CTBUH Awards 2026

Competition Brief

Intent

The CTBUH Awards 2026 has the goal of honoring remarkable in tall buildings, urban innovation, and related fields design. The competition appraises finished and proposed projects, which reveal technical excellence, sustainability, and architectural merit. The awards highlight the features of innovation, performance, and design that contribute to the worldwide urban environment.

Purpose

The awards’ objective is to bring to light the projects and professionals who are the artists behind new tall building designs. It nothing less than outstanding in the areas of structure, systems, façade, urban habitat, innovation, and sustainability. Participation is opened to both big-name and young architects, engineers, and developers.

Requirements

The contest is accessible worldwide to the architects, engineers, urbanists, developers, and related professionals. Originality is a must, supported by drawings, models, or photographs, and they can be either built or proposed. The submissions are judged on the criteria of innovation, technical excellence, sustainability, and contextual relevance.

Jury

10-Year and Lifetime Achievement Jury
The CTBUH Board of Trustees selects the chairs for all awards juries and decides on Lifetime Achievement winners and 10-Year Award candidates.

Best Tall Building Jury

1. Astrid Piber – Partner, UNS, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2. Ariane Dienstag – Founder, Ariane Dienstag sas, Paris, France
3. Richard Garlock – Partner, LERA Consulting Structural Engineers, New York City, US
4. Steve Watts – Partner, Turner & Townsend alinea, London, UK
5. Ross Wimer – Senior Vice President, AECOM, Los Angeles, US

Best Tall Building Americas Jury
6. Laura Jimenez – Senior Associate Principal, Krueck Sexton Partners, Chicago, US
7. Rodrigo Carazo – President & Design Director, Carazo Architecture, San José, Costa Rica
8. Stephane Domeneghini – Executive Director, Talls Solutions | Grupo FG, Balneário Camboriú, US
9. Sanja Janjanin – Senior Associate, architects—Alliance, Toronto, Canada
10. Andrew Lee – Canada Practice Lead, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Toronto, Canada
11. David Niemoeller – Executive Designer, Enclos Corp., Minneapolis, US

Best Tall Building Asia Jury
12. Takamori Yamazaki – Executive Design Fellow, Nikken Sekkei Ltd, Tokyo, Japan
13. Antonino Clodoaldo Aligaen – Chief Operating Officer, ESCA Engineering, Manila, Philippines
14. Claudia Melniciuc – Studio Director, RIOS, Singapore, Singapore
15. Sophia Wang – Head Strategy & Program Management, Global Large Projects, Schindler, Shanghai, China
16. Mark Borland – Director and Head of Projects South Asia, Hongkong Land, Hong Kong, China

Best Tall Building Europe Jury
17. Martin Reuter – Managing Director, ingenhoven associates gmbh, Düsseldorf, Germany
18. Christopher Carroll – Arup Fellow | Director, Arup, London, UK
19. Gita Maruthayanar – Project Manager, Ramboll, London, Bahamas
20. Robert Schmitz – Partner, White Arkitekter, Stockholm, Sweden
21. Javier Sesma – Senior Vice President – Global Business Development, TK Elevator GmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany

Best Tall Building Middle East & Africa Jury
22. Daniele Reale – Associate, Egis, Dubai, UAE
23. James Chin – Head of Architecture Design, PNCA – PNC Architects, Dubai, UAE
24. Murali Guruvappan – Design Director, 9E Global Engineering Consultants L.L.C., Dubai, UAE
25. Parvathi Nampoothiri – City Planner & Urbanist – Partner, Middle East Planning Lead, Buro Happold, Dubai, UAE
26. Kourosh Salehi – Global Design Principal, LWK + PARTNERS, Dubai, UAE

Best Tall Building Oceania Jury
27. Simon Parsons – Director, PTW Architects, Sydney, Australia
28. George Andrianakos – Executive Director, Civil, Structural + Construction Engineering, Robert Bird Group, Sydney, Australia
29. Nick Gillespie – Major Projects & Development Director, Mott MacDonald, Auckland, New Zealand
30. Frank Cerra – Managing Director, BG&E, Sydney, Australia

Construction Jury
31. Paul De Santis – Partner & Design Director, Goettsch Partners, Chicago, US
32. Joseph Benvenuto – Chief Operating Officer, LIFTbuild LLC, Detroit, US
33. Yvonne Szeto – Partner, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, New York City, US
34. Olivier Walon – Vice President – Preconstruction, Estimating and Design, Bouygues Bâtiment International, Miami, US
35. Xue Mei – General Manager, Shanghai Tower Construction & Development, Shanghai, China

Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Jury
36. Hi Sun Choi – Senior Principal RET, Thornton Tomasetti, Inc., New York City, US
37. Padmini Gorthi – Head of KONE Design, India, KONE Corporation, Chennai, India
38. Leone Jackson – National Project Manager – HQ, Turner Construction Company, Philadelphia, US
39. Jeremy Mayhew – Founder and Director, JRMI, London, UK
40. Azalea Renfield – Chief Executive Officer, Williams & Russell CDC, Portland, US
41. Kerry Stares – Partner & Director of Responsible Business, Charles Russell Speechlys, London, UK

Façade Jury
42. Mikkel Kragh – Professor, Head of Department, Arup, Aarhus, Denmark
43. Ricardo Baptista – Design Director, AKT II, London, UK
44. Paul De Santis – Partner & Design Director, Goettsch Partners, Chicago, US
45. Mark Wooseok Kim – Senior Researcher, Steel Solution R&D Center, POSCO, Incheon, South Korea
46. Sreenivas Narayanan – Technical Engineer MEIAP, Siderise, Dubai, UAE

Future Project Jury
47. Shelley Finnigan – Professor, Northwestern University, Chicago, US
48. Melike Altinisik – Principal Founder, Melike Altınışık Architects – MAA, Istanbul, Türkiye
49. Mohamed Hegazy – Director of Property & Buildings Construction Supervision, WSP, Dubai, UAE
50. Reed Kroloff – Dean, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, US
51. Sam Lai – General Manager, Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited, Hong Kong, China
52. James Marvin Skaines – CEO, PNCA – PNC Architects, Dubai, UAE
53. Victor Montero-Dien – Chief Operating Officer, REGENBE, San José, Costa Rica

Innovation Jury
54. Mark Zwerner – Vice President Global Strategic Partnerships, ABB Smart Buildings Division, ABB, Munich, Germany
55. Stefan Abidin – Principal, Individuals, Toronto, Canada
56. Ric Anderson – Product Line Manager, Gerdau North America, Atlanta, US
57. Valérie Hayez – Principal Technical Service & Development Specialist, Dow, Brussels, Belgium
58. Julia Köhler – Senior Structural Consultant, CREE GmbH, Bregenz, Austria
59. Dario Spralja – Principal, Architectus, Sydney, Australia
60. Milton Vicentelo – International Operations Director, Rene Lagos Engineers, Santiago, Chile

Repositioning Jury
61. Anuja Sawant – Architect / Principal, SSA Architects, Mumbai, India
62. Marion Baeli – Principal – Sustainability Transformation, 10 Design (part of Egis Group), London, UK
63. Keb Garavito Bruhn – Founder Partner, Pilbrow & Partners, London, UK
64. Sean Clifton – Senior Principal, Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Seattle, US
65. Seth Martin – Associate Principal, Langan, New York City, US

Space Within Jury
66. Tengku Dato’ Ab Aziz Mahmud – Chief Executive Officer, PNB Merdeka Ventures Sdn. Berhad (PMVSB), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
67. Bradley Fowler – Founding Partner, ParkFowler Plus, Chicago, US
68. Xiaomei Lee – Chief Executive, Individuals, Shanghai, US
69. Iping Yang – Sustainability Manager, Taipei Financial Center Corporation, Taipei, China
70. Elmira Yousefi – Partner, RAW Design Inc., Toronto, Canada

Structure Jury
71. Jennifer Pazdon – Vice President, USA and Director, UK, Cast Connex, London, UK
72. Patrick Abi Khalil – Associate, Senior Structural Engineer, Dar, Beirut, Lebanon
73. Arun Mankavu-Puthanpurayil – Technical Director – Structural Dynamics, Beca, Auckland, New Zealand
74. Lauren Millman – Vice President, Thornton Tomasetti, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, US
75. Michael Montgomery – Managing Principal and Chief Technical Officer, Kinetica, Toronto, Canada
76. Fatih Yalniz – Senior Vice President, FG Empreendimentos, New York City, US

Systems Jury
77. Oliver Sascha Brozek – Exhibitor, KONE Corporation, Espoo, Finland
78. Neal Babcock – Principal – MEP Consultant, Alderson Engineering, LLC., Philadelphia, US
79. William Maibusch – Retired, Individuals, Seattle, US
80. Alejandro Fernandez – Associate Principal, Thornton Tomasetti, Inc., Chicago, US

Urban Habitat Jury
81. James Parakh – Urban Design Program Manager, City of Toronto Planning Department, Toronto, Canada
82. Swinal Samant – Visiting Associate Professor, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
83. Viviana Muscettola – Director, Zaha Hadid Architects, London, UK
84. Karen Nichols – Principal, Michael Graves Architecture & Design, Trenton, US

Fees

Rewards

Dates

✦ ArchUp Competition Review

The CTBUH Awards 2026 presents an international stage for both realizations and conceptual ideas of tall buildings organized by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Although the organizer is well-established, detailed jury information is only partially available, which somewhat limits transparency. The contest is rather professional and industry-focused than promotional. The low prizes between $2,500 and $10,000 are relatively small compared to the vast number of categories and the labor needed to win. The main advantage that participants can get from the competition is not the guaranteed commissions but rather the increase in their portfolios and professional exposure. The jury consists of architects, engineers, and urbanists with vast experience, thus providing an evaluation that takes into account both the technical and the artistic aspects.

Conclusion

The CTBUH Awards 2026 offer a worldwide stage for the talented architects, engineers, and developers to exhibit impressive tall building projects. The wide range of categories makes sure that the qualities of design, technical accomplishment, sustainability, and innovation are acknowledged in their right professional setting. The jury that is internationally mixed in terms of the regions represented is the one that strengthens the credibility of the awards, and at the same time, guarantees that all submission undergo a thorough evaluation.

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