One of the most important formats of Stiftung Baukultur Thüringen has been the awarding of its ‘Prize For The Advancement Of The Culture Of Architecture / Preis zur Förderung der Baukultur’. This award was one of the first projects of the foundation and one of its most innovative ones as well. The award was open to everyone from architects, engineers, craftsmen, writers to journalists and beyond. All the forms architecture can take were admissible and could take part in the competition: from buildings to landscaping projects, from projects of urban development to projects of conservation of our build heritage, from civic initiatives to the work of specialists, from a structure to an installation, to a book, film or interview. This was something, which at that time no other award in the world practiced, it was a novum.

After several successful editions of this noteworthy award, the foundation had the honour of being commissioned by the state of Thuringia with the conception, organisation and execution of the ‘State Award For Architecture And Urban Planning’ as well as the ‘State Award For Engineering’. After several successful editions of both prices Gerd Zimmermann, the president of Stiftung Baukultur Thüringen at that time, proposed the reformation of both state prizes and the creation of a new prize format, open to all disciplines involved in the construction process. The state of Thuringia as well as both chambers of architects and engineers accepted the proposal and the state of Thuringia made the proposal its own and commissioned the foundation with the finalisation of the conception and organisation of the new prize.

With the task of redefining, what a prize could be, for the team of the foundation arose the possibility to radically change the panorama of state prizes and by applying several lessons learned through its ‘Preis zur Förderung der Baukultur’ to go beyond the single building, to consider architecture in all its forms, to allow both the fortunate work of amateurs as well as of experts. Projects could be candidate in 7 different fields: architectural building, interior and installation, landscape, urban design, engineering sciences, initiatives/institutions/people and analogue or digital media. The price also included the 3 special awards: inclusiveness, timber-construction and young blood. Participation was opened to a global scale, so that projects in other places of the world carried out by offices from Thuringia as well as projects in Thuringia by offices from abroad could take part.

The first edition was held during the biennium of 2020 and 2021 to huge success. A wide breath of different projects took part in the competition, were discussed in several sessions over multiple days by a multidisciplinary jury and finally the winners were announced in a ceremony, which was held in breath-taking spaces of the extension of Anna Amalia library in Weimar, enriched by a sequence of outstanding performances by the young German composer, pianist and record producer Martin Kohlstedt.

Just like the foundations ‘Preis zur Förderung der Baukultur’, the new ‘Thüringer Staatspreis für Baukultur’ is a novum. Its first edition was not just promising, it was an accomplishment. It is to be hoped, that after the first edition many more will follow, one more successful than the other.