The Soane Medal, established in 2017, is an international award presented annually by Sir John Soane's Museum.
The prestigious Soane Medal honours architects, academics, and critics who have significantly advanced and enhanced public understanding of architecture through their work in practice, history, or theory.[1]
The winner is selected annually by a panel of distinguished architects, critics and curators, initially led by former Trustee of Sir John Soane’s Museum, Sir David Chipperfield.[2]
The British, Uganda-born engineer Hanif Kara was announced as the 2024 recipient of the illustrious Medal, which had previously been awarded to architects and their theorists, but never before to an engineer.[3]
The recipient of the Medal delivers a lecture at a special event, open to all, and also receives a replica of the original gold medal presented to Sir John Soane by the ‘Architects of England’ in 1835.[4] Modelled by Sir Francis Chantrey, the medal shows the likeness of Soane on one side and the north-west corner of the Bank of England on the other.[5][6]
The Soane Medal is supported by Hamish and Sophie Forsyth.[7]
Medalists
Inaugural winner Rafael Moneo was cited for embodying "the idea of architecture as something that resides not just in the structure and the materials of a building, but in time and place, word and image, people and community".[8]
