RIBA Royal Gold Medal: The Latest Architecture and News

Each year, International Women's Day brings renewed attention to questions of gender within many professional fields, architecture among them. Public conversations often center on celebrating prominent figures or highlighting notable projects, moments that briefly illuminate the contributions of women within the discipline. Yet the visibility produced by these occasions sits within a longer and more complex trajectory. Over the past several decades, the architectural profession has undergone gradual shifts that have expanded opportunities and broadened participation, even as longstanding structures continue to shape how careers develop and how architectural work becomes visible.

+ 13

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced that Irish architect, educator, and writer Níall McLaughlin will receive the 2026 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture. Awarded on behalf of His Majesty the King, the Royal Gold Medal is among the significant international distinctions in architecture, recognizing a sustained contribution to the advancement of the discipline through built work, education, and critical discourse. In announcing the award, RIBA noted McLaughlin's long-standing influence across architectural practice and pedagogy, citing a career that spans more than three decades and reflects a consistent engagement with the cultural, environmental, and social dimensions of architecture.

+ 6

Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, the British architect known for advancing high-tech architecture and for founding the practice Grimshaw, has died at the age of 85. Over a career spanning more than five decades, he delivered public and infrastructure projects that emphasized structural clarity, advanced engineering, and utility. His major works include Waterloo International, the original Eurostar terminal in London; the Eden Project in Cornwall; the Financial Times Printworks; and major transport hubs around the world. Knighted in 2002 for his services to architecture, he helped define an era of British and international design. He served as President of the Royal Academy of Arts from 2004 to 2011 and was awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects' Royal Gold Medal in 2019.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced that Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, founders of the practice SANAA, will receive the 2025 Royal Gold Medal for architecture. Awarded on behalf of His Majesty the King, the medal is one of the highest honors in the field, recognizing what RIBA describes as SANAA's contribution to shaping contemporary architecture through simplicity, light, and refined design.

+ 6

Lesley Lokko, a Ghanaian-Scottish academic, writer, and curator, has been named one of the BBC's 100 most influential women of 2024. The prestigious list highlights women from around the globe who are recognized for their resilience and their contributions toward driving change in their respective fields. Lokko's inclusion reflects her groundbreaking work in architectural education, her commitment to diversity and inclusion, and her focus on addressing global challenges like decolonization and decarbonization.

+ 1

Recognized as the UK’s highest honor for architecture, the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture is approved personally by Her Majesty The Queen and is given to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence "either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture.", according to the organization. In 2024, the recognition was awarded for the first time to an African Woman, to the Ghanaian-Scottish architect, academic, and curator Lesley Lokko.

+ 9

Ghanaian-Scottish architect, academic, and curator Lesley Lokko has been announced as the recipient of the 2024 Royal Gold Medal by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), becoming the first African woman to receive the award. Lokko is not a practicing architect, but as a teacher, writer, and curator she has fought to widen access to the profession and to bring forward voices that have been disregarded for far too long. As the curator of the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, she has shifted the focus to Africa and its diaspora, exploring the complex themes of decolonization and decarbonization. For all her contributions to the profession, Lesley Lokko will be formally presented with the medal in May 2024 by Muyiwa Oki, RIBA’s first black president.

Yasmeen Lari, recognized as the first female architect in Pakistan, has had a significant impact both in her home country and internationally due to her innovative and socially conscious approach to architecture. Through a systemic approach, Lari’s work takes into consideration local culture, site-specific opportunities, and challenges. Born in Pakistan in 1941, Yasmeen Lari moved to London with her family at the age of 15. After graduating from Oxford Brooks School of Architecture, she returned to Pakistan at the age of 23 to establish Lari Associates with her husband, Suhail Zaheer Lari. The couple settled in Karachi. Here, she began to study Pakistan’s ancient towns and the vernacular architecture of earth buildings, igniting her interest in the architectural heritage and traditional techniques of her country. In 1980, she co-founded the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan with her husband, becoming instrumental in the preservation of her country’s rich cultural heritage.

+ 14

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announced that Professor Yasmeen Lari, Pakistan’s first female architect, will receive the 2023 Royal Gold Medal for architecture. The award, one of the highest honors for architecture and the first to be personally approved by King Charles III, recognizes Yasmeen Lari’s work in championing zero-carbon self-build concepts for displaced populations. The Royal Gold Metal will be officially presented to Yasmeen Lari in June 2023.

+ 2

“I am not an architect,” he says with a sparkle in his eyes, “I am merely a person seeking out their destiny.” To the late pioneer of Indian modernism, Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi, architecture was a practice of self-discovery. The veteran’s stellar works of poetic functionality resulted from a humanist philosophy bearing the influence of modernist principles, Mahatma Gandhi, and Indian spiritual texts. Doshi believed that architecture was synonymous with life - a vehicle for constant celebration; a medium for heightened experiences. His greatest contribution to the architecture community was his powerful words of wisdom that echo the timelessness of his structures.

+ 4

Videos

Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi, master architect, urban planner, educator, 2018 Pritzker Prize Winner, and 2022 Riba’s Gold Medal has passed away at 95, in Ahmedabad, India on Tuesday the 24th of January 2023, as reported by several Indian outlets and Architectural Digest India on their Instagram page. One of the most renowned Indian architects that shaped the architecture of India and its adjacent regions, Doshi, who was inspired greatly by the works of Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, has “combined pioneering modernism with vernacular”. Known especially for his urban planning and social housing projects, as well as his academic work as a visiting professor at various universities worldwide, Balkrishna Doshi has designed, over his 70-year career, some of the most iconic buildings in India.

+ 15

Balkrishna Doshi, has been formally presented, on June 15, with the 2022 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture by RIBA President, Simon Allford. Granted by the Royal Institute of British Architects, on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, the annual award is “given to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture”.

A principal figure in shaping the architecture of India and its adjacent regions, known especially for his visionary urban planning and social housing projects, Balkrishna Doshi has “combined pioneering modernism with vernacular”, while his buildings have been “informed by a deep appreciation of the traditions of India’s architecture, climate, local culture and craft”. With a 70-year career, over 100 built projects and his work in education, he became internationally recognized for his contributions to the architectural scene. Still practicing at 90, he “remains as prolific as he is inspirational”, states the 2022 RIBA Honours Committee.

+ 7

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announced that Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi will be the recipient of the 2022 Royal Gold Medal. The distinction, approved by Her Majesty The Queen and awarded each year since 1848, is given to architects or practices in recognition of a lifetime’s work and the impact on the evolution of the field and the built environment. With a career spanning over six decades, Balkrishna Doshi has had a paramount influence in shaping the architecture of India through a pioneering interplay of modernism and vernacular that translated into projects that celebrate local culture, context and craft.

+ 1

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has just announced that Sir David Adjaye will receive the 2021 Royal Gold Medal. One of the world’s highest honors for architecture, the Royal Gold Medal is given as a recognition of a lifetime's work, “to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture".

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has unveiled a recording of the day Ray Eames became the first woman ever to receive the Royal Gold Medal. Commemorating a historical ceremony, the audio reveals the acceptance speech of Ray Eames, during the 131st presentation of the Royal Gold Medal to the office of Charles & Ray Eames in 1979.

Architect Edward Cullinan, founder of Cullinan Studio, has passed away aged 88. The studio announced the death its founder, saying that Cullinan died in his sleep on Monday. Known as Ted, he was awarded the 2008 RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture in recognition of his inspirational practice and teaching.

Dublin-based Grafton Architects have been announced as the winners of the RIBA 2020 Royal Gold Medal, the UK’s highest honor for architecture. Recognizing the practice’s significant global contribution to architecture, the award is approved personally by Her Majesty The Queen. RIBA acknowledged that the people-centered practice has achieved global recognition and is known especially for its exemplary education buildings.

+ 5

Sir Nicholas Grimshaw has been named the 2019 laureate of the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture, an award personally approved by Her Majesty The Queen recognizing a lifetime's work in architecture. Grimshaw is known particularly for his modernist public buildings and large-scale infrastructural projects, both in the UK and internationally.

+ 4