SHORTLIST BEKAERT PRIZE FOR ARCHITECTURE CRITICISM 2025

The nominated articles for the fourth edition of the Geert Bekaert Prize 2025 are…

The Geert Bekaert Prize for Architecture Criticism was created by Archined to celebrate design criticism and to encourage design writing. A reflective design practice is, we believe, of existential importance to the professional community. The first edition of the Geert Bekaert Prize took place in 2013, followed by editions in 2016 and 2019. For the 2025 edition, we are working together with OASE. An open call was launched. The texts could be new or previously published, written in Dutch or English, no longer than 1,500 words, and written after 1 January 2022.

We were buried under the number of entries: 81! With great dedication, the jury of the Geert Bekaert Prize has spent the past months studying the submitted texts. It met twice. The texts were the starting point for conversations centred on the content, form and position of architecture criticism.

From the 81 entries, the jury selected five texts for the shortlist of the Geert Bekaert Prize 2025: texts which, in its view, occupy a special position in the current debate, for different reasons.

The 2025 Bekaert jury consists of Violette Schönberger (architect, writer, teacher, and winner of the Geert Bekaert Prize 2019), Mechthild Stuhlmacher (architect at Korteknie Stuhlmacher Architecten and teacher at TU Berlin and KU Leuven), Tom Vandeputte (studied architecture and is head of the Critical Studies department at the Sandberg Instituut), and Vincent van Velsen (architectural historian, curator and (art) critic). They nominated the following texts (in alphabetical order):

Alles van waarde (All that is of value) – Sereh Mandias. A critique that questions the architectural ambitions behind the renovation plans for Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.

Architectuur: je vriend of je vijand? (Architecture: friend or foe?) – Kaj Zwerver. A call for design activism in the form of ‘friendly architecture’ to help homeless people, with a reference to the Ghent city library De Krook.

Moeder, daarom bouwen wij! (Mother, that’s why we build!) – Dimitri Minten and Tim Vekemans. A call to architects to take on the role of ‘spatial caregivers’, in order to contribute to a systemic change in which building is not the right answer.

Ouwe starchitects (Old starchitects) – Marjolein van Eig. A column prompted by the choice of architect for the extension of the Kröller-Müller Museum and how this stands in the way of renewal.

Verloren in vertaling; tussen ambacht en ambitie (Lost in translation; between craft and ambition) – Margit van Schaik. An opinion piece on the apparent conflict between architectural design and social ambition.

INFO

The selected texts will be presented during the Archined Critics Night. Afterwards, the jury will announce the winner(s). The project is made possible in part by the Creative Industries Fund NL.

Archined Critics Night
6 June, 7 pm (doors open 6:30 pm)
Location: Independent School for the City, Robert Fruinstraat 52, Rotterdam
Tickets are €5 and are available via this link.