The “Young Talent Architecture Award” was presented for the third time in 2018. The YTAA honours the best theses by students of Architecture currently in their final year throughout the whole of Europe. 40 projects in total were submitted, from the fields of European architecture, urban planning and landscape architecture. Of those, eight finalists were nominated. The select judging panel finally chose the four winners who, in the European Year of Cultural Heritage, all dealt with precisely this issue.

The winners received the coveted YTAA on 20 September during a formal ceremony at the European Cultural Center at the Palazzo Mora in Venice. The occasion was accompanied by a debate about space, education and culture, where the talented youngsters took part in discussions with up-and-coming and well-known architects. The winners’ projects were published online and were also inlcuded in a travelling exhibition, which was inaugurated at the 2018 Architecture Biennale in Venice. Furthermore, the winners are given support by the “Mies van der Rohe Award” for contemporary architecture in the European Union and by the “Future Architecture Platform” to help them build up a network of architects and institutions.

The YTAA was launched in February 2016 by the “Fundació Mies van der Rohe” in conjunction with the EU programme “Creative Europe” and “World-Architects.com” as founding partners. The YTAA is supported by partnerships with the “Architects’ Council of Europe” (ACE), the “European Association for Architectural Education” (EAAE) and the “European Cultural Centre” (ECC) as local partners in Venice. “It is remarkable that the four winners in the European Year of Cultural Heritage have dealt with precisely that topic. A study of architecture that takes into account cultural heritage is of utmost importance for the future of Europe,” commented Themis Christophidou, Director-General for Education and Culture of the European Commission (DG EAC), about this year’s chosen winners. By recognising particularly interesting ideas and providing the winners with subsequent support from established architects, the YTAA is fostering quality in the architecture of tomorrow. Jansen AG supports the YTAA as a main sponsor also in 2020.

Hendrik Brinkmann (1989, Germany)
College of Architecture, Media and Design, Berlin University of the Arts, for a project on the site of Friedrich Schinkel’s Bauakademie.

Matthew Gregorowski (1992, South Africa)
The Cass Faculty of Art Architecture & Design, London Metropolitan University, for his suggestion of a holistic reinvention of the British countryside.

Julio Gotor Valcárcel (1993, Spain)
Madrid School of Architecture, Polytechnic University of Madrid, for a study of the potential of the underground spaces in Madrid.