Top prize-winning architects and design leaders of 2025

As 2025 comes to a close, we’re looking back at some of the year’s most significant honors in architecture and design.

From practitioners advancing community-centered work and humanitarian design to those pushing for technological and aesthetic innovation within the built environment, the past year showcased a wide range of voices shaping the field.

Our curated selection highlights standout architects and designers whose work not only earned major recognition in 2025 but also helped shape the architectural conversation.

Liu Jiakun is the 2025 Pritzker Prize winner

"Chinese architect Liu Jiakun, founder of Jiakun Architects has been announced as the winner of the 2025 Pritzker Prize. Born in Chengdu, Liu has built a career spanning over four decades, developing projects that blend modernity with traditional Chinese architectural elements. Rooted in cultural, historical, and social considerations, the architect's work often seeks to create spaces that serve and uplift communities."

Shigeru Ban named 2026 AIA Gold Medal winner

"Shigeru Ban is the recipient of the 2026 AIA Gold Medal. The jury praised the Tokyo-born architect's work, which 'masterfully blends structural innovation, ecological sensitivity, and profound humanitarianism.'"

Duvall Decker honored with 2026 AIA Architecture Firm Award

"Jackson, Mississippi-based firm, Duvall Decker, has been named the 2026 AIA Architecture Firm Award winner. The annual award is the highest honor the AIA bestows on an architecture practice, recognizing firms that have consistently produced notable architecture for at least a decade."

Francis Kéré named 2025 Richard Neutra Award laureate

"Francis Kéré, the Berlin-based Burkinabè architect and 2022 Pritzker Prize winner celebrated for his community-driven and sustainable designs, has just been named the 2025 recipient of the Richard Neutra Award for Professional Excellence.  Presented annually by Cal Poly Pomona’s Department of Architecture and now in its 30th year, the Neutra Award celebrates architects who have shaped the built environment worldwide."

SANAA emerges as RIBA's 2025 Royal Gold Medal winner

"SANAA has emerged as this year’s RIBA Royal Gold Medal winner. The firm founded by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa  in 1995 was announced by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) as the 173rd winner of the prestigious honor that dates to 1848.  The RIBA Honours Committee selected the Japanese duo for a steady and pioneering pursuit of 'sustainable, user-centered' design that encapsulates a 'universal language of architecture that resonates with people everywhere' as expressed by projects such as the New Museum and  Rolex Learning Centre in Switzerland."

Eduardo Souto de Moura wins 2025 Praemium Imperiale for Architecture

"This year's Praemium Imperiale for Architecture laureate is Eduardo Souto de Moura. Awarded by the Japan Art Association in its thirty-sixth year, the accolade also recognized four other recipients in their respective fields: Peter Doig (UK) for Painting, Marina Abramović (Serbia) for Sculpture, András Schiff (UK) for Music, and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker (Belgium) for Theater & Film."

ZHA's Patrik Schumacher and Palestinian architect Suad Amiry named 2025 European Prize for Architecture winners

"The 2025 European Prize for Architecture has been bestowed upon two laureates: Suad Amiry and Patrik Schumacher. Awarded annually by The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, the Prize recognizes architects who have made a commitment to advance the principles of European humanism and the art of architecture. It also honors the commitment and achievements of European Architects who are championing a more critical, intellectual, and artistic approach to the design of buildings and cities."

Christian de Portzamparc awarded CDA Lifetime Achievement Award

"The Créateurs Design Association has announced French architect Christian de Portzamparc as the recipient of its 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award. Known for cultural landmarks and urban design strategies, de Portzamparc will accept the award at a ceremony in Paris in January 2026."

Farshid Moussavi wins the 2025 Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize

"Farshid Moussavi, Young & Ayata, Neri&Hu, Mark Wigley, and Andrés Jaque have been announced as the five headline Awards in Architecture honorees for 2025 by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Leading the field was Moussavi, the winner of the $20,000 Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize."

Tiantian Xu wins the 2025 Wolf Prize, Yasmeen Lari declines citing Gaza’s destruction

"The annual announcement of the prestigious Wolf Prize from the Israeli Wolf Foundation has been marred by controversy after one of the two selected 2025 Architecture laureates — Pakistani architect and 2023 RIBA Royal Gold Medal winner Yasmeen Lari — turned down the honor in protest. Lari would have joined Tiantian Xu, the award-winning Chinese architect who currently co-teaches the Marcus Prize Studio at the School of Architecture & Urban Planning at UW-Milwaukee, as the only other Architecture laureate this year. The decision to decline was confirmed Wednesday as her name did not appear on the foundation’s official online announcement. Citing concerns over human rights violations in the prosecution of the Gaza War, Lari has apparently decided to turn down the $100,000 prize."

Architects Anne Lacaton and Suad Amiry named 2025 Jane Drew Prize for Architecture and Ada Louise Huxtable Prize winners

"This year’s winners of the Jane Drew Prize for Architecture and Ada Louise Huxtable Prize for Contribution to Architecture have been announced by the UK-based publications The Architectural Review and Architects’ Journal as part of their annual W Awards program. The 13th edition of the Awards saw the Anne Lacaton, co-founder of Lacaton & Vassal, chosen as the 2025 Jane Drew Prize winner. [...] She was joined by the 2025 Ada Louise Huxtable Prize for Contribution to Architecture winner Suad Amiry, the founder of a nonprofit organisation dedicated to historic preservation and the reuse of buildings in Palestine."

Shigeru Ban awarded 2025 American Prize for Architecture for commitment to humanitarianism

"Shigeru Ban has been awarded the 2025 American Prize for Architecture by The Chicago Atheneum. [...] the award recognizes architects who 'bring new directions and humanist ideals to American architecture.' The award is unique in its aim to award architects with a presence in the United States who are shaping modern American design. The Chicago Atheneum described Ban as an architect who should be 'rightly honored and truly emulated by all who believe in humanitarian causes.'"

AIA announces Harvard GSD Dean Sarah M. Whiting as 2026 Topaz Medallion winner

"This year’s Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education has gone to Sarah M. Whiting. Whiting currently serves as the Dean and Josep Luis Sert Professor of Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD). [...] Whiting is joined by Vivian Lee, who was honored with the AIA’s highest service honor, the Edward C. Kemper Award. Lee, a design principal at Gensler and the co-chair of the AIA New York Women in Architecture (WiA) Committee, is being recognized for her advocacy for better equity, diversity, and inclusion in architecture. [...] This year’s Whitney M. Young Jr. Award was received by Michael Ford, also known as 'The Hip Hop Architect.' Ford is acknowledged for merging hip hop culture with architecture to connect with communities historically excluded from the design profession."

Yasmeen Lari wins Lisbon Triennale Achievement Award for pioneering humanitarian architecture

"Pakistani architect Yasmeen Lari has been awarded the 2025 Lisbon Triennale Millennium bcp Achievement Award, recognizing her six-decade career dedicated to socially and environmentally conscious architecture. Lari, born in 1941 and Pakistan’s first female architect, trained in the UK before establishing a successful practice in Karachi. Since retiring from conventional practice in 2000, Lari has shifted her focus toward humanitarian work through the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan. Lari's efforts center on vernacular, low-carbon, and disaster-resilient construction methods."

Dong Gong of Vector Architects awarded 2025 Marcus Prize by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

"Beijing-based architect Dong Gong of Vector Architects has been named the winner of the 2025 Marcus Prize for Architecture by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning. The $100,000 prize is one of the highest monetary awards in architecture and recognizes established architects who show future promise in the field. Gong is the Prize’s eleventh overall winner and will travel to Milwaukee to co-teach a studio alongside faculty."

Tiantian Xu awarded 2026 Le Prix Charlotte Perriand for ‘practice rooted in community and place’

"Chinese architect Tiantian Xu has been named the recipient of Le Prix Charlotte Perriand at the 2026 Créateurs Design Awards. The award recognizes architects whose work advances innovation, social responsibility, and community engagement. Xu, founder of DnA_Design and Architecture, recently spoke with Archinect about her work teaching architecture students at UW-Milwaukee in her capacity of winner of the 2024 Marcus Prize."

Walter Hood wins the 2025 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture

"Hood Design Studio's founder Walter Hood has been named the winner of the 2025 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture by the University of Virginia. The prize has been given annually since 1966 in conjunction with the Thomas Jefferson Foundation in recognition of those who best exemplify the university’s founder in their pursuits of Architecture, Law, and Citizen Leadership."

The next generation of European architects and designers unveiled through Europe 40 Under 40 Awards

"The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies has unveiled the winners of the 2024-2025 Europe 40 Under 40 Awards. The annual program is open to all early-career architects, landscape architects, urban planners, and industrial designers currently under the age of 40 and aims to showcase 'Europe's most promising figures in architecture and design, along with their outstanding and innovative projects.' Participants can be working independently, in a firm, or on a specific project as the lead architects/designers."

EUmies Awards Young Talent winners revealed at the Venice Architecture Biennale

"The Fundació Mies van der Rohe, jointly alongside Creative Europe, has announced three Young Talent winners of the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture / Mies van der Rohe Awards category as part of the EUmies Awards Day 2025 in Venice. The awards are organized to recognize 'exceptional student projects that respond to today’s social, urban, and environmental challenges.' The event was held within the context of the 2025 Venice Biennale."

Mario Schjetnan and Grupo de Diseño Urbano win the 2025 Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize

"Mexico City-based landscape architect Mario Schjetnan and the firm he founded and leads, Grupo de Diseño Urbano, have been revealed as the recipients of the 2025 Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize. Organized by The Cultural Landscape Foundation, the biennial Oberlander Prize celebrates landscape architects working at the intersection of design and social justice causes."

Weitzman School dean Fritz Steiner wins CELA's Lifetime Achievement Award

"Frederick 'Fritz' Steiner, the dean of the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design, has been honored with the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA)’s Lifetime Achievement Award."

Studio Gang, Lorcan O’Herlihy, and Steven Ehrlich earn 2025 California Awards

"An inspiring trio of architects has been recognized as part of the AIA California chapter’s 2025 California Awards.  The annual Awards honor the overall 'elevation of design excellence, the actualization of core values, and rigorous commitment to the expansion of the capabilities of the field" of individuals and practices. This year, Studio Gang, Lorcan O’Herlihy, and Steven Ehrlich were the ones selected."

Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers answers 'which dramas are shaping architecture’s arc today'

"Today marks the announcement of a new crop of the Architectural League of New York annual League Prize for Young Architects + Designers winners. The 44th cycle of the League Prize, as with other contests, is open to those practicing within ten years of completing their education and organized under the 2025 theme 'Plot.'"

AIA Young Architects and Associates Award winners shine through leadership and community practice

"The American Institute of Architects has honored members Olivia Mae M. Asuncion of Quattrocchi Kwok Architects, Carlos Augusto Garcia of Brooks + Scarpa, Gloria Koter of Glow Architects, Corey Squire of Bora Architecture & Interiors, and Matthew Szymanski of Arx Design Co. as the 2025 winners of the Young Architects Award. Each of the emerging talents was said to earn the distinction over their impressive early career contributions and leadership within the field. They were joined by the five winners of the Associates Award: Oswaldo Rivera-Ortiz of Stantec, Cyrus P. Dahmubed of Utile, Katie Cherrier of Integrus Architecture, Ernest Banks of studioMAIN, and Anastasia Calhoun of Texas Architect magazine."

KPMB co-founders Marianne McKenna and Shirley Blumberg honored with 2025 RAIC Gold Medal

The recipients of this year’s RAIC Gold Medal are the KPMB Architects co-founders Marianne McKenna and Shirley Blumberg. Their rare dual recognition by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) comes after 37 years in practice in Toronto alongside Bruce Kuwabara, who said: 'They have each shaped the trajectory of our practice and profoundly influenced the architectural landscape in Canada and beyond.'"

5468796 Architecture leads a select group of RAIC Annual Awards winners for 2025

"Today, 5468796 Architecture received the RAIC 2025 Architectural Practice Award from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada as part of the organization’s 2025 Annual Award program that includes the RAIC Gold Medal as well as individual awards for Advocate for Architecture, Research & Innovation, and contributions to Architectural Journalism and Media in the country and abroad."

Reiser+Umemoto, Snøhetta headline field of 2025 AIA New York Design Awards winners

"AIANY’s picks for the 2025 AIA New York Design Awards winners were just announced from the Center for Architecture in Manhattan. A total of 24 projects representing the very best contributions made by members to the urban environment locally and abroad [...]."

19 Texas Design Award winners showcase the best new architecture the Lone Star state has to offer in 2025

"The selection of 19 projects as part of the Texas Society of Architects’ 2025 Design Awards program has been announced at the conclusion of a cycle that drew 194 applications. This year, the projects chosen represented a great variety in client, typology, and size. The winners represent standout design talent in a state that has an estimated 16,000+ architects."

Michael Maltzan, TERREMOTO, and others celebrated at the 25th annual Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards

"The 25th edition of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum's annual National Design Awards program has named ten winners, each representing the 'empowering, inclusive and diverse' nature of design practices in their respective fields. The program was established in 2000 as part of the White House Millennium Council and honors the best of the best American designers making impacts in the public sphere in multiple disciplines and across ten separate awards categories. Maurice Cox, who served as the Chair for this year's jury, stated he was 'proud that the winners are increasingly a reflection of who we are in America and who we hope to be.'"

Penn honors Marina Tabassum and Green Heart Louisville Project with 2025 design awards

"The University of Pennsylvania’s Weitzman School of Design has announced the recipients of its 2025 professional and student medals in architecture and planning. Marina Tabassum Architects, the Dhaka-based firm behind the 2025 Serpentine Pavilion, has been named the winner of the 2025 Kanter Tritsch Medal in Architecture. The Green Heart Louisville Project, a University of Louisville study examining the impact of trees and shrubs on cardiovascular health, will receive the 2025 Witte-Sakamoto Family Medal in City and Regional Planning."

Norman Foster among medal winners at London Design Festival 2025

"Norman Foster is among the medal winners at the London Design Festival 2025. The awards intend to recognize the 'contribution made by leading design figures and emerging talents to London and the industry.'   Foster was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Medal, intended to honor a significant and fundamental contribution to the design industry over the course of a career."

'Nature, Man, and Spirits as One': Kongjian Yu/Turenscape ascend to the 2025 RAIC International Prize

"Kongjian Yu’s 27-year-old Beijing-based practice Turenscape has been named this year’s winner of the RAIC International Prize by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC).  His work, which was described as an aesthetically sound and philosophically grounded endeavor to 'create inspiring spaces that foster human reconnection to our natural world,' includes more than 1,000 projects in 250 cities worldwide."

OMA co-founder Madelon Vriesendorp awarded 2025 Soane Medal

"Dutch artist Madelon Vriesendorp has been named the recipient of the 2025 Soane Medal, becoming the first UK-based female artist to receive the honor since the award’s inception in 2017. The medal, presented annually by Sir John Soane’s Museum, celebrates individuals who have made a significant contribution to the field of architecture and its public understanding. Born in 1945 in the Netherlands, Vriesendorp is best known as one of the co-founders of OMA, established in 1975 alongside Rem Koolhaas and Elia and Zoe Zenghelis. Her imaginative paintings and illustrations, often depicting buildings as sentient, emotional beings, have become integral to the visual culture of late 20th-century architecture."

SUNY Buffalo planner Kelly Hayes-McAlonie wins the 2025 AIA Award for Excellence in Public Architecture

"Kelly Hayes-McAlonie, the current Director of Campus Planning for the State University of New York at Buffalo, has received the 2025 AIA Award for Excellence in Public Architecture. She is credited with founding the AIA’s game-changing Architecture + Education program in 2000, and, more recently, published a biographical sketch on the life of the largely overlooked Louise Blanchard Bethune—who became the first female AIA member in 1888—at the culmination of nearly twenty years of research."

Noted memorial designer Liam O’Connor is named 2025 Driehaus Prize laureate

"The University of Notre Dame has named Liam O’Connor and Philippe Rotthier as the laureates of this year’s Richard H. Driehaus Prize and Henry Hope Reed Award, respectively. Known for his extensive body of work that includes the British Normandy Memorial in France, O’Connor, who was also previously a visiting professor at Notre Dame and Yale, was cited by School of Architecture dean Stefanos Polyzoides as producing several other important monuments that are 'poetically charged, rationally disposed and emotionally laden.'"

Moira Gemmill and MJ Long prize winners round out 2025 W Awards honorees

"The 2025 W Awards have concluded with the announcement of the Moira Gemmill and MJ Long prize winners. They join the other W Awards honorees for this year (Anne Lacaton, Suad Amiry, and Designing Motherhood). Rachel Elliott of Lynch Architects was named the winner of the MJ Long Prize for Excellence in Practice. [...] This year’s Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture winner was Shamalat Cultural Centre by the Saudi practice Syn Architects (Sara Alissa & Nojoud Alsudairi)."

American Society of Landscape Architects unveils 2025 Honors recipients

"The American Society of Landscape Architects has unveiled its class of 2025 Honor recipients. Selected by the ASLA’s board of trustees, the individuals and firms 'represent the most noteworthy professionals nationwide,' according to the society."

Four young designers awarded SOM Foundation's 2024 Robert L. Wesley Award

"The four winners of the 2024 Robert L. Wesley Award have been announced by the SOM Foundation. The $10,000 scholarship, established in 2020 in honor of the firm's first Black partner, includes a yearlong mentorship for BIPOC students."

Emerging architectural scholars honored with Graham Foundation’s 2025 Carter Manny Prizes

"The Graham Foundation has announced the recipients of its 2025 Carter Manny Awards, continuing nearly three decades of support for doctoral research that advances discourse on architecture and the built environment. The awards recognize outstanding doctoral dissertations in progress, spanning historical, cultural, and environmental approaches to architectural scholarship."

Vincent Scully Prize 2025 goes to historian and former MoMA curator Barry Bergdoll

"Big award news from the National Building Museum today: Barry Bergdoll, architectural historian and former MoMA curator, was named as the 27th recipient of the Vincent Scully Prize. [...] Bergdoll, the Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History at Columbia University, gained international recognition for reshaping how the public engages with architecture. As MoMA’s Chief Curator of Architecture and Design from 2007 to 2014, he organized landmark exhibitions such as Rising Currents: Projects for New York’s Waterfront (2009–10), Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream (2012), and Latin America in Construction: Architecture 1955–1980 (2015)."