The wait is finally over. The A+Awards, Architizer’s global awards program for architecture, is back for a FIFTH year — and this time, it’s all about you. As we emphasized in our special preview, this year’s awards program is going back to its roots to celebrate great buildings around the world and the people that work so hard to make them a reality.
If you need a reason to enter this time around, look no further than last year’s program, which surpassed all previous A+Awards records. Over 5,000 projects were submitted and 400,000 public votes were cast for the “Oscars of Architecture,” celebrating the achievements of architects around the globe with our online community of over 3 million people — and a reach of over 300 million. This makes it the world’s largest awards program for architecture, and offers the opportunity for your project and firm to be seen and celebrated by an unprecedented audience.
CLICK HERE TO ENTER YOUR PROJECT NOW.
© Sam Deitch
When picking up the Emerging Firm of the Year Award earlier this year, Penda’s Chris Precht expressed happiness that the accolade celebrates not “star architecture,” but rather “start architecture.” Read more in our full interview here.
The Awards Program for Every Architect
This year’s program promises to be even more special, as it redoubles its focus on what matters — simply great design. This goes to the core of what Architizer is all about: the fact that brilliant buildings enrich our lives, no matter who designed them. The fifth annual A+Awards is not about throwing the spotlight on Starchitects, Pritzker Prize–winners or gigantic, multinational, corporate firms. It is designed to recognize the unsung heroes of the profession — the hardworking individuals that successfully navigate the long journey from concept to construction on a daily basis. No matter how big or small your firm is, this is your chance to have your work showcased on a global stage to design enthusiasts, the media and architectural experts alike.
Whether you are a sole trader or an architect within a huge, international firm, all things are equal with the A+Awards — our newly designed, easy-to-navigate submission system means you can enter as many projects as you like with just a few clicks. Then, once online voting is opened to the public, every click counts — your project has exactly the same chance of winning as the most famous firms. Previous media coverage, marketing expenditure and firm branding mean much less with this system. The key to victory is simple: Great design and inspiring architecture will rise to the top.
In aid of this mission, the level of accessibility for this year’s awards has been increased even further: We’ve addedspecial categories with a lower entry fee, designed especially for students and young architects — stay tuned in the coming days for more information!
Richard Meier and Annabelle Selldorf join the A+Awards jury this year; images via MODAMO.info and ELLEDECOR.com.
New Jurors From Architecture, Design and Business
As well as the public vote, our stellar lineup of jurors continues to grow, with creative minds spanning the gamut of architecture, design, tech and the arts all excited to be involved. Standout debutants on the jury include Richard Meier (Managing Partner at Richard Meier and Partners), Annabelle Selldorf (Principal at Selldorf Architects), Robin Chase (Co-founder, Zipcar) and even Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, the Academy Award–winning filmmaker who has been named by Time as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World!
They join the likes of Liz Diller (Diller Scofidio + Renfro), Rafael Viñoly, Winy Maas (MVRDV) and Jeanne Gang (Studio Gang), who are all returning to lend an expert eye and select their favorites from this year’s entries. This is no elitist committee akin to the Pritzker Prize jury, though — over 300 jurors from countless disciplines ensure a broad number of expert opinions will be gathered, and both jury and public awards are available in each category. Each is held in equally high esteem — this simply means that each project you submit has double the chance to triumph!
A taster of some of last year’s winning projects — click here for the full list of winners and nominees from the 2015 – 2016 A+Awards.
A Brand-New Site and Perfect Partners
This year, submitting your entry and voting for the winners will be more efficient and enjoyable than ever thanks to our brand-new A+Awards website dedicated to the program. The platform has been transformed to streamline the submission process, and also allows you to find out all the information you need on this year’s competition, jurors and past winners.
Once again, winners will be published in a stunning hardbound book by international publisher Phaidon — check out last year’s edition here — meaning your project will be treasured in print for years to come. Further to this, Architizer is excited to announce a new partnership with London-based design platform Dezeen, meaning winning projects will gain a whole new audience. Combine that with support from the Wall Street Journal and the Webby Awards, and coverage of the winning projects will be truly global.
Cutting-Edge Categories
Finally, a host of new categories have been introduced to reflect the ever-changing face of the architectural profession and emerging disciplines within the construction industry as a whole. Further to this, the products categories have been completely rebooted to provide the perfect opportunities for pioneering building product manufacturers to be recognized in every specialist field. For more insight into all the new categories, stay tuned for our in-depth feature later this week!
The 2016 A+Awards Gala, New York City; photo © Jenny Bascom
Key Dates for the Diary
The most important date of all is this Friday — the final deadline for submissions is December 16, 2016.
After jury and public voting takes place, the winners will be announced in April 2017, with the architecture’s biggest showbiz event — the A+Awards Gala — being hosted in New York City this coming May.
It is sure to be a fantastic event once again — and if one of your projects wins an A+Award, you can be there, too!
