The Obel Award seeks to recognize talent, creativity, and responsibility and offers an incentive to architects and other professionals to consider their obligations toward the common good.

A mix of stones and carefully designed ecologically enhanced concrete units are placed strategically to calm the water, reduce erosion, and rebuild onshore beaches, but also to support oysters, fin fish, and other marine species.

Beyond the breakwaters, the project has involved nearly a decade of educational and engagement-related programming designed to advance community stewardship, citizen science, and recreation along the water’s edge.

The team, which consists of material scientists and engineers, has developed an efficient, low-cost process to capture CO2 emissions directly from industrial flues.

The model has been adopted by several cities around the world, most notably in Paris where mayor Anne Hidalgo collaborated with Carlos Moreno and made it part of her re-election campaign in 2020.

Surrounded by lush green paddy fields in northern Bangladesh stands a curving building in two storeys built out of mud and bamboo.

Below the ramp are caves that provide either a fun place to move around or a quiet space if you a need for a moment to feel protected and embraced.

[19] Winner: Water garden by Jun'ya Ishigami The winning project of 2019 is an outdoor extension of the existing Art Biotop Nasu, a resort that offers courses in pottery, glass making, and other artistic activities at the foot of Mount Nasu in Tochigi, a prefecture north of Tokyo.

The ponds and trees spread across the entire site at a close density never found within nature, with moss laid out beautifully to fill the spaces in between.

There is one at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Latin America, and one teaching fellowship at College of Science and Technology (Bhutan).