Début Award, a decade later

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Although we reinvent ourselves every three years, celebrating global architecture has been a constant since the beginning. In 2013, a turning point in our international projection, with the first open call to curate an edition, we launched a new prize. And it was more than a decade ago that we heard Beatrice Galilee, curator of the third edition, announce our desire to support emerging voices, "to contribute to the creative, intellectual and professional growth of young talents at a crucial and potentially transformative stage in their careers."

Believing that architecture plays a decisive role, we award a triad of Lisbon Triennale Millennium bcp prizes each time. While the Lifetime Award and the Universities Competition were born in 2007, the Début Award was developed with Close Closer to promote innovative ways of thinking and acting that bring new expression to the table. As José Mateus, chairman of the Lisbon Triennale, points out, “in architecture, the younger generations bring forth new references, concerns, and aspirations, which translate into novel ways of engaging with the world. In the current context, this is even more evident. As in other historical periods of transition, we are forcefully experiencing today a strong potential for technological and ideological renewal, opening a range of future possibilities.”

We take the opportunity of the Open Call for Début 2025 to look at the history of the award that over the last decade has honoured studios under the age of 35. "Being young and ambitious has a lot to it," said the first winner Jimenez Lai from Bureau Spectacular.

The première welcomed more than 180 entries, praised by the jury for their "variety, originality, substance and quality that bear witness to a vibrant generation of professionals shaping the discipline." The Fala studio, one of two Portuguese finalists that year, remembers the moment as symbolic for them. "A long, long time ago, in a city far from Tokyo, where we lived at the time, we were honoured to get our first ever nomination."

Over time the territorial scope expanded with applications from Europe, America, Asia and Africa. We are pleased to revisit some highlights from Triennale's chronology, like when Chile's Umwelt won the award and recognised it "came at the ideal moment for our studio, because it opened doors in an international context." This was followed by the Spanish duo Bonell+Dòriga: "we started our journey in architecture with ambition and enthusiasm, but also with doubts", but discovered that being shortlisted and winning "was a kind of magical moment and an encouraging sign that we were on the right track." The most recent winner São Paulo’s studio Vão travelled from Lisbon straight to Ibirapuera Park to close the deal for the exhibition scenography of the 35th São Paulo Art Biennial.

Aside from who wins, the extended track record of the shortlisted are the real demonstration of added potential. As the 2022 jury summarised, "if the first works of architecture point the way for those who design them, from the finalists, it is possible to imagine the future work of an entire generation." Among so many names that are already internationally known,some are the most promising studios, some of which have grown substantially since being a part ofTriennale.

Two years later in 2015 London's Assemble Studio won the Turner Prize. The writer, editor and podcaster Léopold Lambert founded the pertinent and irreverent magazine The Funambulist that year. La Borda, a housing co-operative in Barcelona designed by Lacol collective, won the Mies Van der Rohe Prize 2022 in the emerging category. The career of Mexican Frida Escobedo is paradigmatic: the youngest architect to design a Serpentine pavilion in 2018, she is also the author of the new wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, and part of the team that just won the competition to renovate the Pompidou Museum in June 2024. The finalist from Madrid Pedro Pitarch takes a radical view, considering that from his perspective "the prize itself is not ultimately as important as the network of culture, practices and agendas that it consequently generates."

Over the years we have also invited more than a hundred individuals from around the world to nominate, alongside self-proposed candidates. This constantly renewing panel helps the award find trends that haven't yet fully surfaced and gain a hyper-local reach on a global scale.

The Millennium bcp Lisbon Triennale awards ceremony is the culmination of so many people's work and the meeting point for the finalist teams, winners and jury on an international stage. For those who attend, there is a consensus of opinion. Supervoid highlights this "extraordinary moment to establish new connections and strengthen existing ones" and Spatial Anatomy emphasises the opportunity to "interact and exchange perspectives on projects and ways of working in different contexts. Some conversations extended beyond the Triennale." This is also the view of Tiago Antero, who describes it as a "fantastic and enriching experience, recognising our short career and being able to meet and learn from incredible professionals from all over the world. We later took part in competitions with other finalists!"

To follow the journey of these practices from different continents is to learn from the diversity of mindsets about the future of the world. It's good to see their growth and that we grow too. We're grateful for the trust of those who take part, summarised in the wishes of RC Architects: "I hope it continues to inspire and drive innovation, and that it enables many more collaborations to shape a more resilient and inclusive future."

A decade on, we continue to consolidate this award, reinforcing the strength of our partnership with the Millennium bcp Foundation. We endorse the words of António Monteiro, Chairman of the Millennium bcp Foundation, who "is extremely proud of this collaboration, which celebrates the merit and excellence of young studios that have continued to make a name for themselves on the world stage, reflecting the changes the discipline has undertaken."

We are renovating this commitment to the generations that are leading the way in the renewal of the craft, raising the age limit for applying to 40 and covering a wider range of professionals. We aspire Début to continue to highlight examples of resilience, creativity and optimism. We are celebrating with a new section on the website dedicated to the Millennium bcp Lisbon Triennale Awards and to those who bring together wit, vocation and a sense of mission.