The built environment shapes all our lives. It is also largely responsible for human-made alterations to our planet’s ecosystems. So, to allow all life on earth to be sustained, we must urgently transform the way we build – at pace and at scale. As a non-profit organization deeply committed to enabling this change, the Holcim Foundation has reshaped its flagship Holcim Awards competition to focus on bringing to light and rewarding real-world case studies that exemplify the most innovative practice in sustainable construction.
As the window of opportunity to secure a “livable future” narrows, the challenge of accelerating wide-scale system change needs leading-edge thinking to be identified and best practice solutions to be placed into the hands of everyone. Actors across the entire global construction value chain have the power and responsibility to undertake sustainable transformation and ensure a future built environment in which both people and planet can thrive. The industry must make wide-scale progress on issues including the global housing crisis, climate mitigation and climate adaptation, and ecosystem restoration and regeneration.
Across its almost two-decades of history, the Holcim Awards competition has received more than 30,000 entries and developed an international reputation for identifying forward-thinking approaches with more than 250 prize-winning projects acknowledged across 70 countries. The Holcim Foundation is again calling on architects, urban planners, and engineers to submit sustainable design and construction projects that lead the way in transforming the building sector. The Holcim Awards 2023 competition is open for entries until March 30, 2023. Submissions for the five regional competitions must be client-supported and commissioned for real-world execution. The project must not have started construction before January 1, 2022 and should have at least reached the detailed design phase.
The juries will be chaired by Tatiana Bilbao, Founder, Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO (for region Latin America), Craig Dykers, Founding Partner, Snøhetta (North America), Lesley Lokko, Founder, African Futures Institute (Middle East Africa), Manit Rastogi, Founding Partner, Morphogenesis (Asia Pacific), and Belinda Tato, Founding member, Ecosistema Urbano (Europe).
“We’re calling on all future-makers to be part of the Holcim Awards by entering the competition before March 30, 2023,” enthuses Laura Viscovich, Executive Director of the Holcim Foundation. “We are more committed than ever to ensuring that leading-edge thinking and best practice solutions are placed in the hands of everyone – and that starts by finding the very best projects in sustainable design and construction through the Holcim Awards.”
The Holcim Awards competition includes amongst its winners Pritzker Prize for Architecture laureates Diébédo Francis Kéré (2022), Alejandro Aravena (2016), and Wang Shu (2012), as well as projects acknowledged by the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group (2014/16) and Riwaq – Centre for Architectural Conservation (2011/13).
As the Holcim Foundation sets a course to identify, discuss, and democratize the latest leading-edge thinking and best practice in sustainable construction from around the globe, the Holcim Awards competition has been adapted from previous cycles of the competition. The competition will be held over a two-year rather than three-year cycle and requires more detailed responses on a range of sustainability data points as part of the submission.
“We are evolving all our programs to ensure that we keep in step with the impact at scale and speed needed, but that we also collaborate more broadly with an ever-increasing ecosystem of like-minded individuals and organizations to drive real world change,” explains Laura Viscovich.
The competition offers total prize money of USD 1 million across five regions: Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East Africa, and North America. USD 200,000 per region will be shared between winners of a Holcim Awards Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Acknowledgement prize in every region.
The evaluation criteria of the competition used by the independent expert juries are based on the Foundation’s four goals for sustainable construction that serve as a road map to drive system change:
- Uplifting places: Beautiful and spatially relevant structures that work in unison with the local context and culture.
- Healthy planet: Structures that minimize resource use, avoid emissions, and embed solutions to repair ecosystems and restore biodiversity.
- Viable economics: Financial planning that combines short term project feasibility with long term circular value creation.
- Thriving communities: Inclusive and affordable living environments that cultivate equity, health, and well-being.
Submitting entries in the competition is free using a web-based form to provide information in English on the project design team, project summary, response to sustainability criteria including data points, as well as project images. The competition is open for entries until March 30, 2023 at 14:00hrs UTC.
The announcement of winners and trophy hand-over ceremony will be held on November 18, 2023, at the 18th International Venice Biennale of Architecture: The Laboratory of the Future.
How to apply and more information on the Awards competition here, and find out more about the Holcim Foundation here.