Awards in Chicago | Fellowship in Brussels | Embracing Water

Newsletter — August 2025

This month, hear from our Awards North America Jury and discover the emerging talents who will reimagine how we build and reuse spaces at our next Fellowship in Brussels. We also explore how design can embrace water through a showcase of former Holcim Foundation Awards winners.

Last updated: August 21, 2024 Zurich, Switzerland

Awards 2025 - North America Jury

The regional jury for the Holcim Foundation Awards 2025 met in Chicago, USA, to evaluate the leading sustainable construction projects from across North America. Chaired by Jeanne Gang, the panel examined diverse approaches to design, material innovation, and community impact, assessing entries against the Foundation’s four goals: uplifting places, a healthy planet, thriving communities, and viable economics.

Winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony in Venice this November. The North America jury panel includes Jeanne Gang, Pamela Conrad, Craig Dykers, Hanif Kara OBE, Tina Larson, and Marianne McKenna.

Fellowship Brussels - Meet the Cohort

15 emerging professionals have been selected for the Holcim Foundation Fellowship in Europe, hosted by ETH Zurich in Brussels. Our cohort of Fellows will work with Arno Brandlhuber, Olaf Grawert and Josiane Schmidt from ETH Zurich to engage with key stakeholders and decision-makers in the building industry to design compelling arguments and incentives that promote revitalization, reuse, renovation and transformation within the sector.

Fellows will visit case study projects in Brussels, meet practicing professionals, take part in presentations and learn about the innovative work of our partner firms – &Bogdan, 51n4e, noAarchitecten, DEMOCO Group and Whitewood – along with insights and contributions from AgwA and Schmidt Hammer & Lassen (SHL).

Eight Key Lessons - Embracing Water in Design

Where land blurs into water, people adapt—quietly and ingeniously. From island communities to marshland schools and river corridors, this piece distills eight lessons from Holcim Foundation Awards projects that design with water—not against it.

Dive into topics including:

  • Community-led rebuilding that restores belonging after disruption
  • Schools on water as civic anchors—with integrated wastewater treatment and lifelong learning
  • Amphibious living: buoyant vernacular, stilted homes, and flexible housing that rises with the tide
  • Blue urbanism: rewilded rivers and stream corridors that cool cities, recharge aquifers, and invite public life

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