What receives the award?
The International High-Rise Award is conferred on a high-rise that combines exemplary sustainability, outer shape, inner spatial qualities, and social aspects to form a superior building. The award thus gives an in-depth insight into current construction activities and the emergence of new high-rise typologies.
The nominees are projects the world over that rise 100 meters or higher, were completed after January 1 two years previously, and were commissioned by the respective developer at the latest on June 1 of the year of the award (so for the International High-Rise Award 2022/23 after January 1, 2020 and duly commissioned before June 1, 2022). Projects must not have been nominated for a prior IHA.
Who awards the prize?
Who makes the nominations?
The International High-Rise Award is bestowed by the three partners, namely the City of Frankfurt, Deutsches Architekturmuseum, and DekaBank.
The composition of the jury changes for each new edition of the IHA. It is made up of renowned international architects, engineers, and architectural critics, as well as representatives of the partners, namely DekaBank, the City of Frankfurt, and Deutsches Architekturmuseum. It convenes in the spring of the year of the respective award.
Projects are nominated for the long list by the jury, Deutsches Architekturmuseum, and an experts committee. The nomination phase for the IHA long list starts in the December of the year prior to the award and ends on the last day of February of the award year.
How can architects participate?
The International High-Rise Award is based on a nominations process whereby planning practices are invited to take part and can therefore not themselves submit entries.
Participation is open to all architectural practices, joint ventures, and other legal entities that are managed by architects or engineers.
What does the IHA winner get?
The International High-Rise Award is bestowed on both the developer and the planning practice, who receive the award certificate and a statuette by renowned artist Thomas Demand. Moreover, the winners receive a cash prize of EUR 50,000 that, as a rule, the developer then gifts to a charity. The architect in question receives the statuette.
How are the finalists and prize winners announced?
The project that wins the International High-Rise Award is announced at a formal prize-giving ceremony in Frankfurt’s famous Paulskirche, followed by an exhibition at Deutsches Architekturmuseum and an extensive book publication.
The short list of finalists is announced prior to the award ceremony. The jury can nominate 4-5 projects for the short list. Moreover, projects can receive a special mention for their sustainability, technical innovations, exemplary urban development, etc.
DekaBank convinced internationally renowned artist Thomas Demand to design the statuette accompanying the award. Since 2004, this symbol of the International High-Rise Award has been produced every two years and conferred on the new winner. The statuette consists of wafer-thin layers of titanium that are stacked in an almost random geometry one over the other using an electron beam furnace (EBM). The process is primarily used to produce medical implants and in the aerospace and auto industries and is currently considered the most innovative production technology in the field of rapid manufacturing.
A building initially consists of thoughts and idea that evolve into concepts, plans, data, and presentations during the design phase and later take the shape of contracts, lists of faults, agreements, etc. – a veritable tower of documents.
Works by Thomas Demand and exhibitions curated by him are to be seen, among others, in museums in Berlin, Frankfurt/Main, Madrid, Milan, Leuven, London, Los Angeles, New York, Oslo, Tokyo, and Vienna.
