Architecture is a slow process that adapts to social, political and economic changes.

The Prize takes this statement into account and pursues the following objectives:
— to recognise and commend excellence in European architecture in conceptual, social, cultural, technical and constructive terms
— to highlight the European city as a model for the sustainably smart city, contributing to a sustainable European economy
— to promote transnational architectural commissions throughout Europe and abroad
— to increase the incorporation of architectural professionals from the EU Member States and those countries that conclude an agreement with the EU
— to cultivate future clients and promoters
— to find business opportunities in a broader global market
— to highlight the involvement of the European Union in supporting architecture as an important element that reflects both the diversity of European architectural expression and its role as a unifying element to define a common European culture.

The Prize objectives aim at promoting and understanding the significance of quality and reflecting the complexity of Architecture's own significance in terms of technological, constructional, social, economic, cultural and aesthetic achievements.

Architecture's significance —linked with the construction market— has a social Impact and transmits a cultural message. Quality therefore refers to universal values of generic buildings, independent from their programmes: the essence of things rather than their formal values.

*As the [EU Mies Award/YTAA ] is an EU-funded initiative, we are in the process of updating some of the content on this website in the light of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. If the site contains content that does not yet reflect the withdrawal of the United Kingdom, it is unintentional and will be addressed.