DAAR's striving for human rights causes earns the RIBA Charles Jencks Award for 2025

The RIBA Charles Jencks Award for 2025 has gone to the Sweden/Palestine-based artistic research practice DAAR and founders Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti for their multi-faceted channeling of human rights causes into the broader canon of architecture. 

DAAR (which stands for 'Decolonizing Architecture Art Residency') was established in the West Bank in 2007. Their work extends into the built environment to "[challenge] dominant collective narratives, [redefine] political concepts, and [foster] new forms of civic engagement."

Upon receiving the honor, Hilal and Petti stated: "This award comes at an extremely difficult time, when the role of architecture feels more fragile than ever. The Al Nada social housing we co-designed in Gaza has been obliterated, claiming hundreds of lives. Schools we built in Jerusalem are under threat. Refugee camps in the West Bank, where we have worked for years, remain under siege. And yet, we know we have no right to lose hope."