Partnership programmes
ORGANIZER: International Union of Architects (UIA) through the Architecture and Children Work Programme
NATIONAL PHASE ORGANIZER: Romanian Order of Architects (OAR)
The Golden Cubes Awards is the most prestigious international distinction promoting worldwide initiatives in the field of architectural and built environment education for children and youth. The Work Programme of the International Union of Architects – Architecture and Children/ (UIA WP Architecture and Children – UIA Built Environment Education Network) has been organizing this award since 2011, every three years. Participants in this award are invited to present their activities, projects, or products that help children and youth understand architecture and the complex processes through which the built environment is created or transformed. The award is given in four categories:
- SCHOOLS (only for non-vocational architecture schools, from kindergartens to high schools)
- INSTITUTIONS (organizations, institutions, architecture schools, museums, etc.)
- WRITTEN AND DIDACTIC MATERIAL (books, magazines, non-audio-visual educational tools, games, etc.)
- AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIAL (films, websites, audio-visual educational materials, radio programs, etc.)
The awards are conducted in two phases. In the first phase, each national section member of the UIA organizes a national selection process and nominates a single project for each of the four award categories, and the organizers can decide how to reward the winners. In the second phase, an international jury will select a winner and a nominee for each category. The winners will receive a Certificate and a Trophy at the UIA’s triennial Congress, where all the nationally nominated projects will be displayed at the exhibition stand of the UIA Work Programme – Architecture and Children.
In Romania, the national phase of the awards is organized by OAR, the Romanian national section member of the UIA. In 2014, De-a arhitectura was Romania’s nomination for the Golden Cubes Awards – Institutions category. Since 2017, our colleague, architect Mina Sava, part of the technical team of the awards, has the task of organizing these awards as a representative of OAR to the UIA Work Programme – Architecture and Children. For this reason, the De-a Arhitectura Association cannot participate as an organization in these awards, but the schools with which it partners in various educational projects can participate, to encourage their involvement in such initiatives.
The International Union of Architects (UIA) is a non-governmental organization, a world federation of national architects’ associations. The UIA’s aim is to unite the world’s architects, without any form of discrimination. From the 27 delegations present at the founding meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1948, the UIA has grown to include the key professional organizations of architects from 124 countries and territories, now representing nearly 1,300,000 architects worldwide through these organizations.
Past editions
The winners of the national selection for the “Golden Cubes Awards” 2020-2023 were:
- Schools: Tribuna Park – “Dimitrie Anghel” Middle School, Cornești, Miroslava, Iași County.
- Institutions: Architecture Kit – Eematico
- Written Media: The Book of Houses – Art Conservation Support
- Audio-Visual Media: No project was submitted.
- Foreign Project Submitted for Validation (for projects from countries where the Awards were not organized): “The Sustainability Inspector” – SPECTOR from Serbia; the jury recommended participation in the international phase.
The winners of the national selection for the “Golden Cubes Awards” 2017-2020 were:
- Schools Category: Awarded to the project “Școala Veselă” from Bucșoaia Middle School in Frasin, Suceava County – coordinated by architect Iulia Cosovanu.
- Institutions Category: Awarded to ADElier de arhitectură, architects Adela Trif and Mihai Trif, Craiova, Dolj County.
- Written and Didactic Material Category: Awarded to the book “Marea lume mică” (The Great Small World), authors: architect Alexandra Mihailciuc (text), Alexandra Culescu (illustration), and Andrei Tache (graphics), under the umbrella of Art Conservation Support Publishing – The Rescue Book.
The winners of the national selection for the “Golden Cubes Awards” for the period 2014-2017 were:
Institutions: Local Heritage, (re)source of inspiration – Fundaţia Universitatea de Vest Timişoara.
The winners of the national selection for the “Golden Cubes Awards” for the period 2011-2014 were:
- Schools: Fundația School and Fun – Șotron Kindergarten.
- Institutions: De-a Arhitectura.
- Written Media: Eliza Yokina – “Dreams about Houses”.
The national phase was not organized.