The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), in collaboration with the Jencks Foundation, have jointly announced activist studio Forensic Architecture as the winner of this year’s RIBA Charles Jencks Award in recognition of their contributions to both the theory and practice of architecture.

Under the directorship of Eyal Weizman, the Goldsmiths, University of London-based agency has worked with international NGOs and several grassroots activist groups. Their work has established them as a critical and important University of Manchester and with U.S. 2022 Peabody Award for their groundbreaking contributions to online media.1

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  • 1. "We are particularly honored to be this year’s recipients of the RIBA Charles Jencks Award for two reasons," Weizman explained. "Firstly, it’s the first honor we received from the architectural establishment, and we are delighted the discipline demonstrates its commitment to grow and accommodate practices such as ours, which have been launched from architecture in different destinations. We hope that the award helps inspire architects to use their disciplinary tools to fight for justice publicly and politically. It is also an honor because of my friendship with and longstanding admiration of Charles, who supported the work of FA over the years. To be awarded this prize now is thus bittersweet, as we would have loved to celebrate it with him."
Forensic Architecture team
Forensic Architecture team © Natalia Sliwinska/Courtesy of RIBA

The group joins past winners Anupama Kundoo, Débora Mesa and Antón García-Abril of Ensamble Studio, Níall McLaughlin, Herzog & de Meuron, Zaha Hadid, and Rem Koolhaas, among others. In addition to the £3,000 prize, Forensic Architecture will deliver a lecture at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place on February 22, 2023. More information about attending the lecture can be found here.