Architizer’s 2026 A+Awards Highlight Five Standout Buildings and Spaces

Architizer’s annual A+Awards have released their 2026 winners, and this year’s selections emphasize architecture that blends daily function with public experience, nature, and visible materiality. The article highlights five favorite projects from the list, published by mako on June 15, 2026, at 07:00 and updated at 08:55.

Among the winners is Mae On Art Forest by EKAR in Mae On in northern Thailand, about a three-hour drive from Bangkok. It won the People’s Choice prize in the sustainable renovation and restoration category. The project creates an art space inside a natural forest through restrained interventions such as paths, resting points, and small wooden structures that almost disappear into the landscape.

In Sydney, the Sydney Fish Market by 3XN with GXN and BVN Studios won the jurors’ award in the landscape and public architecture category. The large waterfront project features a vast wave-like roof, a working market, restaurants, and open public areas, turning an operational food hub into a major civic destination.

Two residential projects also stood out. Vortex 21 by Neelesh Chopda Architecture in Bhopal won the People’s Choice award for architectural facades, with swirling, cut, sculptural forms that make the house feel in motion. Gelareh by ZAV Architects in Kohsar, Iran, won the People’s Choice award for architecture and color, using bold layered color as the main tool shaping space, light, and depth. The article also notes a renovation of LG’s headquarters in Seoul, originally designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and completed in 1986, which was updated with a new public base, plaza, stair, paving, planting, fountains, and shaded seating.