results
best architects 25
award

Celebration of excellence in architecture

Diverse, complex, creative – that's how you could describe the submissions for this year's «best architects award». Almost without exception, the works submitted were developed with a great deal of passion and are characterised by a sensitive approach to the context. Each project is unique in its own way. The era of large forms seems to be over for good. A colourful mixture of styles and concepts shows that each project was developed from the specific task and is often deeply interwoven with the location and its users.

See the winners in the gallery here

The complete list of all winners you can find here

Insights into the jury's work

(by Prof Dr Matthias Castorph, member of the «best architects 25 award» jury)

As we tried to select «the best» and recognise outstanding projects, the submissions from all over Europe opened our eyes to what lies beyond our own horizons, and our exchanges about what we had seen turned into a discussion about what constitutes quality, what distinguishes great architecture and what makes it seem extraordinary.

But at the same time, the discussion was also about the conditions for its creation, about what is possible or commonplace in each case – and what is without compare. We were nonetheless able to select the projects that really stand out in terms of quality yet still fit in perfectly with their setting.

Discussion about houses, situations and concepts

Our discussion revolved around buildings, situations, concepts and their engagement with the surroundings and the architectural conditions. It was amazing to see all that had been conceived, planned, realised, photographed and presented, to observe the diversity and quality, which is difficult to classify under the given headings, although the common focus was: building within the existing fabric and a pronounced engagement with the given context.

More than just the specific location

By context, we mean here more than a concrete place or a property where something was built. It is also about the intelligent, empathetic and creatively adept response to the sum of the prevailing ecological, economic, social, participatory and design conditions and so on. Therefore, the buildings we selected often demonstrate that even difficult and unrewarding framework conditions need not be an obstacle but can instead provide motivation for independent designs and realisations that show attitude and for buildings that make a statement.

Diversity of buildings and ensembles

The resulting structures and ensembles are just as diverse in the way they interact with heterogeneous surroundings and develop them in a positive direction. Perhaps these projects are somewhat less heroic overall, less sculptural and high-profile, but for that matter all the more complex and deliberately contradictory. They are successful interpretations of the place, the client, the budget, the times, the surrounding circumstances, the power of the conditions: building in the existing context – excellent architecture.