This year's shortlist for the Dorfman Prize includes a collective that has been repairing damaged buildings in Ukraine since the Russian invasion. The Royal Academy of Arts will award the winner a £10,000 (€12,000) award, on 31 October 2024. The prize honours innovative architects pushing the boundaries of their field.
By Demi SpriggsThis year the award emphasised the importance of creative re-use and innovative design. As the shortlisted focus on sustainability and social design. The prize seeks to highlight emerging talent globally, focusing on those who address socio-political challenges.
Kyiv based Livyj Bereh, one of the groups shortlisted for the prize, has been actively repairing the roofs of damaged homes, schools, and community buildings across the country. In addition to their restoration projects the group works to raise global awareness through exhibitions that document the cultural and architectural heritage at risk due to the conflict. The nomination of Livyj Bereh reflects this year's focus on socially engaged architecture.
As a volunteer-driven organisation of non-architects, the group has replaced roofs on over 350 homes in areas impacted by shelling, sharing each story of resilience on Instagram.
Typically, the team can install a roof in just one day, though each installation costs approximately 2,000 euros. Their funding sources are diverse and largely come from public donations through social media campaigns and platforms like Instagram, where it shares ongoing work and updates about each house rebuilt.
In addition to roof repairs, the group organises deliveries of essential vehicles, drones, uniforms, food supplies, and ammunition to support Ukrainian defence efforts along the front lines.
How to sustain artistic practices, and address arts responsibilitiy to make a socially meaningful contribution is an area of interest for curators and awards. The 2022 Exhibition, Constructing Hope: Ukraine exhibition in New York highlighted Ukrainian architects and artists who apply innovative design approaches to address both urgent and future rebuilding needs, transforming architecture into a form of resilience and cultural preservation.
The architect who curated the 2022 show, Sasha Topolnytska, notes concerning Ukranian architects working on the front line that, “this resilience and mobilisation aren’t spontaneous; they stem from generations of collective memory and trauma passed down verbally and emotionally.”
The Royal Academy jury echoes Topolnytska, reflecting that "their [Livyj Bereh's] work represents a gesture of hope for the residents of these areas. Providing architecture that withstands the destruction of neighbourhoods, especially during a time of erasure, holds profound significance."
The Dorfman Prize, launched by the Royal Academy of Arts in 2018 with support from Sir Michael Dorfman, aims to redefine value systems in architecture. It champions new talent from around the globe.
The prize acknowledges “geographical and sociopolitical challenges.” Winners aren’t necessarily young; as Vicky Richardson, the RA’s head of architecture, explains, it excels at discovering individuals who have been diligently working on their projects without seeking international recognition.
The jury, often composed of distinguished figures in architecture and the arts, selects the winner based on the potential of their work to redefine architecture’s role in society. The award ceremony is typically held at the Royal Academy’s Benjamin West Lecture Theatre in London, where finalists present their work to the jury and public audience.
photo credit: Livyj Bereh
