A project is complete only when it has an effect.
Cátedra Najmias, Taller de Proyectos at CBC-UBA received one of the first prizes of the UIA Award for Innovation in Architectural Education, third edition. Over 70 programmes from 22 countries, 32 shortlisted, five first prizes. The program is only two years old
Award · Chair
In December 2022, I won the open competition for the tenured position of Full Professor at the CBC of the University of Buenos Aires. A year later, with Cátedra Najmias underway, we asked between 400 and 600 students each term to do something unusual in the first year of architecture school: to look at the city. Not to propose. To look.
That became (inter)acciones urbanas, the core exercise of the course: intervening in the public space of Buenos Aires before knowing how to draw a plan, on the condition that the project would not be complete until real effects could be observed. Not representations. Effects.
An award that measures what happens, not what is proposed
In 2026, after only two years, Cátedra Najmias received one of the first prizes in the third edition of the UIA Award for Innovation in Architectural Education. The UIA brings together the professional architecture associations of 130 countries and presents the award every three years, selecting one proposal from each region. Of more than 70 programs submitted from 22 countries, 32 were shortlisted. Five received first prize.
Since 2023, more than 2,000 students have carried out over 300 real interventions in the public space of Buenos Aires, reaching an estimated 150,000 users. The case the jury identified as the most compelling of the cycle was a prototype designed by students that the municipality adopted as permanent infrastructure within two weeks of the intervention.
What the jury said
The assessment was precise: the program promotes a shift from image production to design reasoning under real-world conditions, while assuming responsibility for the consequences.
It is the same operation that has defined the work of the practice since 2007. That it should be considered innovative in 2026 says something about the state of architecture and the way it is taught.
The call for submissions, the jury’s decision, and the complete results:
https://www.uia-architectes.org/en/award/award-education-3rd-edition/
PULSOS SUGERIDOS
- Readings
Want A Nice House Without Breaking The Bank? Call An Architect
- Readings
Do you do a house in the style of… ?
- Exhibition