The World’s 50 Most Inspiring Brick Buildings

A global celebration of architectural innovation has taken shape with the announcement of the shortlist for BRICK AWARD 26, a biennial prize honouring exceptional uses of brick and ceramic materials in contemporary design. Organised by Wienerberger, the world’s largest producer of bricks and the market leader in clay roof tiles in Europe, as well as concrete pavers in Eastern Europe, the BRICK AWARD has been held since 2004 to spotlight creative excellence and reaffirm the enduring relevance of brick in architecture. Though hosted by Wienerberger, the award is independently run, and all 50 shortlisted projects will feature in the BRICK 26 Book.

UCCA Clay Museum - Kengo Kuma
Photo credit: Fangfang Tian

Entries this year span five continents and 21 countries, selected from 849 submissions by a pre-jury panel comprising journalist Wojciech Czaja, ceramic artist Maria Gasparian, and architect Špela Kuhar. Winners across five categories—"Feeling at Home", "Living Together", "Working Together", "Sharing Public Spaces", and "Building Outside the Box" —will be chosen by an international jury of renowned architects, including Gabriela Carrillo (Colectivo C733), Christine Conix (Conix RDBM), Jens Linnet (BOGL), Traudy Pelzel (MAP studio), and Eduardo Mediero (HANGHAR). The awards ceremony will be held on June 11, 2026, in Vienna.

The shortlist reveals a striking diversity of form, function, and cultural expression. In the Middle East, Iran’s "Shafagh Tomb" in Ardakan transforms funerary architecture into a public monument through fluid inscriptions and an inverted dome that merge sacred and everyday space.

Shafagh Tomb - 35-51 Architecture office
Photo credit: 35-51 Architecture office

Shafagh Tomb - 35-51 Architecture office
Photo credit: 35-51 Architecture office

In Asia, Bangladesh’s "Aga Khan Academy" in Dhaka uses brick to create a calm refuge amid dense urban surroundings, while India’s "Metallic Bellows factory office" in Chennai draws on traditional brick kilns and low-carbon construction techniques. From China, Kengo Kuma’s "UCCA Clay Museum" in Yixing features a sculptural roof of handmade ceramic tiles inspired by mountain forms, while the "Tianjin Zhongshuge bookstore" uses custom brick “waves” to shape an immersive literary environment.

Aga Khan Academy - Shatotto architecture for green living
Photo credit: Asif Salman

Tianjin Zhongshuge - X+Living Architecture
Photo credit: SFAP

Across Europe, Dutch practice "Studio RAP" redefines Amsterdam’s retail landscape with a 3D-printed ceramic facade, while in Germany, brick panels articulate the "Leipzig Cogeneration Plant". Slovenia’s temporary theatre in Ljubljana reuses clay blocks in a creative act of urban recycling, and the UK’s "Park Hill" regeneration in Sheffield brings new warmth to Brutalist concrete with domestic brick infills.

CERAMIC HOUSE - Studio RAP
Photo credit: Riccardo De Vecchi

Leipzig Cognertation Plant - Atelier ST
Photo credit: Atelier ST - Duc Viet Nguyen

Slovenian National Theater - Vidic Grohar Arhitekti
Photo credit: Maxime Delvaux

Park Hill Phase 2 - Mikhail Riches
Photo credit: Mark Hadden

Further, Australia’s "Melbourne Holocaust Museum" combines clay and glass bricks in a “hit and miss” pattern that balances transparency and remembrance. In Mexico, "Clase Azul La Hacienda Jalisco" integrates local ceramics and stone to harmonize with its volcanic terrain, while Brazil’s "White Bricks House" explores artisanal craftsmanship and light-permeable brick patterns.

MHM - KTA
Photo credit: L Showell

Claze Azul warehouse & office - Atelier ARS
Photo credit: Cesar Bejar

Casa Tijolos - Brancos
Photo credit: Oana Franca

From New York, "64 University Place" revives classic masonry traditions through a hand-laid brick facade that bridges history and modernity. And in South Africa, the "Mountain House" near Cape Town embraces elemental materials and earthy tones to connect architecture with landscape and time.

University Place - KPF
Photo credit: KPF

Together, the 2026 shortlist underscores the resurgence of brick as a medium of global storytelling—a material simultaneously ancient and forward-looking, adaptable to cultural context and environmental responsibility alike.