"best architects 16" announces winners in its first Europe-wide competition

The "best architects 16" award opened up its annual competition to all of Europe for the first time. Established in 2006, "best architects" celebrates the most innovative architecture in German-speaking countries, which also serves as a means to engage and inspire the wider public with top-notch design. But for this year's edition, architects based in Europe were welcome to send in their best realized projects.

As expected, competition was fiercer than ever with a total of 354 submissions sent in from the continent. Although, of course, there was also a good number of winning projects from German-speaking countries. Eighty projects received awards, while nine were honored with Gold awards.

This year's jury featured: Prof. Pia Durisch (Durisch + Nolli Architetti, Massagno); Prof. Muck Petzet (Muck Petzet Architekten, Munich); and Christian Waldner (AllesWirdGut Architektur, Vienna).

Have a look at some of the gold-winning projects below.

Office/Administrative Buildings - Gold Award:

giuliani.hönger ag dipl. architekten eth-bsa-sia, Zurich, Switzerland: Office Building Wüst und Wüst, Küsnacht

Infrastructure Buildings - Gold Award:

• Andreas Fuhrimann Gabrielle Hächler / Carlo Fumarola / Gilbert Isermann, Zurich, Switzerland: Zielturm Rotsee
• Graber Pulver Architekten AG, Zurich, Switzerland:  Energiezentrale Forsthaus, Bern

Public Buildings - Gold Award:

• BRUTHER, Paris, France: Cultural and Sports Center Saint Blaise area
• Graber Pulver Architekten AG, Zurich, Switzerland: Musée d‘ethnographie de Genève

Single Family Homes - Gold Award:

• Roman Hutter Architektur, Lucerne, Switzerland: Heidenhaus in Münster
• Raumhochrosen, Bregenz, Austria: Tom’s Hut

Multi-Family Homes - Gold Award:

• Éric Lapierre Architecture, Paris, France: 85 Dwellings in Lyon
• Schenker Salvi Weber Architekten ZT GmbH, Vienna, Austria: Residential Development Sillblock Innsbruck

For the full list of winners, click here (PDF).