Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal are the 2023 Soane Medal winners

In a prepared statement, the pair offered: “What comes after should always be better than what was there before. The buildings that people inhabit — their homes, workplaces and social spaces — should bring pleasure; architecture should be generous and free. We are overjoyed to be awarded this year’s Soane Medal. As Soane furthered the discipline in his own time, we are pleased to join a group of Medallists who demonstrate architecture’s role in each aspect of society today.”

Projects completed by their eponymous firm since 1987 include the much-lauded House in Bordeaux and Grand Parc Bordeux, the Mies van der Rohe Award-winning restoration of a 1960s housing block in the same city.  

The duo also spoke to their shared approach to the design of uplifting forms of housing, the growing urgency of adaptive reuse projects, clients' interface, and desire to elevate the needs of the communities for which they design. Three forthcoming projects in Germany, Paris, and Saudi Arabia were also previewed. 

A recording of their live-streamed remarks at the Sir John Soane's Museum in London can be viewed below.