SOM Foundation Announces Winner of the 2023 European Research Prize

The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce the winner of the 2023 European Research Prize. A team from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB) will receive a €20,000 prize to conduct original research that contributes to this year’s topic, “Adapting Housing Strategies to Respond to New Realities.” The European Research Prize was created in 2021 to cultivate new ideas and meaningful research that addresses the critical issues of our time.

As part of the project “Open System for the Urban Regeneration of Housing Estates: A Case Study in Barcelona,” the research group REARQ and students from the Barcelona School of Architecture will design and field test adaptations of an open system created for rehabilitating multifamily housing in Barcelona’s Southwest Besòs neighborhood. The project’s principal investigators are Pere Joan Ravetllat, Còssima Cornadó, Marta Domènech, and Sara Vima-Grau.

Juror Kieran Long commented, “It is inspiring that the SOM Foundation funds opportunities for deepening research in our field. The shortlisted applications for the European Research Prize all presented inspiring visions of how academia and the profession of architecture aspire to affect and influence city making in varying circumstances. With sustainability, reuse, and the social life of the city in focus, the projects this year present an inspiring picture of the future profession.”

This year’s jury was led by SOM Foundation Executive Director Iker Gil and included Nana Biamah-Ofosu (Architect and director, YAA Projects; Tutor, Architectural Association; and Lecturer, Kingston School of Art, London), Meredith Bowles (Founding Director, Mole Architects, Cambridge; Visiting Professor, The University of Suffolk; and Faculty, University of Cambridge Department of Architecture), Kieran Long (Director, ArkDes, The Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design, Stockholm), and Tatjana Schneider (Professor, Architectural Theory; Head, Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture and the City and the Architecture and Engineering Collection, Technische Universität, Braunschweig).

European Research Prize recipients are expected to collaborate with students, faculty, and leaders from various disciplines to pursue their research topics. They will be required to document their findings and develop suggestions for application to professional practice. The outcome of the research will be shared publicly on the SOM Foundation’s website as well as other mediums identified by the winning teams.