Barcelona 08019
Spain
Following the first collective discussion launched during the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025, six leading international architecture awards—Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Ammodo Architecture Award, EUmies Awards, Holcim Foundation Awards, Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize, and the OBEL Award—in collaboration with the International Union of Architects, will come together at the UIA World Congress of Architects, Barcelona 2026 to continue a shared reflection on the evolving role of architectural recognition today.
Titled “Beyond Recognition: Exploring the Role of Architectural Awards”, the event will take place on June 29, 3–4:20pm at CCIB (Stage 11), as part of the Congress programme under the theme Becoming: Architectures for a Planet in Transition.
Architectural awards have long recognised excellence and brought visibility to significant achievements. While awards do not produce architecture, they shape how we perceive, discuss, and ultimately value architecture. Through independent processes of selection and distinction, awards help construct a contemporary narrative around the architecture and architects that matter, influencing public discourse, professional priorities, and the work that gain cultural legitimacy and historical visibility.
In today’s context of accelerating global challenges, the role of architectural awards must evolve. Their independence allows them to define and communicate different understandings of quality, expanding the discourse beyond a single canon. By establishing distinct criteria and reflecting varied cultural and professional priorities, awards help redefine architecture’s responsibilities and direct greater attention toward environmentally responsible and socially conscious forms of practice.
The debate at UIA Barcelona will continue the conversation initiated in Venice—shifting from questioning the relevance of awards to exploring how they contribute to shaping practice, institutions, and public discourse. They aim to explore how architectural awards move beyond recognition to actively shape the future of the discipline. Also, the session represents an important next step in expanding the reflection beyond the awards institutions themselves. In this spirit, architecture critics have been invited to bring an external perspective to the programme, while invited architects from the networks of the awards hosting the event, together with the directors of the participating awards, will join the conversation as “front-row peers,” drawing from their direct engagement with contemporary practice and the broader questions shaping architecture today.
Beyond Recognition: Exploring the Role of Architectural Awards
The programme “Beyond Recognition: Exploring the Role of Architecture Awards” will take place from 3–4:20pm on June 29. It is hosted by a network of international architecture awards—Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Ammodo Architecture Award, EUmies Awards, Holcim Foundation Awards, Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize and The OBEL Award - as part of the UIA World Congress of Architects 2026 Barcelona.
Architecture critics: Federica Zambeletti, Founder and Managing Director of koozarch / Christele Harrouk, Editor in Chief of Archdaily / Amit Gupta, Founder and Editor in Chief of STIR.
Front-Row Peers: José Pablo Ambrosi, Co-founder of Taller Capital / Tatiana Bilbao, Founder of Tatiana Bilbao Estudio / Gabriela Carrillo, Founder of Taller Gabriela Carrillo & Co-Founder of Colectivo c733 / Loreta Castro, Co-founder of Taller Capital / Alejandro Echeverri, Architect, Distinguished Professor in Urbanism, TEC Monterrey / Margarita Jover, Co-founder of Aldayjover / Rahul Mehrotra, Founder Principal of RMA Architects / Kate Orff, Founder of SCAPE Studio / Mauricio Pezo, Co-founder of Pezo von Ellrichshausen / Gustavo Utrabo, Founder of Estúdio Gustavo Utrabo / Farrokh Derakhshani, Director, Aga Khan Award for Architecture / Marleen van Driel, Director, Ammodo Architecture / Ivan Blasi, Director, EUMies Awards / Laura Viscovich, Executive Director, Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction / Dirk Denison, Director, Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize / Jesper Eis Eriksen, Executive Director, OBEL Award.
Reflections on the Evolving Role of Architectural Awards
“Architecture is never purely technical or aesthetic; it is inherently ethical. Architectural awards therefore carry an important responsibility in helping define the values, priorities, and forms of practice that society chooses to recognise and advance,” said Farrokh Derakhshani, Director, Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
“Awards are a powerful force in shaping architecture's discourse and foregrounding innovative examples that inspire change. By engaging in dialogue about the criteria and impact of these awards, we can explore how they can add value to the built environment and contribute to addressing the pressing issues of our time”, said Marleen van Driel, Director, Ammodo Architecture.
“The EUmies Awards are about recognising excellence for everyone and about sustaining a collective conversation on architecture’s role in society. Each edition becomes an opportunity to keep questioning, learning and building together,” said Ivan Blasi, Director, EUMies Awards.
“At a time when the built environment must radically rethink how it uses resources, architecture awards help spotlight new models of practice rooted in collaboration — both with local communities and across the wider value chain that enables innovative projects to come to life,” said Laura Viscovich, Executive Director, Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction.
“As a collective, we must explore how different awards can learn from each other and build synergies that amplify our impact. By fostering partnerships, we can expand the reach and effectiveness of our initiatives and create a stronger, shared framework for supporting architectural excellence,” said Dirk Denison, Director, Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize.
“The role of architectural awards today is not only to recognise excellence, but to also critically examine the values they promote. Through dialogue and reflection, awards can help establish new standards for how architecture engages with contemporary social, environmental, and cultural realities,” said Jesper Eis Eriksen, Executive Director, OBEL Award.
