Polish-French architect Iwona Buczkowska has won the Jane Drew Prize for 2024 for elevating the profile of women in architecture through her design work.

Buczkowska is the director of Atelier Iwona Buczkowska, which she founded in 1980.

As part of her studio, she has completed several public buildings and social housing projects in France, including Cité Pierre Sémard – the country's largest timber residential complex.

The annual Jane Drew Prize forms part of the W Awards, formerly Women in Architecture, which was founded by The Architectural Review and Architects' Journal to raise the profile of women and non-binary people in the profession.

Previous winners of the prize include architects Kate Macintosh, Yasmeen Lari and Zaha Hadid.

Editor of The Architectural Review Manon Mollard said Buczkowska was selected as this year's laureate for being "a pioneer of timber construction and a fierce defender of the right to good housing".

"Rejecting standardisation, she prefers arcs and oblique planes to create intimate and brightly lit homes, and encourages us to think of architecture's contribution to social ecology," said Mollard.

"Buczkowska's buildings need to be preserved, and her ideas celebrated."

Also forming part of the W Awards is the Ada Louise Huxtable Prize, which has been this year been awarded to political activist, philosopher and writer Angela Davis.

The prize, which is named after architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable, acknowledges individuals who have contributed to architecture from the fields adjacent to it.

According to The Architectural Review, Davis was selected for her efforts to abolish the prison system, as well as for her dedication to civil rights activism.

"Angela Davis's activism and leadership is as relevant and pertinent to architecture as it has ever been," deputy editor Eleanor Beaumont said.

"Her work highlights the complicity of architecture as a tool of violence and encourages architects to advocate for spatial justice," she continued. "Davis continues to speak truth to power, setting an example for architects around the world."

Among the list of previous winners are Ghanaian-Scottish educator and writer Lesley Lokko and British sculptor Rachel Whiteread.

In 2023, the Jane Drew Prize was awarded to Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning architect Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA, while Canadian architect, critic and philanthropist Phyllis Lambert received the Ada Louis Huxtable Prize.

In 2021, Buczkowska was featured in Dezeen's list of twenty-two women architects and designers you should know. She was nominated by Farshid Moussavi, who was the recipient of the 2022 Jane Drew Prize.

Buczkowska will speak about her life and work at the W Programme Spring Lecture, scheduled to take place on 14 March 2024 in London.