"Beyond the Prize", How Architecture Awards Can Drive Meaningful Change

How architecture awards can catalyse meaningful change? The “Beyond the Prize” event, scheduled for the morning of Friday, May 9, in Venice, will revolve around this question.

The initiative brings together a consortium of six prestigious international architectural awards — Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, EUmies Awards, Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize, OBEL Award and Ammodo Architecture Award — to critically reflect on the evolving role of architectural awards.

“Beyond the Prize” will take place inside the Church of San Lorenzo, at Ocean Space, a global research center for ocean protection, which collaborated in organizing the event.

Set against the backdrop of the Venice Biennale 2025, curated by Carlo Ratti and dedicated to the theme of collective intelligence, this moderated discussion critically reflects on the purpose, impact and trajectory of awards amid pressing planetary, social and environmental challenges. The conversation emphasises the urgent responsibility of architecture awards to transcend mere recognition and serve as catalysts for meaningful change.

The event is free and open to all, with limited seating available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The program of "Beyond the Prize" event

When: Friday, 9 May 2025, from 9 to 10.30 a.m.
Where: Ocean Space, Campo S. Lorenzo, Venice

Panelists:
- Farrokh Derakhshani, Director, Aga Khan Award for Architecture
- Ivan Blasi, Director, EUmies Awards
- Dirk Denison, Director, Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize
- Laura Viscovich, Executive Director, Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction
- Jesper Eis Eriksen, Executive Director, OBEL Award
- Marleen van Driel, Director of Architecture, Ammodo Architecture Award
- Xu Tiantian, Founding Principal Architect, DnA_Design and Architecture
- Mohsen Mostafavi, Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design and Harvard University Distinguished-Service Professor
- Kjetil Thorsen, Co-founder, Snøhetta
- Marina Tabassum, Principal Architect, Marina Tabassum Architects
- Rozana Montiel, Founder and Director, Rozana Montiel Estudio de Arquitectura
- Andrés Jaque, Founding Principal, Office for Political Innovation, Dean Columbia University GSAPP

Moderated by: James Taylor-Foster, Writer, Cultural Critic, and Curator of design and digital culture

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