The Obel Award Announces the Theme for Its 2025 EditionSave this picture!Courtesy of Henrik Frode Obel FoundationThe OBEL Award is an international prize for architectural practice, presented annually by the Henrik Frode Obel Foundation. The jury, composed of representatives from firms such as Snhetta and MVRDV, alongside professionals from other disciplines, selects a theme to guide the choice of winners for each edition. The goal is to steer proposals toward solutions that foster dialogue and generate knowledge on emerging issues, aiming to promote architecture in service of social and ecological development worldwide. For its seventh edition, the 2025 call focus is Ready Made, targeting projects that place reuse and repurposing at the core of architecture for the common good.Under this concept, Ready Made refers to resources available for reinterpretation in response to urgent problems, conflicts, climate events, and social demands. The goal is to prioritize what already exists over market-driven logics that promote overproduction and hyper-consumption. This includes adaptive reuse, material innovation, and the transformation of pre-existing structures as a positive alternative to building and producing from scratch. The OBEL Award jury invites architectural practices to break away from both prevailing norms and aesthetics to challenge traditional building frameworks. An invitation to focus on what has already been made and is ready for use, under a broad definition of architectural practice.Save this picture!Previous editions have followed a similar trajectory, emphasizing environmental care, construction innovation, and exploratory approaches to urgent challenges. Architectures With, the 2024 theme, proposed rethinking the role of the architect and redefining the professional landscape to foster a more collaborative and collective practice. The award went to the Mexican firm Colectivo C733 in recognition of 36 community revitalization projects in urban and rural areas across Mexico, built within a year with government support. Since 2019, six previous winners have been selected under the themes Well-being (the inaugural theme), Mending, Cities, Emissions and Adaptations. Related Article Architecture is a Work of Generosity: In Dialogue with Colectivo C733, Winners of Obel Award 2024 Annual nominations are made by a global, anonymous network of scouts who submit projects for final evaluation by a jury that convenes twice a year, first to define the theme and later to select the winners. Deliberations are guided by discussions among jury members, following a system of representation that ensures a broad and inclusive perspective.Save this picture!The 2025 OBEL Award jury is composed by seven members: Kjetil Trdal Thorsen Chair (co-founder, Snhetta, Norway) Xu Tiantian (founding principal, DnA, Beijing, China) Dr Wilhelm Vossenkuhl (professor emeritus of philosophy, Germany) Nathalie de Vries (founding partner MVRDV, Rotterdam, The Netherlands) Louis Becker (design principal and partner, Henning Larsen, Denmark) Sumayya Vally (founder and principal at Counterspace in Johannesburg and London, South Africa and the United Kingdom) Aric Chen (general and artistic director of the Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, The Netherlands) Save this picture!Image gallerySee allShow lessAbout this authorCite: Antonia Pieiro. "The Obel Award Announces the Theme for Its 2025 Edition" 06 Feb 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1026563/the-obel-award-announces-the-theme-for-its-2025-edition&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream