The European Commission will tomorrow announce the 13 winners of the 2026 New European Bauhaus Prizes, along with 20 small municipalities chosen for a separate award for local building projects. The online ceremony will take place on Thursday 15 October and will be streamed live on the prizes platform.
The winners have not been made public. The platform says they will be revealed at the ceremony, including those chosen by public vote, which has now closed.
Now in their sixth edition, the prizes reward projects that combine sustainability, inclusion and beauty, the values of an EU initiative launched in 2021 after Ursula von der Leyen’s 2020 State of the Union address. Entries are judged in four categories: circularity, sustainability and innovation; local democracy and inclusion; arts, culture and heritage as drivers of change; and enablers for New European Bauhaus transformation. There are two strands: Champions, for completed projects, and Rising Stars, for concepts by people aged 30 or under.
Of the 13 prizes, the Commission says two are decided by public vote. The line-up also includes a new Water Resilience award and international prizes.
Champions winners receive €20,000 and Rising Stars winners receive €15,000; the Water Resilience and international winners also receive €20,000. Fourteen runners-up get €5,000 each. All winners and runners-up receive Commission publicity, including help producing a short video, and, new this year, coaching and mentoring.
For the first time, the prizes reach beyond Europe, with one winner each from Brazil and Japan and two runners-up from each country. Other entries had to come from the EU, the Western Balkans, Ukraine or Moldova (platform), so British projects were not eligible.
The platform lists 27 finalists from 16 countries: eight in each strand, with two in every category; five more for the Water Resilience prize; and six in the international strand, three each from Japan and Brazil .
Spain has the largest national contingent, with five. La Marjal Floodable Urban Park in Alicante and Madrid Río are both listed for the Water Resilience prize; ADAPT YOUR SCHOOLYARD, from Zaragoza, turns school playgrounds into green spaces; and in the Rising Stars strand, Terra-Mosaic: Rural Revival and Proximity Community are also in the running.
Entries range from a Belgian scheme of floating platforms on which coots build nests from canal litter that is later recycled, to a Japanese zero-waste centre in Kamikatsu where residents sort rubbish into 44 categories, according to the entries.
The Boost for Small Municipalities, now in its second edition and supported by the European Parliament, is aimed at rural areas and communities of fewer than 20,000 residents, with a focus on buildings and public spaces. The Commission said in February that each of the 20 winners would receive €30,000 and a communications package.
On Friday, 16 October, the finalists will present their projects at Wiels, the contemporary art centre in Brussels, as part of the Flanders Technology & Innovation Festival, whose Brussels programme runs from 16 to 20 October.
The ceremony has moved from earlier plans. The Commission said in February that finalists would be announced at the New European Bauhaus Festival on 9–13 June and winners in the autumn; a Commission page on a trophy-design competition referred to a September ceremony.
