Winner: Emerging architect of the year 2024. Shanghai-based architecture studio HCCH.

HCCH was founded by Hao Chen and Chenchen Hu in 2018. The multi-disciplinary practice covers architecture, interiors, and public art. HCCH tries to push the boundary of discipline and norm, by exploring specific, innovative and challenging action, to inspire lasting positive environmental and societal engagement.

Recent projects of theirs include a shell-like brick pavilion in Longyou County, China, and the Twisting Tower and Spiral Station, part of the Shanghai Lingang Ecological Restoration Project.

“This young and small studio approaches each project with a unique care for the cultural and environmental context of the site, the subtle architectural intervention always puts the community it serves at heart,” said the judges.