Euregionale Architectuurprijs 2025
On Saturday November 15th 2025 the 35th Euregional Architecture Prize was awarded. The best projects by recent graduates from the participating architecture faculties (RWHT and FH Aachen, the universities of Hasselt and Liège, and the Academy of Architecture Maastricht) competed for the prizes.
We are proud of our alumnus Thomas Cuyt who received an honorable mention for his graduation project on Zwartberg/Genk. RWTH Aachen took home first prize.
A large delegation from our faculty was present to cheer on Thomas, as well as our other participants Jade, Illy, Aimi, and Mathies.
You can check out all the participating works on the website of Schunck, the organizer of this yearly event.
Until December 16th 2025 you can also visit the exhibition of EAP 35 at Schunck in Heerlen (NL). All practical info is listed right here.
Euregional Architecture Prize Workshop 2025
In the run-up to the award ceremony of the 35th Euregional Architecture Prize, 7 students from our faculty participated in the EAP Workshop: "Roots and Roofs - HORIZON" where they collaborated with fellow students and lecturers from the Euregio Meuse-Rhine to explore the role of architecture in a changing climate, political landscape, and economic reality.
The workshop’s title, "Roots and Roofs - HORIZON" reflected its dual orientation: a reflection on place, material, and memory ("downward into place") and a forward-looking perspective on possibility and shelter ("upward toward projection"). Participants were tasked with working across scales and disciplines, utilizing architecture as a lens to analyze and re-envision the world.
The workshop was hosted in and around the former ENCI quarry in Maastricht, a post-industrial site that up until very recently defined itself through limestone extraction. The layered landscape of collapse and rewilding presented us with a unique challenge and fostered rich, contested discussions about its future.
In teams of five from different universities, we collaborated to define a site-specific interest to analyze. The outcome of our collective inquiry was a sketchbook and a four-minute video detailing our work, which was presented at the EAP ceremony at SCHUNCK, Heerlen, on November 15th, 2025. Because each team approached the project with a distinct vision, theme, and methodology, the final results showcased a diversity of ideas. This divergence was a source of valuable peer learning, offering personal insights into different ways of thinking and strengthening our understanding of the complex site.
The immersive, hands-on approach of the workshop, combined with the site visits, allowed us to observe the landscape from a fresh perspective and to appreciate its complex layers. The experience was further enriched by a series of lectures that provided a theoretical framework for their critical inquiry.
Speakers included:
- David Rademacher (Rademacher De Vries), who introduced a systemic design approach;
- Karel Wuytack (ULiège), who discussed Dom Hans van der Laan's perception of caves as foundational architecture;
- Daan Wassen, who lectured on film montage and point-of-view;
- Nick Ceulemans, who outlined five different approaches to the site;
- Maikel Willemse, who offered a motivational speech on the central theme of "HORIZON".
The program concluded with a visit to Bureau Europa, where a discussion on women in urbanism served as a crucial reminder to ground architectural reflections in broader societal contexts, pushing us to consider who our designs ultimately serve—and exclude.
They all resided in a shared hostel, an arrangement that fostered camaraderie and networking beyond the formal workshop hours. The close proximity facilitated informal evening meetups at other locations, further cementing the bonds formed during the intensive sessions.
Collectively, these factors contributed to a highly successful and educational experience. It is a shared hope, therefore, that this valuable workshop will be organized again in the future, allowing more students to benefit from the unique opportunities it presented.
Thank you to Nick Ceulemans for co-organizing this workshop, and the praticipating students that also provided the text and pictures: Stijn Kleijnen, Anna Varvatzikis, Batuhan Dalkilic, Daisy Van Gestel, Klaudia Ossowska, Ilana van den Broek and Innocent Kimario Gerald.
