Shortlist Prix de Rome Architecture 2026 announcedShortlist Prix de Rome Architecture 2026 announced

Holding the Image, Losing the Ground addresses a paradox in our landscape heritage: the landscape we want to preserve is disappearing precisely because of the efforts to maintain it. The jury appreciates the care with which the proposal is situated in the Krimpenerwaard. The peatland area is typical of the Netherlands, but faces challenges that are increasingly common worldwide: the slow oxidation of the peat, the subsidence of agricultural land, and the impossibility of maintaining both a living landscape and a productive agricultural economy. The proposal argues that conservation is a form of structural violence: to preserve the landscape, processes must be continually intensified that simultaneously deplete the soil. Particular appreciation was expressed for the spatial statement of ceramics, which manages to encapsulate this contradiction in the landscape in a single, powerful, recognisable image.

Prefab as Found, a Factory for Architectural Reuse is a plea for a radical rethinking of adaptive reuse, where built heritage is adapted for new functions. The proposal argues that the true value of an existing building lies not in its load-bearing structure, but in its components and their relocation. The starting point is the former Ministry of Social Affairs in The Hague, designed by Herman Hertzberger. According to the jury, the proposal makes a valuable contribution not only to the debate on adaptive reuse, but also to the discussion about Dutch modernist heritage that has been ongoing for years. The proposal also encompasses the re-assembly of the former ministry into a factory for architectural reuse. This factory is a spatial and programmatic proposal for a new national industry centred on the dismantling, cataloguing and relocating of building elements from existing structures.

Slow Assembly challenges the time-bound nature of construction practice and proposes taking the 'bioregional material time' as a starting point — as a counterbalance to the political acceleration of housing construction in the Netherlands. Particular appreciation is expressed for the choice of location in Breda: the former site of the CSM Suikerfabriek, known as 't Zoet. This is one of the 24 National Acceleration Sites (Versnellingslocaties) designated by the government to contribute to the construction of 100,000 homes per year. At this site, where the pressure to build quickly is intense, Słodka and Zatta's argument becomes concrete and palpable. The jury also appreciates the concept of 'multiple temporalities': the idea that the processes relating to construction practice do not all proceed at the same pace. The proposal argues for a tectonic approach that can connect these divergent tempos in a productive way.

Welcome To The Black Box focuses on one of the most defining technological developments of our time. The proposal explores the spatial consequences of accelerated industrial growth caused by digitalisation. Not to celebrate or condemn it, but to speculate on it. The proposal identifies chip manufacturer ASML as one of the main drivers behind Terminal Velocity in the Netherlands. Building on the Latourian concept of 'blackboxing', Van der Linden and Westerveld argue that the production process of digitalisation is deliberately obscured. They see it as the task of architecture to open this black box and reveal how the production process works, in order to gain greater control over its spatial consequences. The jury regards the speculative scenario as a valuable tool for making visible what is at stake if technological acceleration continues.