The German Design Council proudly unveils the winners of the ICONIC AWARDS 2025. This newly designed, cross-disciplinary format celebrates outstanding achievements in architecture, interior design, and product innovation, while reinforcing its position as the leading platform for international exchange across the construction and design sectors. Spotlighting pivotal themes and forward-looking trends – from sustainability and circular economy to digital transformation – the awards not only honour excellence but set new benchmarks for shaping the built environment today and tomorrow.
A Milestone Premiere
With more than 560 submissions from over 45 countries, the ICONIC AWARDS attracted numerous projects from all over the world. Thirty-three projects stood out to the jury and were honoured as “Best of Best”. “This year’s entries impress with their diversity, design quality, and sense of responsibility – from visionary architectural projects and groundbreaking product developments to exceptional interior concepts,” says Lutz Dietzold, CEO of the German Design Council. “With the newly designed ICONIC AWARDS, we are uniting the industry’s innovative power and actively driving international dialogue on the future of design.”
The winning projects can now be explored in the Online Directory.
Media partnership
With the renowned architecture magazine DETAIL as its media partner, the ICONIC AWARDS promote professional exchange and provide fresh impetus with new networking events.
Elevating Innovation and Responsibility
The ICONIC AWARDS 2025 comprise 5 main and 42 subcategories, making it the central stage for architecture, interior design, and forward-thinking product solutions. New categories such as “Circular Design”, “Healthcare” and “Office and Workplace” spotlight visionary ideas tackling both current and emerging challenges.
The special awards programme also expands, with €10,000 in prize money, to recognise and support exceptional emerging talent in the “Debut Work of the Year” category.
The Jury of the ICONIC AWARDS 2025
Each year, the German Design Council appoints a new international jury of leading figures from architecture, design, and research – from renowned experts to bold new voices. They evaluate the breadth, relevance, and timeliness of design in the sector. The 2025 jury includes: Bram Aerts (ATAMA), Luis Bellara (b720 Arquitectos), Felizia Berchtold (TUTTO BENE), Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen (Norm Architects), Elena Boerman (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), Stefan Diez (Diez Office), Gong Dong (Vector Architects), Tina Kortmann (UNStudio Amsterdam), Efrat Friedland (materialscout), Jeanette Kunsmann (Detail), Annabelle von Reutern (TOMAS), Carsten Schmidt (Topothek 1) and Wei Wu (gmp Shanghai).
Special Award “Debut Work of the Year”: Gustav Düsing and Max Hacke for the Braunschweig Student Centre
With the Student Centre at TU Braunschweig, Gustav Düsing and Max Hacke deliver a landmark debut – a bold statement for openness, sustainability, and participation. The refined steel–timber hybrid structure is built on a flexible, modular system, designed to be extended and fully dismantled. Its resource-efficient construction and integrative spatial concept create a defining place for exchange and diverse working opportunities. The jury applauded its sensitive integration into the campus, outstanding architectural quality, and inventive use of sustainable materials. “More than just a building – a social space of possibility that strengthens community and sets new standards for educational architecture,” the jury concluded. Winning the “Debut Work of the Year” award, Düsing and Hacke earn recognition for a forward-looking contribution that unites design, responsibility, and vision.
Honorary Award “Architects of the Year”: Lina Ghotmeh
Lina Ghotmeh stands for responsible architecture with a contextual approach. Based in Paris, she combines regional characteristics, cultural identity, and historical layers with contemporary demands for materiality and sustainability. Her 2023 Serpentine Pavilion in London and the “Stone Garden” residential building in Beirut illustrate her narrative approach, which she describes as an “Archaeology of the Future”. The jury commends her ability to conceive architecture as a bridge at the intersection of past and future, creating new narrative spaces. Projects such as the Hermès workshop in Normandy and the Bahrain Pavilion for Expo 2025 in Osaka demonstrate how local building traditions and global issues merge in precise, poetic architecture. For this culturally anchored approach, she receives the title “Architects of the Year 2025”.
Honorary Award “Interior Designer of the Year”: Lucas Muñoz Muñoz
Lucas Muñoz Muñoz is one of the most distinctive voices in Spain’s design scene. He challenges conventions and sees design as an ongoing process. Operating at the intersection of art, object, and interior design, he fuses artisanal radicalism with experimental approaches. His spaces – whether temporary installations, brand commissions, or exhibitions – appear improvised yet are conceptually precise, raw, and sustainably conceived. The jury was impressed by his uncompromising commitment to material reuse and openness in design. In the “MO de Movimiento” project in Madrid, he demonstrates how circular principles can be compelling both ecologically and aesthetically, incorporating, for example, furniture from demolition waste or terracotta evaporation coolers. For this approach, he is awarded the title “Interior Designer of the Year 2025”.
Honorary Award “Architects’ Client of the Year”: Kinderspital Zürich
The Eleonorenstiftung has made a pioneering contribution to people-centred healthcare architecture with the new building for the University Children’s Hospital Zurich, designed by Herzog & de Meuron. The building is clearly geared towards the needs of children and their families, creating trust, alleviating fears, and placing well-being at its heart. Its fragmented timber façade evokes canopies of treehouses, while large windows open onto parkland and landscaped courtyards. For the courage to conceive a hospital as a place of security and healing, the Eleonorenstiftung receives the title “Architects’ Client of the Year 2025”.
Honorary Award “Creator of the Year”: Mariam Issoufou
Mariam Issoufou’s architecture unites cultural identity, social justice, and environmental responsibility. With projects such as the Hikma Community Complex in Dandaji and the Niamey 2000 housing development, the Nigerien architect has established herself as a defining voice in African architecture. She reinterprets traditional building methods such as rammed earth or adobe into solutions that are both contextually rooted and future-oriented. The jury praises her vision of architecture as a societal mission, uniting local resources, cultural heritage, and postcolonial perspectives in a productive dialogue. Her role as a professor at ETH Zurich underscores her position as an influential voice in the global architectural discourse. For this contribution, Issoufou is awarded the title “Creator of the Year 2025”.
Click here for the press kit.
Programme
ICONIC AWARDS 2025 Ceremony on 7 October 2025
14:00 – Admission
14:30 – Keynote and Panel Talk
16:00 – Coffee Break
16:30 – Pitch & Pulse – Innovative Ideas in Short Format
19:00 – Awards Ceremony and Evening Reception
Location
Auditorium, BMW Welt, Am Olympiapark 1, 80809 Munich
About the ICONIC AWARDS
For more than a decade, this internationally renowned award has celebrated visionary architecture and sustainable solutions. The ICONIC AWARDS shine a spotlight on outstanding projects in urban and landscape design, interior architecture, product development, and innovative materials. They foster exchange among leading industry figures and set fresh impulses for the future of architecture.
About the German Design Council
The German Design Council is Germany’s leading authority on design. Since 1953. As a thought leader in the field, the German Design Council is committed to realising the potential of design for a sustainable future. We connect business with design – for circular design, transformation, and economic success.
Contact
Paula Löwen-Pohle, Director ICONIC AWARDS
Tel +49 (0) 69 24 74 48 611
E-Mail iconicawards@gdc.de
www.iconic-awards.de