Prof. Kong Yuhang and his team of students at our institute have been awarded the prestigious UIA Award for Innovation in Architectural Education for their course proposal titled "Designing with Nature and Equality."

The results of the second edition of the International Union of Architects (UIA) Award were announced on April 21, 2023. This international competition, organized jointly by the UIA Architectural Education Commission and the UIA Sustainable Development Goals Commission, was open to architectural schools worldwide and aimed to recognize diverse innovations and teaching practices aligned with sustainable objectives across cultures and regions. The current edition of the award aligns with the UNESCO-UIA Charter on Architectural Education, focusing on the keywords "Health" and "Sustainability" and emphasizing the social and environmental challenges and opportunities faced by architectural education in addressing the issues of the built environment. The award encourages globally committed teaching practices that inspire sustainable environments.

The selection process for this edition of the UIA Award for Innovation in Architectural Education began in September 2022. The jury evaluated submissions based on two key criteria: excellence in teaching practice and alignment with sustainable development goals. From the five UIA member regions (Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Africa), four representative innovation awards and one honorary award were chosen.

Honorary Award:

Region 4: Design with nature and equality, School of Architecture, Tianjin University, Prof. Dr. Kong Yuhang, Prof. Dr. Yang Wei, Prof. Dr. Zhang Xinnan, Asso. Prof. Dr. Xin Shanchao, Asso. Prof. Dr. Song Yilin, Asso. Prof. Dr. Yang Hongwei, Asso. Prof. Dr. Guo Mengdi, M.Arch. Zhang Yifan

To address the challenges facing architectural education in China, the "Nature and Equality Design" experimental project was initiated in 2012 with sustainable development as its core teaching value. Through a series of design courses, the project aims to cultivate students' critical thinking and diverse development. The undergraduate and graduate design courses in this project are divided into two stages. The first three years focus on establishing the concept of sustainability, encouraging students to explore.  

Jury comment: “A carefully considered programme speaking to various levels of students learning and demonstrating a model for other programs in its detail and rigor. The fact that this programme is over a decade old speaks to how much of an influence it has had on shaping a sustainable future. Heavily anchored in scientific research the international component of the programme makes its impact global, as does the interdisciplinary approach. This is a truly impressive program in its organization and scope.”