The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) and the National Trust for Canada wish to promote public awareness of significant modern Canadian architecture from the 20th century. The Prix du XXe Siècle celebrates design quality and enduring excellence, recognizing the design of the original architect(s) and/or firm(s) and the on-going stewardship of the building’s owner(s).
An expert panel will be established, and maintained, by the RAIC and National Trust for Canada comprising a minimum of three (3) people expert in the area of modern Canadian architectural history and heritage. The expert panel will develop and maintain a list of buildings suitable for being considered for the annual Prix du XXe Siècle awards. Buildings can be nominated by members of the profession and the public, for consideration by the expert panel. Each year the panel will select up to three (3) projects to be awarded the Prix du XXe Siècle.
Any existing building built within the 20th century is eligible for the Prix.
The call for submissions is currently OPEN until January 13, 2025 at 10:00 PM ET. Check it out to learn more and apply!
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS – OPEN
Past Recipients (from the previous iteration of the Prix)
Terms of Reference - Updated June 2024
Expert Panel
Bernard Flaman, SAA, FRAIC
Bernard is a retired conservation architect currently serving on the board of the Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation.
His publication and curatorial work focus on Canadian modernist architecture. In 2024, he engaged in research on the work of Saskatchewan architect Kiyoshi Izumi and co-curated an exhibition at the Mackenzie Art Gallery entitled Spring on the Prairie, Kiyoshi Izumi and the work of Izumi Arnott and Sugiyama.
He co-edited Managing Energy Use in Modern Buildings (2021) for Getty Conservation Institute. His book Architecture of Saskatchewan received the 2014 distinguished book prize from the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska.
Bernard Flaman holds degrees in art history from the University of Saskatchewan, architecture from the University of Toronto and is a fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. He has worked on multiple contemporary and conservation building projects over a 35-year career in the private and public sectors. His current interests focus on the connection between conservation and sustainable design and an inclusive approach to heritage conservation.
Inderbir Singh Riar, BA, M.Arch, PhD
Inderbir Singh Riar is an architectural historian. He explores the ways in which postwar architects imagined the spaces of ideal citizenries. Resulting research on the architecture and urbanism of welfare states informs interpretations of Canadian modernism examined in the in-progress book manuscript Expo 67: The Architecture of Late Modernity under contract with McGill-Queen’s University Press. Riar has received grants and fellowships from various institutions including the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and the Canadian Centre for Architecture. He was a 2018-2019 Getty Postdoctoral Fellow at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. Riar’s scholarship emerges from the belief that sustained archival investigation is a wellspring of historical knowledge, critical reflection, and cultural belonging as well as a basis for uncovering changing notions on identity, memory, and power.
Dustin Valen, BEDS, MArch, PhD
Dustin Valen is an architectural historian and design educator in the Department of Architectural Science at Toronto Metropolitan University. His research and teaching addresses the intersection of architecture, imperialism, and the environment during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and spans several geographies, including Canada, Britain, and the United States. Dustin’s research has been recognized through numerous awards and his writing appears in many scholarly journals, including the Journal of Architectural Education, Architecture Beyond Europe, Urban History Review, RACAR, and the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. Originally from Vancouver Island, Dustin holds a Bachelor of Environmental Design Studies and Master of Architecture from Dalhousie University and a Post-professional Master of Architecture from the University of Toronto. He completed his PhD in Architecture at McGill University in 2019.
Past recipients photos, from left to right: Niagara Falls Butterfly Conservatory, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Grande Prairie Regional College, Humber Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge, Smith House 2 , Ontario Place - Cinesphere and Pods