Dezeen Awards 2023 have announced its shortlist across the overarching categories of Architecture, Interiors, Design, Sustainability, and Designers of the Year. More than 200 works within the 39 project categories are in the running for recognition as the overall project winners. The annual awards, currently in its sixth edition, is hosted by Dezeen—a distinguished architecture and design website headquartered in London. As intriguing architectural visions from around the world and practices striving to create spaces that elevate the quality of everyday lives make it to the list, the contenders include buildings by Zaha Hadid Architects, Olson Kundig, VTN Architects, Open Architecture, Heatherwick Studio, BIG, and MVRDV.

Described by Dezeen as 'a benchmark for international design excellence and the ultimate accolade for architect and designers everywhere,' the awards are judged by an esteemed panel comprising creatives from the world of architecture and design. For this edition, over 90 judges are on the jury which include architects Piero Lissoni, Koichi Takada, Zhu Pei, Lara Lesmes, Ben van Berkel, and Omar Gandhi; designers Yves Behar, Sabine Marcelis, Erwan Bouroullec, Paola Navone, and Yuri Suzuki, to curators Rossana Orlandi, Maria Cristina Didero, Samta Nadeem, photographer Taran Wilkhu, and art directors Giulio Cappellini, and Patrizia Moroso. What ensues was a rigorous process of screening where each work was viewed under three guiding tenets: of beauty, innovation, and benefit. Inquiries ranging from 'does it look amazing?' to 'does it address a problem in a new way?' and 'if it is useful and considerate to the people and the planet' guide the vetting process before the nominees are announced in a two-phase lineup comprising the longlist and the shortlist. Here STIR, a media partner with Dezeen Awards 2023, takes a look at this year’s nominees.

Architecture

This award brings together 16 sub-categories spanning residential architecture in urban and rural areas, renovation, extension and housing visions, civic, workspace, health and cultural projects, as well as heritage, education, hospitality, mixed use and infrastructure. Eighty five projects make it to this list which include a holiday home in rammed earth in Alwar, India, designed by Sketch Design Studio, the multi-storey Reggio School built of cork walls and indoor gardens in Madrid by Spanish architect Andres Jaque, a hyper-local community arts centre in Kampala, Uganda, and a green oasis called Mayfield Park in Manchester, conceived by landscape design firm Studio Egret West.

Find all architecture shortlists here

Interiors

Forty seven projects are nominated in the Interiors category that spills into 10 sub-categories. From home interiors, restaurant and bar, health, and exhibition design, to hotel, retail and workspace (small and large), and interior project of the year, the shortlists reveal an array of eclectic visions reinventing the architectural inside as a canvas of possibilities. Canadian firm Omar Gandhi Architects' Prime Seafood Palace in Toronto, the dramatic Ikoyi restaurant in London by David Thulstrup, nature-infused interiors of the Six Senses Rome by Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola, and Jayden Ali’s exhibition design of a V&A show on men’s fashion and attire.

Find all Interior shortlists here

Design

Collections by fuseproject, Zaha Hadid Design, Tom Dixon, AMDL Circle, and Formafantasma are among the 47 nominated projects in the Design category, with sub-categories including installation design, graphic design, lighting and furniture design, workplace design, architectural lighting, and wearable design. The 22-metre tall lighting façade at the Dior Femme – Place Vendome by New York-based by Aranda\Lasch, a series of sand sculptures for Stine Goya SS23 by Danish studio Spacon & X, and a wearable technology by fuseproject that helps mobility-impaired people live independent lives, are part of the list.

Find all Design shortlists here.

Sustainability

30 works designed by the likes of Foster + Partners, Lina Ghotmeh Architecture, Snohetta, Diana Kellogg Architects, and Reef Design Lab have been nominated in the Sustainability category, and viewed through the lens of sub categories including sustainable building, sustainable renovation, consumer design, building product, and material innovation. Lina Ghotmeh Architecture’s remodelling of a French industrial building into a low-carbon, energy-positive workshop for Hermes, a zero-gas residential precinct by six Australian architecture firms, and an ultra-low carbon construction material called Sugarcrete by the University of East London, are a few projects from the shortlist lineup.

Find all Sustainability shortlists here.

Designers of the Year

Across its six sub-categories, the Designer of the Year shortlist have names like Patricia Urquiola, Samira Rathod, Sumayya Vally, Studio Precht, and David Thulstrup. Running for the awards are 31 shortlisted studios in which Mass Design Group and White Arkitekter are names amongst the nominated practices for Architect of the Year award, Counterspace’s Sumayya Vally and Nigerian practice Atelier Masōmī for Emerging architect of the Year award, and Marjan van Aubel and Pearson Lloyd, and Paul Cocksedge for Designer of the Year.

Find all Designer of the Year shortlists here.