The Euregional Architecture Prize (EAP) is an annual competition for final-year projects from five architecture schools in the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion. For the 29th edition, more than 400 students submitted a project, 29 of which were presented to a jury. The jury felt it could discern a shift in the way this younger generation interprets the role of the architect. They were said to approach authorship differently, with projects being less determined ‘by the architect’s ego’. The jury also identified a second and third trend: a focus on craftsmanship and buildability on the one hand, and theoretical reflection on undefined places on the other.

Four honourable mentions and three winners emerged. Johann Eckartz from RWTH Aachen University took first prize with his project ‘Creating Chorweiler’. He proposes transforming the desolate dormitory town near Cologne into a productive, vibrant centre through the use of manufacturing industries. For instance, he aims to repurpose an underused car park into a craft centre with public space. Through his thorough reading of the existing environment and a careful analysis of the functions of living and working in this neighbourhood, Eckartz created a new urbanity.