Across Europe, architectural awards showcase excellence in design—but the definition of “excellence” often differs greatly. Faced with today’s urgent challenges, award systems remain fragmented in their criteria. Yet, they carry significant potential to influence how architecture responds to climate, social and cultural issues.
In 2022, the Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE) launched a Peer Learning Group to examine how national awards incorporate frameworks such as Level(s), the New European Bauhaus (NEB) and Baukultur. The group explored how these tools can help identify, celebrate and replicate exemplary practices. Through dialogue with EU institutions, award organisers, and practitioners, the group investigated how “excellence” is defined, evaluated, and translated into transformative architectural practice.
With the support of Creative Europe, ACE is proud to release today the Peer Learning Group Report on Architecture Awards as Instruments of Systemic Change. Produced by ACE’s Awards Peer Learning Group, the report demonstrates how architectural awards can serve as catalysts for scaling up excellence—while addressing Europe’s most pressing challenges.
The report features 14 case studies from six European countries (Germany, Finland, Ireland, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Spain). While these examples demonstrate remarkable creativity and ambition, they also highlight persistent gaps in verification, feedback, and scalability. To address these challenges, the report offers recommendations and opportunities for strengthening the role of architectural awards in advancing climate performance, user wellbeing and social value – ultimately improving the quality of life across Europe.
“By setting benchmarks for quality, sustainability, inclusiveness and cultural value, awards not only recognise excellence but also inspire innovation at a time when our profession faces urgent challenges — from the climate emergency to the housing crisis and growing social inequalities. This report shows how awards can serve as powerful instruments to help meet these challenges.” – Carl Bäckstrand
READ THE REPORT ON ISSUU
Author: Dr Judit Kimpian with the Awards Peer Learning Group Member Organisations Representatives and Case Study Authors: Gearoid Carvill — Ireland /Ruta Leitanaite — Lithuania /Martynas Mankus — Lithuania /Juan Antonio Ortiz — Spain /Eva Alvarez— Spain/ Andre Pizzuto — Malta/Lisa Gwen — Malta Pierre Hurt — Luxembourg /Felicia Riess — Germany /Nina Tancheva — Bulgaria/Marcos Marcou — Cyprus /Hugo Pagnol — Finland and France/ Judit Kimpian — UK/ Jos Leyssens — Belgium
Design/ Layout/ Art Direction: Red&Grey redandgrey.ie
Acknowledgements: We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of ACE Member Organisations, ACE Workgroup Chairs and the ACE Secretariat that have supported the work of this publication.
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
