The Global Award was created in 2006 by the architect and scholar Jana Revedin, in partnership with the Cité de l'Architecture & du Patrimoine and the member institutions of its international scientific committee. In 2010 it was put under patronage of UNESCO. Each year the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture ™ recognizes five architects who share both the principles of sustainable development and a participatory architectural approach to the needs of society, in both the northern and the southern hemispheres. The work carried out during the past ten years has assured the undisputed international recognition of the Global Award, proving its scientific independence and uniting the award winners in an avant-garde community of collective research and experimentation of architectural and urban self-development projects. The Cité de l’Architecture & du Patrimoine guarantees the cultural promotion of the prize by publicizing the work of the architects and their contribution to the global debate.

The founding principles

Sustainable design is the catalyst for a new participative approach in architectural und urban planning processes. The very fundamentals of a project: durability, flexibility, economic, technical and ecological adequacy, cultural and social acceptance are being readdressed respecting society’s new concerns, fighting inequality, cultural disrespect and unreflected functionalism. The Global Award Community, which consists of the 70 contemporary architects and teams from around the globe who have received the award, works towards a sustainable architectural ethic and fosters research, experimentation and transmission in the fields of sustainable architecture, urban renewal and academic social responsibility. It defines architecture as an agent of empowerment, self-development and civic rights.