2026 UIA Gold Medal & Triennial Prizes

UIA Member Sections are invited to submit nominations for the UIA Gold Medal and the six UIA Prizes. The winners will be announced during the UIA World Congress of Architects in Barcelona, Spain, in 2026.

The UIA Gold Medal is the most prestigious honour awarded to an architect by fellow architects. Established in 1984, it recognises outstanding architectural achievement by an individual or a group of architects, taking into account the full scope of a body of work developed over an extended period.

The six UIA prizes celebrate excellence in specific areas of architecture, including urban planning, innovation, architectural writing and education, improvement of living conditions and community structures, and solutions aimed at supporting the world’s most impoverished populations. These international prizes reflect the UIA’s core values: professionalism, cultural diversity, independence, and integrity.

• The Patrick Abercrombie Prize for Urban Planning and Design (since 1961)
• The Auguste Perret Prize for Technology in Architecture (since 1961)
• The Jean Tschumi Prize for Architectural Writing (since 1967)
• The Robert Matthew Prize for Sustainable and Humane Environments (since 1978)
• The Vassilis Sgoutas Prize for Implemented Architecture Serving the Impoverished (since 2008)
• The UIA Young Architects Prize for Architectural Excellence and Innovation in the Design Process (first edition 2026)

Five of these prizes are named in honour of past UIA Presidents, whose reputations were built not only on their mastery of their respective fields but also on their strong ethical principles.

The UIA Young Architects Prize was introduced by the 2023-2026 UIA Council and will be awarded for the first time in 2026. It will recognise a young architect or team of architects under the age of 40 who has completed at least one realised project that demonstrates outstanding creativity and innovation, both in the design process and the built work. The prize aims to encourage the next generation of architects to make meaningful contributions to architectural excellence and social engagement.

Eligibility

Nominees for the UIA Gold Medal and the UIA Prizes may include any architect, architectural firm, group of architects or collective entity comprising architects. Only Member Sections and elected representatives of the UIA are eligible to submit nominations.

For the Young Architects Prize, Member Sections are invited to nominate up to three architects under the age of 40 from their country.

Each nominee must meet the eligibility criteria set out for the specific prize. Member Sections may not nominate the same candidate more than twice for the same prize, whether in consecutive or non-consecutive editions. The UIA encourages diversity and broad representation in the nomination process.

Participation

Member Sections and elected UIA officials may submit nominations for the Gold Medal and Prizes exclusively in digital format via the UIA online platform.

Language

Nomination materials must be submitted in one of the two official working languages of the UIA: English or French.

Pre-selection of Nominations

For both the UIA Gold Medal and the Young Architects Prize, a panel of UIA elected officials will pre-select a shortlist of five to seven nominees for consideration by the respective juries.

• Regina Gonthier, President
• José Luis Cortés, Immediate Past President
• Rui Leão, Secretary General
• Seif Alnaga, Treasurer
• Teresa Táboas Veleiro, Vice-President Region I
• Jerzy Grochulski, Vice-President Region II
• Nivaldo Andrade, Vice-President Region III
• Zhang Li, Vice-President Region IV
• Vity Claude Nsalambi, Vice-President Region V

Jury Composition

Each category will be evaluated by a dedicated jury of three members: one UIA elected official and two external jurors. 

The UIA Gold Medal

• Regina Gonthier, UIA President
• David Adjaye, Adjaye Associates, United Kingdom
• Lu Wenyu, Amateur Architecture Studio, China

The UIA Young Architects Prize for Architectural Excellence and Innovation in the Design Process

• Rui Leão, UIA Secretary General
• Kjetil Thorsen, Snøhetta, Norway
• Tatiana Bilbao, Tatiana Bilbao Estudio, Mexico

The Patrick Abercrombie Prize for Urban Planning and Design

• Jerzy Grochulski, UIA Vice-President, Region II
• Alessandro Gess, l'AUC architectes et urbanistes, France; Laureate 2023
• Giancarlo Mazzanti, El Equipo Mazzanti, Colombia

The Auguste Perret Prize for Technology in Architecture

• Zhang Li, UIA Vice-President, Region IV
• Shigeru Ban, Shigeru Ban Architects, Japan; Laureate 2011
• Werner Sobek, Werner Sobek, Germany

The Jean Tschumi Prize for Architectural Writing

• Teresa Táboas Veleiro, UIA Vice-President, Region I
• Vladimír Šlapeta, Architectural historian and educator, Czechia; Laureate 2023
• Louise Noelle Gras, Architectural historian and critic, Mexico

The Robert Matthew Prize for Sustainable and Humane Environments

• Vity Claude Nsalambi, UIA Vice-President, Region V
• Hoang Thuc Hao, 1+1>2 Architects, Vietnam; Laureate 2023
• Kashef Chowdhury, URBANA, Bangladesh

The Vassilis Sgoutas Prize for Implemented Architecture Serving the Impoverished

• Nivaldo Andrade, UIA Vice-President, Region III
• Ka Wai Yeung, Kaunitz Yeung Architecture, Australia; Laureate 2021
• Palinda Kannangara, Palinda Kannangara Architects, Sri Lanka

Timeline

Key dates for the nomination and selection process are as follows:

• Launch: 5 June 2025
• Deadline for questions: 15 July 2025
• Deadline for answers: 30 July 2025
• Deadline for submissions: 25 September 2025 (17:00 Paris time)
• Pre-selection: 23 October 2025
• Selection: November 2025
• Announcement of laureates: To be confirmed
• Award ceremony: At the UIA World Congress of Architects in Barcelona, Spain, in 2026.

View the full regulations