Lacaton & Vassal Win 2027 Charlotte Perriand Award

Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal will receive the 2027 Le Prix Charlotte Perriand, the Créateurs Design Awards announced. The Pritzker Prize laureates, in practice since 1989, will accept the prize on January 16, 2027, at the Shangri-La Paris.

The eighth edition of the award honors the French studio for work the CDA described as a demonstration of "how the adaptation of existing structures can improve living conditions while preserving resources and architectural heritage." A peer-led voting process selects the winner each year. Previous recipients include Xu Tiantian; Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa; Frida Escobedo; and Jeanne Gang.

In the CDA's words, the duo has "advanced an architectural approach grounded in spatial generosity, environmental responsibility and respect for the people who inhabit buildings" for more than three decades. The prize recognizes their contribution to contemporary architecture "and their commitment to improving the quality of everyday life through the transformation and preservation of existing buildings."

Who are Lacaton & Vassal?

The practice was founded in 1989, after Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal finished their studies at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Bordeaux. Their notable works include:

• The transformation of the Palais de Tokyo in Paris (2002 and 2012)
• The Nantes School of Architecture (2009)
• The Cité du Grand Parc housing transformation in Bordeaux, completed with Frédéric Druot and Christophe Hutin, which shows how small, singular operations can have a significant infrastructural impact

The award citation highlighted the care and imagination with which the pair approach the places people call home. It added that their architecture shows how much can be gained by understanding what is already there.

The architects responded to the news with a statement invoking the prize's namesake. "Charlotte Perriand's tireless pursuit of comfort, well-being, and the pleasure of the inhabitant and of everyday life, her modernity, and her political commitment to exposing poor housing conditions and to transmission and education remain profoundly relevant today and are a source of inspiration," they said. "Her manifest spirit of openness and freedom touches us deeply. We are very happy to receive this distinction."

What else happens at the ceremony?

Lacaton & Vassal will not stand alone on stage. Kengo Kuma receives the Andrée Putman Lifetime Achievement Award 2027 at the same event. Both distinctions bear the names of influential French women whose work helped shape modern architecture and design.

The Créateurs Design Awards program spans 15 categories and two Legacy Awards. It recognizes achievements in architecture, interior design, product design, curation, photography, journalism, digital art and related disciplines. Submissions for the 2027 edition remain open, with a deadline extended to November 22, 2026.

What does this change for the profession? The choice reinforces a clear direction: reuse-first architecture now commands the field's top honors, and the Perriand name ties that approach to a lineage of housing advocacy.

The announcement joins a cluster of recent international recognitions, including Farshid Moussavi's 2026 Soane Medal for her contributions to architectural practice, history and theory, and Daniel Libeskind's 2026 Praemium Imperiale for Architecture. The second edition of the ArchDaily Student Project Awards is also open, asking students worldwide one question: What can architecture enable in the city?