The ICONIC AWARDS 2026 ceremony by the German Design Council on 6 October at BMW Welt in Munich gathered around 500 international professionals, including architects, designers, manufacturers, developers, and project developers. During the event, current architectural issues were discussed, and 45 projects were honoured with the "Best of Best" award. Five additional special prizes recognised specific outstanding positions. With approximately 800 submissions from over 45 countries, the awards underscore their international significance as a central platform for architecture, interior design, and product innovation.
The keynote speech was delivered by Xu Tiantian of DnA_Design and Architecture, who was honoured as "Architects of the Year 2026". She emphasised that architecture functions as a tool for social and spatial development, based on existing materials, the landscape, and existing social structures. Her office has tested this approach over years in rural regions of China. Sustainable architecture, therefore, no longer arises solely from a compelling form, but from the precision with which material, construction, technology, and social responsibility interact. The international dialogue, particularly between Asia and Europe, which shaped many of the awarded works, was striking in this regard.
Attitude instead of Style: Challenges as a Design Quality
Lutz Dietzold, Managing Director of the German Design Council, explained that the strongest projects of this year's cohort were not connected by a common style, but by a common attitude. They developed a new design quality from the real challenges of the present. A panel titled "The New Normal – What Can Architecture Do?", moderated by Jeanette Kunsmann and Jakob Schoof (editors-in-chief of DETAIL), illuminated architecture as a social practice. Panellists Caroline Nagel (COBE), Luo Yujie (LUO Studio), Lutz Henke (visitBerlin), Scott Lloyd (TEN), and Étienne Feher (ABF-LAB) highlighted that designing today primarily means listening and the early involvement of users. Projects understood as open, investigative processes retain their relevance, even with complex decisions and changes in process.
Another focus was on existing building stock, whose value often only becomes apparent upon closer inspection, both in the structure and in the details. There was agreement on how crucial it is to demonstrate the potential for transformation to building owners. Only through the openness to give the existing building fabric a new identity can architecture carry its history. An example of this was the ICC Berlin, which, once controversial and threatened with demolition, is now a listed building and is being rediscovered through cultural formats. A place thus becomes iconic not only through its form, but through the processes and people who bring it to life.
Four Defining Developments of the 2026 Cohort
- —Thinking from the material: A re-evaluation of familiar building materials such as clay, hardwood, straw, and brick, which are being re-qualified constructively and ecologically. For instance, the research study LaubÖkoLet reduces column volume by about 20 percent and improves the CO₂ balance by up to 65 percent compared to reinforced concrete.
- —Architecture as a social space of possibility: Buildings are increasingly judged by the relationships they enable. Examples such as the Flörsbachtal village community centre or the Kafka Oasis in Wuhan demonstrate the creation of meeting places and public spaces.
- —Built hospitality: The relevance of spaces that promote interaction and strengthen community, for example through children's libraries or youth centres, developed together with young people.
In the Expert Talk "Interior Performance", moderated by Alexander Gutzmer, Federico Ferretti (Haier Europe), Jung Jin Ho (Labotory), Ming Dang (Hong designworks), and Tobias Keyl (gmp Architekten) discussed the energy question in interior spaces. Comfort, one of the theses stated, is no longer measured by a rigid temperature corridor, but by daylight, access to green spaces, and natural ventilation. A high-rise project in Guangzhou showed how traditional climate strategies like arcades and courtyards can be transferred to a contemporary tower, allowing the building to function without mechanical ventilation for about two-thirds of the year. The performance of an interior space results from the interplay of all design levels, from the building envelope to product design.
The intensive dialogue between interior design, architecture, and product development from Korea, China, Germany, and Italy illustrated how spatial design and product design are interdependent and must be discussed internationally. The aim was to identify developments early, purposefully advance solutions, and transfer successful approaches from the micro to the macro level. The high proportion of timber construction in the current year was evident through projects such as the bus stop in Zurich by Holzhausen Zweifel Architekten and the excellent M-Plaza by the FidCap Group, which exemplarily demonstrate the versatile use of this material in various construction tasks.
