Formerly known as the Women in Architecture awards, the W Awards continuously celebrates and profiles the industry's female trailblazers, leaders, and emerging architects. Since its start in 2012, the award program has aimed to "inspire change as a united voice of this global call for respect, diversity, and equality," according to The Architectural Review and Architect's Journal.

With the rise of various initiatives aiming to rewrite and highlight female and minority architects into architectural canon, this year, the award honors five women, each representing a unique voice, perspective, or emphasis within architectural practice. 

Individually each architect has committed their time and effort to push architectural pedagogy and practice. Read more about the winners and comments from the award's coordinators below. 

The Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture
Winner: Francesca Torzo (Francesca Torzo Architetto)

Judges Comments: "Each of Torzo’s projects is a complete reinvention of what architecture can be, with maze-like plans or strange constructional logics. Z33 is both beautiful and poetic, Torzo setting a scene for characters to animate, like a theatre director. She occupies the same space as Olgiati or Zumthor, but she goes even beyond her mentors – achieving a level of completeness in an industry that doesn’t often allow for it." 

Highly Commended: Mariam Kamara (Atelier Masōmī)

Judges Comments: "Kamara is creating space for vulnerable communities; architecture that really makes an impact, that changes social dynamics and relationships. Using vernacular construction techniques in a context with very few architects, she challenges the idea that you can only build in concrete, changing a relationship with landscape and ecology that presents a different kind of beauty" 

MJ Long Prize for Excellence in Practice
Winner: Tracy Meller (Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners) 

Judges Comments: "Meller is gutsy and humane at the same time. She’s a real leader, working collaboratively while still pulling the whole thing together. It’s a very difficult thing to do in a corporate culture, going against a general tendency of having a solo leading voice." 

Jane Drew Prize for Architecture 
Winner: Yasmeen Lari (Lari Associates)

Manon Mollard editor of The Architectural Review: "From landmark buildings in Karachi to crisis shelters and community centers made of earth and bamboo, Yasmeen Lari’s work has shown that grand schemes are not the only way to make an impact – that architecture that uplifts, provides dignity to the marginalized, can make real and meaningful change." 

Ada Louise Huxtable Prize for Contribution to Architecture
Winner: Beatriz Colomina

Manon Mollard editor of The Architectural Review: "Beatriz Colomina’s rich and rigorous career has shaped the way we think about architecture, right back to Sexuality & Space – still a much-needed text in architectural education. Her writing, her curation and her teaching have been part of the backbone of architectural theory for many years, and will continue to inspire in years to come." 

As the quest for equity and representation within the profession has grown more forceful in recent years, platforms like the W Awards provide the industry with an opportunity to continue to write women into history to help broaden the scope of practice as well as create a sustained archive of female architectural history.

To learn more about the W Awards click here.