database in 2024. By nominating and voting, you form part of an interdependent, impartial, distributed network of jurors and peers that has consistently helped us celebrate architecture of every scale, purpose, and condition, from countries large and small, and architects of all descriptions. Over the coming weeks, your votes will result in 4000 projects being filtered down to just 15 – representing the best in each project category on ArchDaily.
Welcome to the ArchDaily Building of the Year Awards! Now in its 16th edition, this award continues to be the most democratic recognition in architecture, celebrating excellence and innovation across the built environment. With over 4,000 projects participating annually, it has become a global benchmark, powered by the voices of our passionate readers.
Each year, your votes shape the future of architecture, highlighting the most outstanding projects that push boundaries and redefine possibilities. As we embark on this journey once again, we invite you to be part of this collective celebration—honoring diversity, creativity, and ingenuity in architecture and design. Together, let's recognize and elevate the projects that inspire, challenge, and shape our world. Cast your vote and help define the architecture of today and tomorrow!
The Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP) hosted its inaugural Conference on Critical Practice at S. R. Crown Hall, where two figures were celebrated for their transformative contributions to architecture. Phyllis Lambert, founder of the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) and Illinois Institute of Technology alumna, was named an MCHAP Luminary. Meanwhile, Román Meyer Falcón was honored as the first-ever recipient of the Phyllis Lambert Agent of Excellence Award, recognizing individuals or organizations whose work has directly elevated contemporary architecture. In an interview with ArchDaily, Meyer Falcón shared insights into his impactful tenure as Mexico's Secretary of Agrarian, Territorial, and Urban Development, discussing his approach to public architecture.
Modulus matrix -85 social housing in Cornellà, Barcelonaby Peris + Toral Arquitectes. Image Courtesy of RIBA
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) awarded its 2024 International Prize to Modulus Matrix, an 85-unit social housing development in Cornellà, near Barcelona. Designed by Peris + Toral Arquitectes, the six-story timber-framed building is a notable example of innovative social housing design. Its modular structure, based on a 3.6m x 3.6m grid inspired by traditional Japanese homes, creates a flexible and adaptable living space. The design prioritizes cross-ventilation, dual orientation, and a central communal courtyard, fostering social interaction and community building.
The winners of the "Europe 40under40®" program for 2023-2024 have been announced, celebrating promising talents in architecture and design. This recognition highlights projects from emerging professionals under the age of 40, including architects, landscape architects, urban planners, and industrial designers. The program, initiated by The European Centre, aims to showcase a new generation of designers who are poised to impact the future of living and working environments, cities, and rural areas.
All winning projects will be displayed in the exhibition titled "40 Young European Architects with New Visions," scheduled for December 2024 at The European Centre, located in Athens, Greece. The exhibition will coincide with an awards ceremony. Moreover, a special edition publication by Metropolitan Arts Press will feature this year's cohort of talented architects and designers, aiming to reach an international audience of architecture enthusiasts.
Lord Norman Foster has been announced as the recipient of the 2025 Andrée Putman Lifetime Achievement Award by the Créateurs Design Awards. The award, now it its fifth edition, recognizes Foster's significant contributions to urban design and the environmental movement within architecture. This recognition highlights his longstanding influence and contributions to the field since founding Foster + Partners in 1967. The award ceremony will take place in Paris on January 18th, 2025.
