Newsletter — May 2025

The regional jury for the Holcim Foundation Awards 2025 convened in Singapore to select the winning projects from Asia Pacific. Submissions were evaluated against the Foundation’s core goals: uplifting places, a healthy planet, thriving communities, and viable economics. Winners will be celebrated at the Awards Ceremony in Venice this November.

“It was a very dynamic process, and I enjoyed that,” said jury chair Sou Fujimoto, noting that jury members approached the process without fixed opinions, but through open dialogue, gradually deepened their understanding of each project—adjusting their perspectives step-by-step to reach consensus.

As part of the program, the jury visited the NUS Yusof Ishak House, a Holcim Foundation Awards 2023 winner led by architect and NUS professor Erik L’Heureux—and the Punggol Digital District guided by co-founders Wong Mun Summ and Richard Hassell, who are also former Holcim Foundation Awards prize winners.

The Asia Pacific jury panel includes Sou Fujimoto, Maria Atkinson AM, Cyril Giraud, Shimul Javeri Kadri, Ma Yansong, Leonard Ng, and Theresa Yeung.

Last week, at the launch of the Venice Architecture Biennale, Holcim Foundation executive director Laura Viscovich took to the stage to discuss the value and future of sustainable architecture awards. Speaking at Beyond the Prize—alongside celebrated Holcim Foundation Awards winners like Xu Tiantian and jury members such as Snøhetta co-founder Kjetil Thorsen—Viscovich joined a timely discussion on how best to recognise and reward sustainability in architecture.

Thorsen noted that awards should “create the zeitgeist, rather than simply respond to it.” The two panel sessions agreed that shaping cultural momentum toward a more sustainable built environment is just as significant as celebrating best practice through awards. Viscovich also highlighted the value of convening diverse, high-calibre juries for the Holcim Foundation Awards: “It’s the community aspect that counts.”

Beyond the Prize echoed that ethos, bringing together thought leaders in sustainable construction and architecture to explore how awards can catalyse better outcomes for people, planet, and place.

From September 1–12, a select group of Master’s students and recent graduates from across Europe will gather in Brussels for an immersive two-week program focused on adaptive reuse in the built environment.

Hosted by ETH Zurich, the Fellowship features hands-on collaboration with leading industry professionals across the value chain, academics, and tutors. A diverse network of contributors—including &bogdan, Democo Group, noAarchitecten and 51N4E—with additional input from the Architects’ Council of Europe, Construction Products Europe and SHL (Schmidt Hammer Lassen), will guide selected Fellows through a collaborative process of dialogue, consultation, exploration, reflection, and applied practice grounded in real-world development challenges - and focusing on the theme: Designing Incentives for Change.

Participants receive free tuition, accommodation, and travel assistance.

New deadline to apply: May 26, 2025 at 08:00hrs CET.

Know someone passionate about sustainable design and the future of European cities? Please share this opportunity!