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OBEL

@obelfoundation

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A foundation recognising and rewarding architecture's potential to act as tangible agents of change.
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🏆 The 2026 OBEL Award goes to The Balearic Social Housing Model.⁠ ⁠ Developed between 2019–2023 in the Balearic Islands by economist Cris Ballester Parets and architect Carles Oliver Barceló, the Balearic Social Housing Model reimagined public housing from the ground up. Sourced from local materials, designed to breathe using sun and airflow instead of machines, and built for rent, rather than sale, so it stays a public asset for generations.⁠ ⁠ Selected under this year's theme, Systems' Hack, the OBEL Jury recognised it for proving that public institutions themselves can be engines of change actively developing, innovating and carrying knowledge from project to project.⁠ ⁠ From housing production to housing policy. 👏⁠ ⁠ Congratulations to Cris Ballester Parets and Carles Oliver Barceló!⁠ ⁠ @carlesoliverbarcelo⁠ @chrisballesterparets⁠ 🎥 Edit @boogiepictures_ by @obelfoundation
23
a month ago
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Introducing Systems Hack: For the 2026 focus, The OBEL Award Jury asks if architecture can operate within planetary boundaries while reshaping the networks of production, governance, and influence it depends on.⁠ ⁠ In a world shaped by accelerating climatic, political, and economic instability, architecture no longer operates in isolation. It is embedded in complex systems — infrastructure, energy, food, water, education, information — many of which are under strain or no longer fit for purpose.⁠ ⁠ Systems’ Hack calls on architects to move beyond conventional problem-solving and instead engage directly with the systems that underpin contemporary society. Not to reject them — but to expose, infiltrate, and reconfigure how they work.⁠ ⁠ Set annually by the OBEL Jury, the focus defines the conceptual framework for all OBEL activities. The 2026 OBEL Award winner, selected under this theme by the Jury will be announced in May 2026.⁠ ⁠ [Systems’] - interrelated elements forming a complex whole⁠ ⁠ [Hack] - a strategy to manipulate or transform how a system behaves⁠ ⁠ Artwork by @o_s.studio by @obelfoundation
3
8 months ago
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Hvordan bygger man flere almene boliger, hurtigere og uden at gå på kompromis med kvaliteten? Det spørgsmål har økonom og bæredygtighedsekspert Cris Ballester Parets og arkitekt Carles Oliver Barceló arbejdet med i praksis. Den 22. oktober fortæller de om det på Det Kongelige Akademi. Du får indblik i en model, der ikke handler om én bygning eller ét materiale. Den handler om hele systemet. Om hvordan offentligt byggeri kan bestilles, udbydes, tegnes, bygges og bebos på en ny måde. Og om hvordan offentlige institutioner kan drive miljømæssig, social og økonomisk innovation. Prisvindende arbejde The Balearic Social Housing Model har vundet @obelfoundation OBEL Award 2026. Juryen fremhæver modellen som et stærkt eksempel på, hvordan systemer kan forandres indefra, ved at bruge den offentlige forvaltning som et rum for eksperimenter. 📅 Torsdag 22. oktober 2026, kl. 13.00 til 14.00 📍 Det Kongelige Akademi, Danneskiold-Samsøes Allé 53, Auditorium 5, indgang J&K 🎟️ Gratis adgang Fotos 1: Maria Teresa Leon 8-14 / Photographer Jose Hevia 2: Pere Matutes 72 / Photographer Jesus Granada 3: Maria Teresa Leon 8-14 / Photographer Jose Hevia 4: Emiliano López Mónica Rivera Arquitectos / Photographer Jose Hevia 5: FORTUNY + ALVENTOSA MORELL ARQUITECTES / Ses Veles / Photographer Jose Hevia 6: PERIS + TORAL ARQUITECTES / Maria Teresa Leon 8-14 / Photographer Jose Hevia 7: H ARQUITECTES / Lope de Vega 3 / Photographer Adrià Goula by @obelfoundation
1
6 days ago
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@kglakademi proudly welcomes @crisballesterparets and @carlesoliverbarcelo to the #INTERNATIONALLECTURESERIES to present The Balearic Social Housing Model October 22nd, 1-2 pm Auditorium 5, Royal Danish Academy, Danneskiold-Damsøes Allé 53 Free and open to all In collaboration with @obelfoundation The Balearic Social Housing Model is recognised for transforming the role of social housing administration in the Balearic Islands between 2019 and 2023. Led at the time by a dynamic partnership between economist Cris Ballester Parets and architect Carles Oliver Barceló their focus for the model was - rather than treating housing as simply a question of building more homes - rethinking how public housing for vulnerable communities can be commissioned, procured, designed, built and inhabited. By bringing together local materials, circular construction practices, climate-responsive design and new approaches to public procurement and project delivery, the model demonstrates how public institutions can become powerful drivers of environmental, social and economic innovation. A key driver was also the importance of providing high-quality housing for those often marginalised and pushed aside by systemic structures. Developed in response to an acute housing shortage and a critically limited public rental housing stock, Parets and Barceló will give a lecture on the model; how it was developed and how it seeks to increase the supply of public housing at both scale and speed without compromising architectural, environmental or social quality. The OBEL Foundation has announced the Balearic Social Housing Model as the winner of the 2026 OBEL Award. The Jury sees the Balearic Social Housing Model as a powerful example of how systems can be transformed from within. By using public administration itself as a space for experimentation, the model demonstrates how public procurement, investment and management can become tools for systemic change. We look forward to sharing this exciting and important lecture with you all! by @obelfoundation
1
6 days ago
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What if Europe’s housing crisis is a question of how we use what we already have?⁠ ⁠ The 2025 OBEL Award was given to policy lab HouseEurope! (@houseeurope.eu) for their work towards making existing buildings part of a more affordable, sustainable and socially just future.⁠ ⁠ Now, HouseEurope! is ready a new legal proposal focused on creating more affordable housing by transforming and reusing Europe’s existing building stock.⁠ ⁠ Across Europe, homes and buildings stand empty or underused while housing becomes increasingly difficult to afford. At the same time, demolition and new construction come with significant environmental costs.⁠ ⁠ HouseEurope! asks us to look at our cities differently: Europe is already built. What if we make better use of what is here?⁠ ⁠ We’re proud to see the 2025 OBEL Award winner continue turning this question into concrete action by bringing architecture, policy and citizens into the conversation about the future of housing in Europe.⁠ ⁠ Discover the full legal proposal through the link in our bio, learn more about the initiative and sign it today! by @obelfoundation
1
9 days ago
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We’re thrilled to share the new cohort of young climate designers, innovators and changemakers selected for the third cycle of The World Around’s Young Climate Prize. 🌍 Chosen from 490 applications spanning 83 countries, these exceptional young people aged between 16-25 impressed us with the ambition, ingenuity and impact of their self-initiated projects, each already creating meaningful change within their communities and beyond. Their work spans biomaterials and circular design, ecological restoration, public health, resilient infrastructure, climate advocacy and education, with projects ranging from biodegradable materials that remove microplastics from water to community-led air monitoring and affordable classroom filtration systems.🤍 Each cohort member has been paired with a mentor from The World Around’s international community of leading thinkers, designers, architects and cultural figures, including Al Borde, Bruce Mau, Paola Antonelli, Walter Hood, Xu Tiantian, Fernando Laposse and Tatiana Bilbao. They will also participate in the Young Climate Prize Design Academy, a three-month program of talks, workshops and strategy sessions designed to help them develop their ideas, strengthen their skills and expand their impact. 💡 At the end of the program, an international jury, to be announced soon, will select three prize winners. The winners will present their work and their visions for a more resilient future at The World Around Summit 2027. The World Around Young Climate Prize is supported by Design Partner MillerKnoll, Initiative Partner Obel, Academic Partner the Architectural Association and members of The World Around Climate Circle. #MeetTomorrow #YoungClimatePrize #TheWorldAround #ChangeTomorrow #YCPCycle03 by @obelfoundation
7
13 days ago
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"What makes the Balearic Social Housing Model remarkable is how innovative architecture can be found not just in design and material choice but also in procurement, policy and process. Public housing shortages are not unique to the Balearic Islands; the same structural pressure is playing out in cities and regions across the world. What this model offers is a framework wherein public institutions can adapt to their own context along with proof that public administration itself can become a genuine engine for change."⁠ ⁠ - Nathalie de Vries, Chair of Jury, OBEL Award⁠ ⁠ Read more about our OBEL Award 2026 winners - The Balearic Social Housing Model - on OBEL.Foundation⁠ ⁠ @nathalie_de_vries @mvrdv⁠ @crisballesterparets @carlesoliverbarcelo by @obelfoundation
2
16 days ago
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“If a public client cannot assume a certain level of risk in order to make positive social change, who will?” As the winner of the 2026 OBEL Award, the Balearic Social Housing Model is recognised not as a single building, but as a method for commissioning and constructing public housing at scale. In conversation with KoozArch chief editor Shumi Bose @tontita00, economist Cris Ballester Parets @crisballesterparets and architect Carles Oliver Barceló @carlesoliverbarcelo discuss how public procurement can become a design tool—mobilising legal frameworks, local industries, material knowledge and institutional trust to address both the housing and environmental emergencies. From stakeholder maps to resource maps, the model demonstrates how innovation from within a public institution can itself become an act of hacking—and why its methodology, rather than its architectural outcomes, is what can be replicated elsewhere. Read “Hacking from Within: Reinventing Social Housing in the Balearic Islands” on KoozArch. by @obelfoundation
2
21 days ago
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Something is about to hack the system...⁠ ⁠ Our focus this year - Systems’ Hack - calls on architects to move beyond conventional problem-solving and instead engage directly with the systems that underpin contemporary society. Not to reject them, but to expose, infiltrate, and reconfigure how they work.⁠ ⁠ Our OBEL Award 2026 winner will be revealed soon. by @obelfoundation
4
a month ago
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For the 2026 focus, Systems' Hack, The OBEL Award Jury asks if architecture can operate within planetary boundaries while reshaping the networks of production, governance, and influence it depends on.⁠ ⁠ [Systems’] - interrelated elements forming a complex whole⁠ ⁠ [Hack] - a strategy to manipulate or transform how a system behaves⁠ ⁠ Stay tuned as the OBEL Award 2026 Winner is revealed soon...⁠ ⁠ by @obelfoundation
1
a month ago
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OBEL × Paraply — Year 2 of 3 🏗️⁠ ⁠ This summer, OBEL enters year two of a three-year partnership supporting Paraply — an annual architecture summer school hosted in Copenhagen, near the Royal Danish Academy.⁠ ⁠ Paraply brings together participants from across the world for an intensive, hands-on workshop built entirely around one constraint: no new materials. Everything is built from waste, salvage and materials pulled from buildings in transition — no CAD, no grand gestures, just full-scale, collaborative design "alchemy."⁠ ⁠ Each year, three international architects, artists or designers are invited to lead the workshop, working directly alongside participants rather than lecturing at them. The programme weaves in guest talks, collective meals and city walks throughout the week, culminating in a public exhibition of everything built.⁠ ⁠ This year's workshop leaders: 🇲🇽 LANZA Atelier (Isabel Abascal & Alessandro Arienzo) — @lanzaatelier 🇺🇸 Oscar Tuazon — @_water_school_ 🇪🇸 Atienza Maure (Alonso Atienza & Miguel Ángel Maure) — @atienzamaure ⁠ Follow along with the workshop itself at @paraply. by @obelfoundation
2
2 months ago
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Fresh from the UIA World Congress in Barcelona (@uia2026bcn), we’ve released our conversation with HouseEurope!(@houseeurope.eu) winner of the 2025 OBEL Award. Their work speaks directly to last year’s theme, Ready Made - rethinking existing buildings, reusing resources, and questioning the systems that shape how we build. HouseEurope! is a European citizens’ initiative advocating for the renovation and reuse of existing buildings instead of demolition. By bringing together architects, designers, researchers, and policymakers, the initiative aims to reshape legislation and incentives to make building reuse the default. Ultimately, reducing waste, preserving cultural heritage, and supporting a more sustainable built environment. (@olafgrawert) (@ludwig.engel) by @obelfoundation
2
2 months ago
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