Stimuleringsfonds

The Prix de Rome is the oldest and most prestigious award for architects up to 40 years of age. On 12 January 2026, the Creative Industries Fund NL will launch a new edition with a thematic open call that invites reflection on the limits as well as the possibilities of architecture. To what extent is it still possible to design for a better life?

Architects, urban designers, landscape architects and other spatial designers can compete for the € 60,000 award and support for an international residency of their choice. The deadline is 23 February 2026. From the submissions, the jury will select four shortlisted candidates, who will present their results in an exhibition at the Nieuwe Instituut after a four-month working period.

Syb Groeneveld, executive director Creative Industries Fund NL and chairman of the jury: ‘The aim of the award is to identify, encourage and support promising architects, urban designers, landscape architects and other spatial designers in their professional development and visibility. At the same time, the award contributes to innovation within the field and fuels the debate on the role of architecture and spatial design in society. This makes the Prix de Rome Architecture an important link between promising talent, the profession and a wide national and international audience.’

The jury of the Prix de Rome Architecture 2026 consists of: Lesia Topolnyk (winner Prix de Rome 2022, architect, founder StudioSpaceStation), Dirk Sijmons (landscape architect, co-founder H+N+S Landscape Architects), Nick Axel (deputy editor e-flux Architecture, head of Architectural Design at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy), Paul Cournet (architect, founder CLOUD), Inez Tan (architect, partner Office Winhov) and Ekim Tan (architect, founder Games for Cities, director Play the City).

The Open Call Prix de Rome Architecture 2026 will be available from 12 January 2026 on the website of the Creative Industries Fund NL.

Lesia Topolnyk and former Secretary of State for Culture and Media, Gunay Uslu. Prix de Rome Architecture 2022 award ceremony. Photo: Aad Hoogendoorn

About Prix de Rome

The Prix de Rome Architecture is organised every four years by the Creative Industries Fund NL, on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Its history dates back to 1666, when the award was established in France by King Louis XIV. Louis Bonaparte introduced the Prix de Rome to the Netherlands in 1808 to promote the arts in the Kingdom of Holland. Since 2005, one architecture edition and two visual arts editions have taken place during each four-year period.

The four nominees for the Prix de Rome Architecture 2026 will present their work in an exhibition at the Nieuwe Instituut. An accompanying publication will also be published by Jap Sam Books.  

Banner: Prix de Rome Architecture 2022 exhibition Lesia Topolnyk at the Nieuwe Instituut. Photo: Midas van Boekel