Since the inception of the OBEL Award in 2019, its jury has lauded the winning project every year based on its established annual focus that inspires discussion on socio-architectural challenges. For its 2024 edition, the jury recognised the need for professionals from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to work together to address the multifaceted global concerns, appointing 'Architectures with' as this year's focus. Initiating a discourse on redefining architectural practice, the theme celebrated collaboration in design and its potential to address complex challenges with innovative design solutions. Presented by the Henrik Frode Obel Foundation in Denmark, the 2024 OBEL Award announced Mexican studio Colectivo C733 as the winner for its project 36X36, a collection of 36 architectural interventions designed and implemented in just 36 months across Mexico by collaborating with an ever-changing line-up of stakeholders and taking advantage of shared resources and expertise.

The jury for the 2024 OBEL Award consisted of Chinese architect Xu Tiantian of DnA Design and Architecture, Dr Wilhelm Vossenkuhl of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, architect Sumayya Vally of Counterspace from South Africa, Danish architect Louis Becker of Henning Larsen, director of the Het Nieuwe Instituut in The Netherlands Aric Chen, founder of MVRDV and Dutch architect Nathalie de Vries, along with Norwegian architect Kjetil Trædal Thorsen of SNØHETTA as the Chair of the Jury. From 2019 to 2022, Japan-based architect Junya Ishigami, German architect Anna Heringer, Franco-Colombian researcher, scientist and professor Carlos Moreno and London-based company Seratech have been awarded for their projects Water Garden, Anandaloy, 15 Minute City and Seratech respectively. Landscape architect Kate Orff, founder of the New York-based multidisciplinary practice SCAPE, won the architecture award in 2023 for its green infrastructure project Living Breakwaters, with a theme focusing on ‘adaptation’.

Founded as a meta-collective by Mexican architects Gabriela Carrillo, Carlos Facio, José Amozurrutia, Eric Valdez and Israel Espin, Colectivo C733 strives to design spaces that are socially, politically and environmentally complex through logical, efficient and economical solutions. Project 36X36 was a revitalising initiative that transformed vulnerable urban and rural areas marked by the Mexican Secretariat for Agrarian, Land and Urban Development into vibrant activity zones for diverse communities. To overcome the challenge of executing projects spanning sports architecture, healthcare architecture, educational architecture, public markets, community centres, cultural centres and public spaces, the studio devised a low-cost modular design system that could be contextually optimised through custom iterations, ensuring cohesion in design and execution of all the 36 community architecture projects.

The 36X36 project began in 2019 with the construction of the Matamoros Market in an abandoned lot, followed by the execution of Coahuila-based Helios Sports Complex, Chiapas-based Guadalupe Market and Tapachula Station in 2020. The Mexican state of Tabasco witnessed several new facilities come up between 2020-2021; projects like Tamulté Sports Complex, Nacajuca Sports Complex, House of Music, Tenosique Market, Casino near the San Juan Park, Colosio, Palenque Park, Graciela Plaza and Viewpoint, Balancán Baseball Field, Balancán Mercatram and Balancán Riverside Plaza transformed the neighbourhoods of Nacajuca, Tenosique and Balancán.

The 2021-2022 phase of the 36X36 project included six new public spaces and Sports architecture projects in the town of Bacalar, Quintana Roo, namely, Central Plaza and Streets, Mercateca, Playground and Soccer Field, Sports Field, Baths and Ecoparque. The historical town of Xpujil in Campeche welcomed the Municipal Hall and Public Plaza, Cultural Centre and Sports Space, Library and Mercatram projects. The beautiful coastal community of San Blas was elevated with projects such as Public Plaza, Corridor, restoration of the Old Church, San Blas Pier and Aduana San Blas Cultural Centre. The public spaces of Puebla state’s Ayoxuxtla City were revived with geometric access to the city, an elementary school, the Ayoxuxtla Central Plaza and nearby streets, the Ayoxuxtla Clinic and the Zapata Museum. 

A team of 30 architects and diversely skilled consultants were brought together to minimise the execution period for the projects. "Colectivo C733 exemplifies the power of collective action and collaborative design to rapidly respond to urgent urban needs,” stated the jury, commending Colectivo C733’s multi-efficient model and its potential to be an inspiration for upcoming public architecture projects. When thoughtfully and sensitively designed, public interventions can thus contribute to reviving underutilised spaces and strengthening communities.

Prioritising the needs of diverse communities and committing to their well-being through an innovative, co-creative operating structure, Colectivo C733’s 36X36 embodies the 2024 OBEL Award’s focus ‘Architecture with’ by building not just for the communities, but with them. “It is important not to underestimate the complexity nor the collective intelligence of a community,” stated the Chair of the Jury Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, “the symbiosis appears when each party can listen to the other when respectfulness and social intelligence is employed throughout the project.” Testament to the winning project, making communities an integral part of shaping their built environment could contribute to bridging the gap between its designers and users, potentially leading to a greater sense of belonging for the people.