2025
Laureates
Andrea Gebhard
Born in Munich, Andrea Gebhard studied geography and sociology at the University of Marburg (1976–77), then landscape development at the Technical University of Berlin, and landscape architecture at the University of Hanover. After graduating, Gebhard worked in two architectural firms in 1984 before moving to the Department of Urban Planning and Building Regulations of the City of Munich from 1984 to 2000, where, in 1993, she was appointed head of the Department of Green Planning. In 2000, Gebhard took over the management of the newly founded Garden Show in Munich (BUGA 2005). In 2006, she established the landscape architecture practice gebhard-konzepte in Munich, now m.g.k. – mahl-gebhard-konzepte. The firm m.g.k. works on a wide range of scales, from structural planning to object design.
Awards received by Andrea Gebhard include: Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for her services to landscape and open-space planning and her voluntary work, 2015; Medal “Munich shines” in silver, 2016; City of Munich Architecture Prize, 2021.
Andrea Gebhard sees her work and her involvement in various committees and associations as an opportunity to take stances on issues and topics of the future. Her memberships include: vice president of the Association of German Landscape Architects, 2006–07; president of the Association of German Landscape Architects, 2007–14, as the first woman to hold this office in the history of the AGLA; chairwoman of the advisory board of trustees of the Federal Foundation of Baukultur since 2013; chairwoman of the Bavarian regional group of the German academy for urban and regional planning, 2014–22. She has been president of the Federal Chamber of German Architects since 2021.
Balancing the need for construction projects with the preservation of open spaces is a constant challenge.
Land sealing has far-reaching ecological and economic consequences that can be minimized through thoughtful development. By focusing on inner-city densification and utilizing existing infrastructure, we can reduce land consuption while enhancing urban quality of life.
Salima Naji
Born in Rabat to French and Moroccan parents, Salima Naji graduated from the École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Paris – La Villette in 2002. Authorized to practice in the Kingdom of Morocco since 2004, she has built in Fez, Marrakech, and Rabat as part of an innovative, environmentally friendly approach. Called upon to work on major proj ects by the Moroccan government, such as the revitalization of the Ksar d’Assa (2005–11) and of the Citadel of Agadir Oufella (2017–23), she has also taken on small projects with a social dimension.
Naji does not dissociate academic work from that of action. From her initial research on ksours and kasbahs (1993–96), and after a long study trip to Mali (1995), she devoted her PhD to collective granaries from 2000 onward, which she saved from ruin (using her own funds in 2003), also thanks to the Young Architects’ Prize (EDF Foundation, 2004–06), the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (2009–12), the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (2009–13), and partnership with the Global Heritage Fund (2018–21).
Gradually, research-action programs with universities, NGOs, museums, or bilateral collective actions—such as with the Fondation Jardin Majorelle in Marrakech, for the creation of the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts (2010), or the project “Preservation of Sacred and Collective Oasis Sites” (2006–13, shortlisted for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2013)— have enabled her to reflect on the well-being of populations over the long term, notably with the Kingdom’s Academy for the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) in 2016.
She was included on the Royal Institute of British Architects’ list of “Women in Practice” in 2023 and has received numerous national and international awards, including the prestigious Médaille d’or de l’Académie de France in 2024.
Marie Combette and Daniel Moreno Flores
LA CABINA DE LA CURIOSIDAD
Marie Combette, born in Vesoul, France, graduated in architecture and philosophy from the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Nancy in 2010. She obtained her license to practice in 2016 with a memorandum on the theme “Arquisanat: The Relationship between Architecture and Craftsmanship.” Her research project “Valparaíso Público” was exhibited at the 2018 Venice Biennale.
Daniel Moreno Flores, an Ecuadorean born in Marseille, France, graduated from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador in Quito in 2007. An active member of young architecture collectives promoting handicrafts on material and structural systems, he earned a master’s degree in advanced architectural design from the Universidad de Buenos Aires in 2023. His grants and invitations include: Panamerican Architecture Biennial, Quito, 2012; Latin American Congress of Architecture 2013 and 2016; Ibero-American Biennials of Architecture and Urbanism 2014 and 2019; Climate Change AT, Columbia GSAPP 2019; Curator for Ecuador for the BIAU in Paraguay, 2019; guest participant at the Swiss Award 2018–20.
Combette and Moreno Flores founded La Cabina de la Curiosidad in 2019, having met at La Ortiga transdisciplinary cultural center in Quito. Both architects are visiting teachers and lecturers in Latin America, Spain, France, Japan, China, and the United States. They favor teachings linked to their research, such as the workshops “Water and Territory” at the Universidad de Moron and Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Argentina in 2023.
Publications include: La Cabina de la Curiosidad (2021), Viajes del Cotidiano (2022), and Los Caminos del Agua (2023). La Cabina de la Curiosidad received the National Architectural Design Award, Quito, 2022.
La Cabina de la Curiosidad was a guest participant at the Swiss Award 2024. The Chaki Wasi Artisanal Center was nominated for the OBEL Award 2024, in the works category for the CLIMAS XIII BIAU 2024, won first prize in architecture for the Inclusión Award (IN) 2024, and 2nd Best of the Best for sustainable life at the Seoul Design Award 2024.
Hoang Thuc Hao
1+1>2
Born in Hanoi, Hoang Thuc Hao graduated from the Hanoi University of Civil Engineering in Vietnam (1987–92) and from the Politecnico di Torino in Italy (2000–03). In 2003, he founded the architectural firm 1+1>2, which pursues a practice supporting disadvantaged communities and promoting cultural diversity in the context of the rapid urbanization of Vietnam. Hoang Thuc Hao has been a professor and a lecturer in the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning (2003–ongoing) in Hanoi. Among his visits and lectures: The Art Institute of Chicago, National University of Singapore, Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Yale University, Cornell University, and Tsinghua University.
Awards received by Hoang Thuc Hao include: UIA Award 1996; World Architecture Festival 2015, winner in the category Civic and Community; Vietnamese architect of the year 2015; Gold Prize, Vietnam Green Architecture 2016; SIA-GETZ Award for Emergent Architecture in Asia 2016; Vassilis Sgoutas Prize for Implemented Architecture Serving the Impoverished 2017; UIA Robert Matthew Prize for Sustainable and Humane Environments 2023; Gold Medal, Arcasia Awards for Architecture 2020, category Public Amenity.
Among Hoang Thuc Hao’s commitments for a more inclusive and sustainable development in Vietnam: executive board member of the Youth Union (1995–2019); executive board member of Vietnam Green Architecture Council (2010–16); vice-president of the Vietnam Association of Architects (2020–ongoing); member of the Anti-Flood Program since 2014, and of the “Schools for Impoverished Children in Rural Areas” program as chief architect (2014–ongoing); Responsible for designing and constructing schools in Vietnam’s northern mountainous area; head of the Private Fund for Community Architecture (2015–ongoing).
Marie and Keith Zawistowski
onSITE
Born in France, Marie Zawistowski graduated from the École nationale supérieure d’architecture Paris-Malaquais in 2004. Born in the United States, Keith Zawistowski graduated from the Virginia Tech College of Architecture and Urban Studies in 2003. Both were involved with the Outreach Studio at Auburn University in Alabama, where they designed and built the Lucy “Carpet” House (2001–02). Marie and Keith Zawistowski settled in Virginia in 2005, where they taught at Virginia Tech, first as adjunct faculty and then as associate professors of practice (2008–15) and founded “onSITE architecture” in 2005.
In 2016, they relocated onSITE to France. Appointed by the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Grenoble, they are now tenured faculty and members of the Research Unit Architecture, Environment & Constructives Cultures and Laboratoire CRAterre (2017–ongoing). In 2021, Marie was promoted to full professor.
Among their scientific works: “Reality Check: Pedagogy at the Intersection of Practice, Education and Outreach,” Virginia Tech, peer-reviewed journal CIDER, Fall 2013; “ExpLearn” International Conference, INSA Lyon et GAIA, October 2016; “Evolving Vernacular: Unstabilized, Prefabricated Insulated Rammed Earth,” A-ranked review Technology, Architecture + Design, 2020; “Contemporary Neolitic,” contribution to the Biennale Architecture and Landscape, Versailles, 2022.
Awards and grants received by onSITE include: Graham Foundation Grant for Traditional Building Technology Research in Ghana, 2005; National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, NCARB Grand Prize for the Creative Integration of Practice and Education in the Academy, 2011; ACSA Architectural Education Award, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, 2012–13; Young Architects Award, French Minis- try of Culture, 2014.
We like to think of progress—not to be confused with change-as building on the intelligence of the past. We often refer to our hybrid use of traditional building techniques and contemporary tools as « hi-tech/low-tech » because it infers a kind of equilibrium. Jana Revedin calls it the « right-tech.