The ‘big’ Rotterdam-Maaskant Prize was awarded to the architect Floris Alkemade (1961). The jury, led by Aedes chairman and ex-minister of Medical Care Martin van Rijn, calls Alkemade a ‘spiritual leader’ and awarded him the prize because he ‘stimulated social engagement among his colleagues and sisters and the contact between has partly recovered the sometimes orphaned architectural community and society.’
Also read this interview with Floris Alkemade: ‘In every desire there is a desire for something better’
Alkemade started his career in 1990 at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), where he was responsible, among other things, for the design of the new Almere city center from the beginning of the 21st century. In 2008 he started his own office Floris Alkemade Architect, from 2015 to 2021 he was Chief Government Architect. In 2020 he published The future of the Netherlands, a call to tackle the consequences of climate change and other complex issues facing the Netherlands with more imagination. From 2014 to 2019 he was a lecturer at the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam and co-led the project Tabula Scripta that culminated in the book Rewriting Architecture†
The large Maaskant Prize, an oeuvre prize for persons or institutions that have stimulated the debate about architecture and urban planning, is awarded in even years, the young Maaskant Prize for architects under 36 years in odd years. Previous winners of the major Maaskant Prize, consisting of a certificate and a cash prize of 25,000 euros, include Michelle Provoost (2020), Tracy Metz (2018), Auke van der Woud (2010), Carel Weeber (2006) and Rem Koolhaas ( 1986).