SHARE Architecture Awards
Celebrating Central and Southeastern Europe’s Innovation, Talent, and Impact on the Global Stage
Central and Southeastern Europe is rich in architectural talent, and our mission at SHARE Architects is to showcase it on the international stage. That’s why, alongside the many events we regularly organize across the region, the SHARE Architecture Awards were created.
What makes these awards unique is their impact on Central and Southeastern Europe’s architectural identity. Over the past decades, architecture in this region has evolved from the standardization typical of the Soviet era to something much more experimental and diverse. Today’s architects blend local traditions with global influences, creating something unique. It’s no longer about following Western trends; it’s about setting them. This event showcases this region’s immense talent and innovation, helping these architects gain the global recognition they deserve.
The awards are divided into six categories and 12 subcategories, ranging from cultural and educational buildings to workplaces, healthcare facilities, sports & wellbeing, commercial and residential buildings, and city planning.
The event is set up to recognize a whole spectrum of architectural efforts, from big commercial projects to more intimate residential designs. Whether you’re designing a hospital or a tiny cafe, it doesn’t matter—the awards cover it all. Each category has its expert jury panel, so your work is evaluated by someone who knows the field.
The projects go through a two-step judging process:
01.
The first stage
The competition’s first stage involves submitting projects, followed by an initial jury evaluation phase. A panel of esteemed figures from international architecture will determine the projects that advance to the final stage.
02.
The final stage
The final stage will include live presentations, open to the public, showcasing the shortlisted projects, lectures by jury members, debates, and discussions. It will also offer unparalleled networking opportunities and connections with leading Central and Southeast European architects.
In the next phase, the jury will deliberate and decide the winners in each category and the Overall Winner.
Following this, the winners will be announced during an Awards Ceremony.
The nominated projects, including the winning ones, will be featured in a public exhibition, which will tour for one year across the countries where SHARE organizes international architecture forums.
What are the jury’s evaluation criteria?
To ensure every project is assessed fairly and comprehensively, the jury evaluates them based on six fundamental principles.
Each of these criteria ensures that the winners represent the forefront of architecture, contributing aesthetically, socially, and environmentally.
Added Value
How well does the project manage complexity, site challenges, budget constraints, and regulations?
Formal Value
Is the design visually coherent and appropriate for its scale and purpose?
Environmental Value
Does the project positively impact the natural or built environment?
Social Value
Does the design engage and benefit the building’s occupants and the wider community?
Critical Practice
Does the project raise new questions and provide innovative solutions?
Innovation
Does the approach demonstrate originality and experimentation?
What are the benefits for participants?
For architects, it’s not just about symbolic recognition. Winning or even being shortlisted for their work offers far more benefits. Here they are:
Unparalleled Exposure and Recognition
Winning or even being shortlisted for the SHARE Architecture Awards opens doors to a global audience.
This event offers a unique chance to present your work directly to renowned architects and experts worldwide, helping you expand your professional network and increase visibility.
This exposure can lead to potential collaborations, new business opportunities, and partnerships that transcend borders.
A Prestigious Jury
Feedback from a jury of internationally recognised experts is invaluable for any architect looking to refine their craft and make a lasting impact.
Celebration of Sustainability and Community Impact
The SHARE Awards strongly emphasize designs that promote sustainability and enhance communities.
This aligns with the growing global demand for eco-responsible architecture that improves quality of life.
Architects whose projects embody these principles will find an eager audience ready to celebrate their innovative approaches.
A Wide Range of Categories
Whether your expertise lies in cultural, educational, healthcare, residential, or commercial architecture, the awards cover various categories.
From landscaping and urban planning to heritage restoration, there is a category tailored to every type of architecture.
This inclusivity allows professionals from diverse sectors to showcase their specific skills and contributions to the built environment.
Networking and Learning Opportunities:
Final-stage participants will benefit from lectures, debates, and discussions led by jury members and industry experts.
These events provide unprecedented opportunities to connect with peers, share ideas, and learn from the best in the field.
What the jury members from the first edition of the SHARE Architects Awards 2024 have to say
Well, it’s great to highlight architecture from this region because, in the outside world, we may not hear enough about it as we should. It’s not covered very much in the press, so coming here and seeing all the awards and listening to the presentations is a real eye-opener about the quality of architecture you see here and the quality of thinking that goes into architecture.
Peter Murray
Co-Founder of New London Architecture and Chairman of Temple Bar Trust, UK
The idea of bringing architects together from Eastern Europe is a great one because sharing their knowledge with others is difficult for architects. There are few conferences or ways to share information, and this is an excellent way to do it.
I hope that in the future, the learnings, projects, and awards that come out of this will be disseminated beyond Eastern Europe to Western Europe, Asia, and North and South America. It’s so important for us today to share knowledge and experiences.
Each architectural team acquires lots of knowledge when they do a project or restoration or when they think about a project. And that’s the best way to share what they’ve learned from their experience through conferences like this.
Martha Thorne
Senior Advisor for The OBELAward; Former Executive Director of the Pritzker Prize
I think Share Architects is doing a great job, so there are some unique aspects to this award. We have many live presentations. There is a very good debate about architecture and its principles. We have the possibility to talk to many project presenters. I think it is unique, and I think that in the end, we can have very good results.
Kamran Afshar Naderi
Architect, Writer, Critic, and Founder of Memar Magazine & Awards, Iran
It’s an excellent platform for exchanging information and meeting people, and I like that it’s focused on Eastern and Southern Europe. It should expand further East. That would be very interesting because a lot is happening in Central Asia regarding architecture. So, it’s great to have a platform for people who are culturally close to each other to share information and views about architecture.
Manuela Gato
Director ZAHA HADID Architects, UK
It’s essential for architects to feel that they are rewarded. At the same time, because this is centered in one region of the world, it’s also essential because it allows the rest of the world to know the architecture being done here that, maybe, is not so well published. There are two aspects: the personal one for the architect and the ability to reach a wider public and connect with the world, which is very important. That’s why I believe entirely in the SHARE Architecture Awards.
Fuesanta Nieto
Founding Partner of Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos, Spain