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The Buildner Unbuilt Award is an exciting new annual competition offering a 100,000 EUR prize fund, designed to highlight architectural design that hasn’t yet been brought to life.
With an upcoming registration deadline at the end of October, the 2024 Unbuilt Award presents a unique opportunity for architects and designers to submit their best unbuilt work—whether published, unpublished, fully developed, or still in concept form. This year’s competition is divided into three categories based on project scale: small, medium, and large. This structure allows participants to showcase their work on an equal footing, ensuring that every vision, regardless of size, has a chance to be celebrated.
Unbuilt ideas embody the purest form of creative exploration, often unconstrained by practical limitations. Unbuilt designs can push the boundaries of architectural thinking, allowing for bold experimentation in form, function, and sustainability. Concepts often serve as catalysts for new methods of presentation, communication, and problem-solving, shaping future projects and inspiring emerging designers to think beyond the built environment, ultimately advancing architectural discourse and practice. By showcasing these visionary projects, the creativity of architects is both honored while further innovation within the field can be stimulated.
Jury
Buildner is working with an outstanding international jury of renowned experts:
Ben van Berkel is the Founder of UNStudio, an Amsterdam-based architectural firm. Known for landmark projects like the Mercedes-Benz Museum and Arnhem Central Station, Ben also teaches globally and has held leadership roles at Harvard and IE School of Architecture, focusing on health and architecture.
Ece Calguner Ezran is the Interiors Principal at SOM’s New York studio. She believes in designing holistic interior spaces that enhance daily life by blending exterior influences with interior design. Her work incorporates elements from different typologies to maximize both spatial performance and aesthetics.
Doriana Fuksas co-leads Studio Fuksas, an international firm known for innovative projects across the globe. With a focus on sustainability and inclusivity, she has designed major works like Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport and the New Rome Convention Centre. She has been honored with several prestigious titles, including Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.
Christele Harrouk is the Editor-in-Chief of ArchDaily, with a background in architecture and urban design. She has been with ArchDaily since 2019, focusing on empowering women in architecture and highlighting underrepresented areas, while shaping the platform’s inclusive editorial direction.
Francine Houben is the Founding Partner and Creative Director of Mecanoo. Her designs, ranging from theaters to parks, are grounded in cultural and environmental contexts. She has received numerous honors, including honorary fellowships and awards, and has designed iconic projects like the Library of Birmingham and the National Kaohsiung Centre for the Arts.
Michael Meredith is Associate Dean and Professor at Princeton University and co-founder of MOS, a well-known architecture practice. His work has been widely published, and he has taught at prestigious institutions like Harvard and the University of Toronto.
Lyndon Neri, co-founder of Neri&Hu, leads an interdisciplinary architecture practice with offices in Shanghai, Milan, and Paris. In addition to his design work, Neri is a dedicated educator, holding numerous teaching positions at prestigious institutions like Princeton and Harvard.
Unbuilt Award Prizes: 100,000 EUR Prize Fund and Printed Book
The competition will select a winner in each of the three categories (small, medium, and large scale), along with five honorable mentions per category. A student winner will also be chosen in each category, and a special prize will be awarded for the best presentation. All winners and honorable mentions will be featured in a printed book by Buildner Books, highlighting their creativity and innovation.
Competition Schedule
The final registration deadline is October 30, 2024, with a submission deadline on November 20, 2024. Winners will be announced in mid-December 2024.
Buildner’s other ongoing competitions include the 2025 edition of the Kingspan MICROHOME competition; the Denver Single-Stair Housing Challenge to address the housing crisis in Colorado by inviting innovative design solutions for mid-rise, single-stair housing; and the Norman Foster Foundation Kharkiv Freedom Square Revival, a joint initiatives by the Kharkiv City Council and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) to repair conditions in Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict.