Living Places – Simon Architecture Prize 6th edition: 2026
Competition Brief
Living Places – Simon Architecture Prize, now in its sixth edition (2026), is an international award initiated by Simon and developed in partnership with Fundació Mies van der Rohe. The Prize recognises built architecture that elevates the lived experience of its occupants — spaces designed for everyday inhabitation: working, learning, gathering, and dwelling. Video is the central submission format, positioning the Prize as a platform for communicating architecture to a broad public audience rather than exclusively to specialist juries.
The 2026 edition marks the Prize’s tenth anniversary and coincides with Barcelona’s designation as UNESCO–UIA World Capital of Architecture. For the first time, Morocco is included in the eligible geographic scope, joining Europe, Mexico, and Brazil. Nominations opened 27 May 2026; the submission window closes 5 October 2026. Participation is entirely free of charge.
Categories
Submissions are divided into two distinct but non-exclusive categories, both centred on how architecture is experienced by those who inhabit it:
| Category | Definition |
|---|---|
| Collective Places | Architecture linked to shared, communal, or public life — where spatial experience is constructed through interaction between people. |
| Personal Places | Architecture connected to comfort, intimacy, and individual ownership — where the relationship with space is defined through personal experience. |
The organiser explicitly notes that the two categories are not rigid divisions; they invite reflection on different modes of relating to built space. The jury retains the right to reassign a submitted work to the alternate category if deemed appropriate.
Intent
The Prize is structured around a two-phase process: an open nomination stage followed by a formal submission stage. Anyone — architects, clients, residents, collaborators, or members of the public — may nominate a work during the nomination window (27 May – 14 September 2026). Only the architects responsible for the nominated project may then complete the formal submission of documentation (by 5 October 2026). There is no cap on the number of nominations per participant, though a single architectural authorship may submit no more than four works across both categories combined.
Eligibility
| Criterion | Detail |
|---|---|
| Works | Completed and occupied between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2025 |
| Geographic scope | European territory (57 listed countries) + Mexico + Brazil + Morocco (new in 2026) |
| Who may participate | Architects of any nationality and country of residence; individually or as multidisciplinary teams (minimum one architecture degree holder per team) |
| Who may nominate | Architects, clients, users, collaborators, or any citizen |
| Works per author | Maximum 4 works per authorship, across both categories |
| Fee | None — participation is entirely free |
| Exclusions | Works in which jury members participated personally or through their firms are ineligible |
What Is Required
The Prize asks participants to document an existing, occupied building — not to propose a new design. The submission communicates how the architecture is lived in, not merely how it looks. Video is the primary medium; written and graphic documentation supports it. All materials are submitted online via a link provided after pre-registration is completed on the official website.
Submission Materials
| Material | Specification |
|---|---|
| Video | Maximum 3 minutes. Must convey the atmosphere and daily life of the place. This is the primary document reviewed by the jury. |
| Descriptive report | Written in English. Maximum 500 words. Must include a general project description and a specific explanation related to the chosen category. |
| Summary panel | Single DIN A2 panel summarising the project graphically. |
| Plans / drawings | Selection of 6 plans or technical drawings. |
| Photographs | Selection of 6 photographs of the completed work. |
| Submission method | Online only, via link provided after pre-registration. Pre-registration on the official website is mandatory before documentation can be submitted. |
Important Dates
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Prize launch event (Barcelona) | 27 May 2026 |
| Nomination window opens | 27 May 2026 |
| Nomination deadline | 14 September 2026 |
| Documentation submission deadline | 5 October 2026 |
| Jury deliberation | November 2026 |
| Finalists announced | December 2026 |
| Award ceremony (Barcelona) | February 2027 |
Prizes and Rewards
| Award | Recipient | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Winner — Collective Places | Architects of the winning work | €10,000 + specially designed trophy |
| Winner — Personal Places | Architects of the winning work | €10,000 + specially designed trophy |
| Best Audiovisual Narrative | Person responsible for the video’s audiovisual direction | Commission to produce the launch film for the 2028 edition |
| Finalists (5 per category) | Shortlisted teams | Public recognition + inclusion in the Prize archive |
| Nominated by client / user / citizen | Nominating party (if work wins) | Invitation to the award ceremony + public acknowledgement |
The Prize cannot be declared void. The jury is obligated to select five finalists and one winner in each category regardless of the overall quality of submissions received.
Jury
| Name | Role in Jury | Current Position |
|---|---|---|
| Fernanda Canales | Chairwoman | Architect and researcher — Mexico City. Author of My House, Your City; named among NYT figures shaping global leadership; has taught at Harvard GSD, Columbia GSAPP, and Yale. |
| Sesi Bergeret | Member | Film programmer and cultural manager — Barcelona. Selection committee member, L’Alternativa – Barcelona Independent Film Festival (since 2003); documentary director. |
| Benjamín Iborra | Member | Architect and creative director — Barcelona. Co-founding partner, MESURA studio; recipient of Simon Prizes, Dezeen Awards, and ASCER recognition. |
| Wojciech Mazan | Member | Architect and researcher — Wrocław. Co-founder, PROLOG; MPhil (distinction), Architectural Association London; former research associate, Royal College of Art; editor, architectural quarterly RZUT. |
| Salvi Plaja | Member | Industrial designer — Barcelona. Chief Design Officer, Simon; President, FAD; led Simon to Premio Nacional de Diseño 2016, iF Gold, Red Dot, and Delta awards. |
A transversal panel combining architectural practice, audiovisual culture, academic research, industrial design, and cultural programming — geographically spanning Mexico, Spain, and Poland. The inclusion of Salvi Plaja as a sponsor-side representative is transparent and consistent with previous editions. The chair, Fernanda Canales, carries genuine international standing. Overall a credible and intentionally multidisciplinary composition.
Intellectual Property
The official rules document (Rules + FAQ 2026, available for download on the Prize website) governs intellectual property. The specific terms were not reproduced in the publicly available competition overview; participants are advised to download and review the full rules before submitting. Contact: info@simonprize.org.
✦ ArchUp Competition Review
The Living Places Prize occupies a distinctive position in the international awards landscape: it evaluates architecture as it is inhabited, not as it is imagined or photographed at handover. The video-first methodology forces applicants to think about temporality, atmosphere, and use — a genuine corrective to the render-driven culture that dominates most award cycles. The expansion to Morocco in 2026 signals continued geographic ambition, and the tenth-anniversary framing, anchored to Barcelona’s World Capital of Architecture designation, gives this edition unusual institutional momentum.
The zero-fee structure and the open nomination mechanism — which allows residents and clients, not only architects, to put forward works — are meaningfully democratic. The Best Audiovisual Narrative recognition, which converts into a paid commission for the next edition’s launch film, is an elegant incentive for filmmakers collaborating with architectural practices. The €10,000 per category is modest relative to prizes of comparable international profile, but the Prize’s primary currency is archival visibility and proximity to the Fundació Mies van der Rohe ecosystem. Architects with built work completed in 2024–2025 within the eligible territories should find the submission threshold — one video, one panel, six drawings, six photographs, 500 words — proportionate to the opportunity.
Final Thoughts
Living Places – Simon Architecture Prize 2026 is a free-to-enter international award for built architecture completed in 2024–2025, across Europe, Mexico, Brazil, and Morocco. Two categories: Collective Places and Personal Places. €10,000 per winning category. Video (max 3 min) is the primary submission document. Nomination deadline: 14 September 2026. Documentation deadline: 5 October 2026. Award ceremony: February 2027, Barcelona. Pre-register and download the full rules at simonprize.org. Contact: info@simonprize.org.
Submission Deadline
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