Designs for a forested new town on the abandoned site of HS2, an almshouse for former carers that celebrates its residents’ personalities, and a creative dissertation about historic spatial restrictions on women in an Italian fishing village have all won 2024 RIBA President’s Medals.
Presented by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for 188 years, the President’s Medals recognise the world’s best work by architecture students.
In 2024, the awards received 372 entries, the most in its history. In addition to the medal winners, and as a move to reflect the high number and diversity of entries, the judging panels of the Silver, Bronze and Dissertation Medals gave 5 commendations for each, up from 3 last year.
The RIBA Silver Medal for the best design project produced at RIBA Part 2 or equivalent is awarded to Joe Franklin at Kingston University, UK, for Ultra Town. It is the university’s first RIBA Silver Medal.
‘Ultra Town’ reimagines the aborted HS2 site between Birmingham and Manchester as a forested new town which develops over a period of 50 years. Drawing on Joe’s experience living in temporary, transient communities, it uses the history of woodland as a space for protest and counterculture to propose an ultra-urban condition that responds to the housing and ecological crises.
On receiving the 2024 RIBA Silver Medal, Joe Franklin said: “It’s a real joy to receive this award, especially for such a quiet and, at times, deeply personal project. I would like to thank RIBA and the judges of the Silver Medal; it truly means a lot to have the work recognised in this way. I only hope that the award can go beyond its limitations as a personal achievement, to celebrate the endless support and encouragement from my tutors and friends at the Kingston School of Art.”
Commendations in the RIBA Silver Medal category:
- High Commendation: Callum Geddes Symmons, Mackintosh School of Architecture, UK, Making Public
- Commendation and Part 2 RIBA Award for Sustainable Design: Nathalie Marj, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, Protocols for Beirut’s Unbuildable Lots: Designing Non-sectarian Spaces
- Commendation: Maria Wood, Newcastle University, UK, Architecture Class
- Commendation: Ryan Speer, London Metropolitan University, UK, Tolerance and Reuse: Forming a New Sutton Cultural Common
- Commendation: Thomas Dutton, Bethany Clarkson, Xhesika Biçaku, Sam Beckwith Flint, University of Liverpool, UK, The Consumption of Landscape: A Grand Tour for the 21st Century
The RIBA Bronze Medal for the best design project produced at RIBA Part 1 or equivalent is awarded to Victor Williams Salmeron at the University of Kent for Forget Me Not. It is the university’s first ever RIBA medal.
‘Forget Me Not’ is an almshouse for former carers on the remains of a Victorian chapel, which questions the idea of the hospital or care building as a sterile, transient non-place through an ontological approach, drawing on ancient almshouse traditions. It proposes an anthropological and sacred space permeated by culture, narratives and memory, defined by the personality of its inhabitants in how it remembers and reinterprets their familiar spaces.
On receiving the 2024 RIBA Bronze Medal, Victor Williams Salmeron said: “It is a great honour to have won the Bronze Medal and I am indebted to the judges and the RIBA for it. To receive this level of recognition for something so dear to me is incredible and so motivating. I hope that my work can keep questioning and promoting the betterment of current standards of architecture and care. I owe the biggest thank you to my family, my tutor, my school and my peers, all of whom created a tremendous place and time to work in, and without whom I would not have gotten this far.”
Commendations in the RIBA Bronze Medal category:
- High Commendation: Devon Tabata, Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, UK, Civic Stone: Kirkgate Square
- Commendation: Yaowen Zhang, Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL), UK, Land, Building, Dwelling
- Commendation: Bowen Tan, Architectural Association, UK, Next Nature Manila
- Commendation: Roisin McMillan, University of Cambridge, UK, Rage Against the Pristine
- Commendation: Dilikeremu Duolikun, University of Nottingham Ningbo, China, Aiwan: A Gathering Place
The RIBA Dissertation Medal is awarded to Bianca Zucchelli at the Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL), UK, for The Eel, the Dowry and the Seamstress.
This creative and critical piece of writing narrates a story set in isolated Italian fishing village Comacchio, Bianca’s grandmother’s hometown, about the role of the textile industry in shaping a girl’s education and place in society. Analysing the chronological process of making a dowry, the project considers spatial restrictions on women, from the street to the home, convent to laboratory, and gives a voice to the women missing from archival and architectural records.
On receiving the 2024 RIBA Dissertation Medal, Bianca Zucchelli said: "I am extremely honoured to receive this award and such recognition for a writing that is so dear to me and my family. I would like to thank the RIBA judging panel for recognising the value of my research in the untold stories of working women, and hope it will positively influence others to appreciate its importance in understanding nowadays’ world. I deeply thank my tutors, without whose knowledge and trust this writing would simply not exist, as well as my friends and family whose unconditional support has been invaluable every step of the way."
The RIBA Awards for Sustainable Design, acknowledging the importance of environmental and social sustainability in architecture education, are awarded to:
The Serjeant Awards for Excellence in Drawing, in memory of Denis Serjeant, a founding member of the 1981 RIBA Student Prizes Group, are awarded to:
Alongside the President’s Medals, the 2024 RIBA Annie Spink Award for Excellence in Architectural Education, presented every two years, has been awarded to Professor Jane Anderson. As the programme lead for undergraduate architecture at Oxford Brookes University, Jane is praised for an innovative, community-minded pedagogical philosophy in which every first-year student starts with a community-oriented building project in the real world.
On receiving the 2024 RIBA Annie Spink Award, Professor Jane Anderson said: “I am deeply honoured to accept the 2024 RIBA Annie Spink Award for Excellence in Architectural Education. I am very grateful to colleagues who nominated me, to the RIBA and to the jury for their deliberations. This award is really meaningful because I value education so highly as a force for good in society. Once I began teaching, I realised that the process of learning brings out the very best in humanity. Learners are striving to understand something that is just out of reach and gaining new skills along the way. Educators use all of their creativity and empathy to make meaning for others and encourage them to keep trying. When it works, it’s a perfect virtuous circle!
“I am so lucky that my job allows me to work with people who are immersed in learning. It never fails to impress me how many architects are absolute naturals as educators and who want to give back by getting involved. My introduction to teaching was via the groundbreaking architectural tutor training course at University of East London. Moving to the University of Sheffield and then to Oxford Brookes University I was privileged to work with colleagues and Heads of School who were moving architectural education towards a more egalitarian and inclusive approach. I appreciate that there is still much to do on that front, as well as to safeguard the quality of architectural education in straitened times. I really hope that I can help to contribute to that effort.”
RIBA President Muyiwa Oki said: “I am delighted to see the highest ever number of entries for the President’s Medals, which were of such quality and diversity that the judges awarded additional commendations in each category.
“What unites the winning projects is a true marriage of creativity and community spirit, explored with great sensitivity and personal insight. For me, these projects show a real awareness of the importance of reuse, elevating people and places that have been overlooked, and the social responsibility of the architect. While these are weighty themes, the winners give me confidence in the next generation of architects and designers.
“Congratulations to all the winners and to the educators who have helped these talented individuals flourish.
“Congratulations also to Annie Spink Award winner Professor Jane Anderson, whose community-focused approach to teaching shows that every architect can be an agent of change and a force for good, shaping a better future for everyone.”
