From 66 entries, 24 have been shortlisted by the jury in the 2026 AA Prize for Unbuilt Work, which seeks conceptually rigorous, inventive responses to contemporary architectural issues. The prize promotes debate and to generate ideas about architecture by rewarding compelling work in its conceptual stages.
The shortlisted proposals are:
A New School of Architecture – HSP
Acting in the Meantime – Eliza Ng
Are You Being Served? – Eliza Innes
Asyndeton: Unseen Fantasies of Reality – Pei Kai Tan
Beneath the Shadows of Palm: Blueprints for Rural Palm Oil Territories – Danielle Lee
Biography of Design – Design Foundry
Building Community Resilience in a Disrupted World – IDA Alliance
Built Back Better: Urban Resilience for the Township of Lismore – Carmelo Nastasi
Ex Libris Singapore – Lily Éire Parsons
Flinders Island Community Vet – Bence Mulcahy
Friends of the Void – Jamie Bond
Gutless Wonder – Yasmin Fennessy
Kidscapes – Kali Marnane and Tess Martin in collaboration
NSW Pattern Book – In Common Studio
P2 Contemporary – Cicely Brown, Finn Holle and Sophie Shaw
Patterns of Footscray – Card
Play, Her Way … – Sophia Di Giandomenico
ReVault 2.0 – Supermanoeuvre
Richmond Sportslink – Bates Smart
Roads that Separate, Walls that Connect: Civic Propositions for Parramatta Road – Keita Sugimoto and Thomas Papetti
Spectral Dialogues – Katie Taylor
The Art of Darkness – Scar
The Greater Sydney Building Society – Billy McQueenie
Walyalup/Fremantle – What If – Whadjuk Balardong Elder Robyn Collard with Simon Pendal Architect
The 2026 AA Prize for Unbuilt Work jury comprised Ingrid Bakker of Hassell; Kirsteen Mackay from the Office for Design and Architecture SA; Deo Prasad of the University of New South Wales; Stuart Vokes of Vokes and Peters; and Georgia Birks, associate editor of Architecture Australia, as jury chair.
The winner of the prize will be announced on 2 February 2026 on ArchitectureAu and in the Architecture Australia magazine.
The AA Prize for Unbuilt Work is organised by Architecture Media, and supported by presenting partner Adelaide University.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
