THE PATRICK ABERCROMBIE PRIZE FOR URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN

Named after the first UIA President, Sir Patrick Abercrombie, known for his role in the post-war reconstruction of Great Britain, the Patrick Abercrombie Prize recognises exemplary works of urban and regional planning and design since it was first awarded in 1961.

Sir Patrick Abercrombie was born on June 6, 1879, in Ashton upon Mersey, England. He was a British architect and town planner known for his role in the post-World War II reconstruction of London. After studying architecture at the Manchester School of Art, he joined the University of Liverpool School of Architecture as a junior lecturer and studio instructor. During his tenure at Liverpool, he won a town planning competition for Dublin in 1914 and was appointed Professor of Civic Design at Liverpool the following year.

Abercrombie was appointed professor of town planning at University College London and started working on postwar reconstruction plans for London and other cities in England, such as Plymouth, Edinburgh and Bath. He sought to combat urban sprawl by resettling the population into a number of distinct, self-sufficient communities connected by an improved network of roads. He also contributed to the redevelopment of other war-torn cities internationally such as Hong Kong and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Abercrombie was appointed a Knight Bachelor in 1945 by King George VI.

Winners of the Prize (1961 – 2023) 

1961 – Town Planning Service of the City of Stockholm (S. Markelius and G. Onblahd, Sweden)
1963 – G. Dioxiadis (Greece)
1965 – Ex-aequo: C. Buchanan and team (United Kingdom) & T. Farkas and team (Hungary)
1967 – Giancarlo de Carlo (Italy)
1969 – H. Bennet and team (United Kingdom); Honourable Mention: Belaunde Terry (Peru)
1972 – Centre for Experimentation, Research and Training (Morocco)
1975 – Iosif Bronislavovitch Orlov and Nikolai Ivanovitch Simonov (USSR)
1978 – The City of Louvain la Neuve (Belgium)
1981 – Warsaw architects (Poland) for the reconstruction of their capital; Honourable Mention: M. Balderiotte and team (Argentina)
1984 – Ex-aequo: Hans Blumenfeld (Canada) & Lucio Costa (Brazil)
1987 – AIA Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team (R/UDAT) (USA), Honourables Mentions: Eduardo Leira (Spain) & L. Bortenreuter, K. Griebel, H.G. Tiedt for the remodeling of the city centre of Gera (GDR)
1990 – Famund N. Bacon (USA)
1993 – Jan Gehl (Denmark)
1996 – Juan Gil Elizondo (Mexico)
1999 – Karl Ganser (Germany); Honourable Mention: Masterplan of the city of Shenzhen (People’s Republic of China)
2002 – Group 91 Architects for the Temple Bar district in Dublin (Ireland)
2005 – Nuno Portas (Portugal); Honourable Mention: Hermann Sträb (Germany)
2008 – Ex-aequo: Sir Peter Hall (United Kingdom) & Mahmoud Yousry Hassan (Egypt)
2011 – Valentin Nazarov (Russia)
2014 – Not awarded
2017 – Not awarded
2021 – Joan Busquets I Grau (Spain)
2023 – l’AUC (France); Honourable Mention: 300.000Km/s (Spain)