Launched in 2011 by the Minister for Culture of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the Public Commissioning Award (MOP Award) aims to highlight and promote public commissioning bodies and commissioning processes that foster high-quality architectural projects, with a focus on both reflection and promotion.

The jury for the 2020 MOP Award met on a warm June day, bringing together some fifteen experts, architects, landscape architects and other local and regional officials from Brussels and Wallonia. As with every edition, the session – chaired on the day by the French architect and architecture critic Cyrille Véran – was guided primarily by the following assessment criteria: the definition of the brief, the rigour of the project management process (from the commission through to the execution of the works) and the quality of the result. A unique and necessary approach, given that most architecture and urban planning awards focus primarily on the value of a ‘finished product’.
Eleven entries were submitted in March 2020 and divided into four categories: ‘Public Facilities’, ‘Social Housing’, ‘Landscape and Public Spaces’ and ‘Special Category’ ’. Among this wealth of entries, the jury identified certain projects that demonstrated both rigour and merit in their development processes. The projects for the Mouscron Folklore Museum (Winner) and the La Berle multi-service rural centre in the municipality of Berloz (Honourable Mention) were recognised in the ‘Public Facilities’ category; the Mexico social housing project in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean (Winner) was also awarded the prize in the ‘Public Housing’ category; finally, the Fontainas block in the heart of Brussels city centre (Winner) was recognised in the ‘Special Category’, which for this occasion became the ‘Large-Scale’ category.