SQUARE


Launched by the Federal Ministry of Building, the Architecture Award and the Civil Engineering Award are the most prestigious awards for architects and engineers in Germany. It aims to honour and celebrate innovative architectural solutions.



The cube is one of the most basic man-made volumes. It is something that we immediately understand as a space - a building block - with which more complex structures can be created. The cube is used to negotiate many questions that have preoccupied architecture and the work of engineers from Vitruvius to the constructivism of modernism: the question of the beginnings, of the first house and of the original hut of architecture. As with the four other Platonic solids, the side faces of the cube or hexahedron are regular polygons that are congruent with each other and characterised by the fact that many edges meet in each corner of the solid. This resembles the content tableau of the socially influential building projects of the award-winning architects and engineers, whose thematic diversity is designed in a groundbreaking way through clear structuring.

The award unit consists of a stainless steel frame, which is attached to the respective award-winning building, and a four-part sculpture, which is presented to the respective architecture or engineering studio.

The German Architecture and Civil Engineering Award was commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Construction and the Federal Chamber of Architects and is handed over annually since 2022.


The space of possibilities for the award-winning projects can only be created through the cooperation of the building owners and the actors of both disciplines, the architects and civil engineers. After all, it takes the commitment and courage of the building owners to initiate and realise new and innovative building projects. In this way, the builders create frameworks. These frameworks are characterised by the fact that there are no standard solutions. In order to strengthen the significance and visibility of the award in public space, the design of the plaque stands out in contrast to its historical predecessors through its three-dimensionality and becomes a new symbol. From sunrise to sunset, the changing light and weather conditions are reflected in the polished surface of the plaque made of high polished stainless steel. It absorbs and reflects the surrounding and unfolds site-specifically like the award-winning architectural projects. 

The four identical white elements made of a mineral composite material form the award object, which is handed over to the respective architectural or engineering office. Stacked on top of each other, inserted into each other and arranged in different formations, unique structures can be created that at the same time offer a consistent order. Each prize-winner thus receives a statuette that can be individually designed. The four elements of the prize object also stand symbolically as an award for a practice that is never made alone, but is always also a collective endeavour - encompassing a variety of knowledge, skills, actors or scales.