At the end of 2019, the jury of the Van Hove Prize awarded honourable mentions to no fewer than five students. This prize has been awarded annually since 1982 by the Professional Union of Architects (UPA-BUA) and recognises the final projects of architecture students.

By widely publicising the call for entries, the Van Hove Prize provides a fairly representative sample for identifying trends in projects by master’s students at architecture schools across Belgium. It appears that they are increasingly relying on in-depth research during the project preparation phase, and these projects have an ever-greater social ambition and geographical scope. Almost one in four candidates took climate challenges, rising sea levels or water scarcity as the starting point for their project. The development of strategies for the future of peripheral and rural areas (through village centre densification or local productivity) also appears to be a notable trend. In addition, urban densification, culture and public infrastructure remain the favourite topics among the graduation projects competing for the Van Hove Prize 2019.