Report on the IAUD International Design Award 2025 Awards Ceremony and Presentation

Grand Award: SEKISUI HOUSE, Ltd: Japan
Creating “New Places to Belong” A Proposal for Gathering Spaces that Nurture Diverse Relationships and Evolve with Each Local Community

The IAUD International Design Award 2025 Awards Ceremony and Presentation was successfully held online on February 27th, 2026. It received appx.180 participants from 15 countries.
The IAUD International Design Award was established in 2010, in order to promote and champion UD by recognizing and rewarding outstanding achievements and in particular products that ensure people of all ages and abilities can enjoy an active, independent and productive life.

Announcement of Award Winners

There were 43 entries from 12 countries (Denmark, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Taiwan and UK). Carrying out strictly neutral examinations, the IAUD International Design Award 2025 Selection Committee selected 1 winner of the “Grand Award”, 14 winners of the “Gold Awards”, 10 winners of the “Silver Awards”, 4 winners of the “Bronze Awards”, 2 winners of the “Award of Excellence for Student Design Challenge” and 11 winners of the “Student Design Challenge Award” were selected.

At the ceremony, all the winners were announced in order from the Grand Awards by Mr. Keiji Kawahara, the member of the Selection Committee / IAUD Executive Director.

Mr. Satoshi Kose, IAUD Chairperson of the Board of Directors and Ms. Onny Eikhaug, Chair of the Selection Committee / Founder, Innovation for All AS, Norway, presented the award certificates to the award winners.

Please visit IAUD website for the details;
Announcement of Award Winners　
Full Citations　

Comments from the jury members

Afterwards, the IAUD International Design Award 2025 Jury Panel, which is made up of UD experts from 7 countries around the world, gave their comments.

First of all, Ms. Onny Eikhaug offered a critique: “First and foremost, my heartfelt congratulations go to all this year’s award winners. Your achievements are truly remarkable, and we hope they will inspire you to continue your important work, while encouraging others to be equally inspired. The clear message conveyed by this year’s entries to the IAUD International Design Award, is that universal design is no longer a niche or an aspiration for the future, but here to stay, as an integrated dimension of design across disciplines, and as a fundamental component of people-centered and sustainable development in all sectors of society. We must not forget that continued effort is essential, for the active engagement of new generations is key to ensuring the integration of Universal Design thinking into all aspects of life”

Moreover Mr. Fumikazu Masuda, Co-chair of the Selection Committee, commented: “The gap between the haves and the have-nots continues to widen. Relationships in which one person's gain is another person's disadvantage also continue to intensify. There have always been countless differences that create division, such as in values, beliefs, physical conditions, languages, as well as cultural and historical backgrounds. However, in the process of competing for the planet's limited wealth, humans have come to hold such an enormous influence on the natural system; and in particular on the survival of a vast array of species and an unimaginable number of living creatures. Humans themselves must overcome internal conflicts or divisions and draw up a grand design for a shared future. This is the Design for Wellbeing Under the Condition of Sustainability including Universal Design, and each of the initiatives introduced today is a piece of the puzzle to achieve it.”

Then, other members of the Selection Committee also commented and celebrated the winners.

Presentation of Award-Winning Works

All the “Grand Awards” winners, “Gold Awards” winners and “Award of Excellence for Student Design Challenge” winners gave their presentations remotely. Their presentations were very informative and wonderful.

Gold awards

Award winners giving their presentations remotely

Awards of Excellence for Student Design Challenge

Award winners giving their presentations remotely

IAUD will hold the “IAUD International Design Award 2026” this year. The application guidelines will be posted on the IAUD official website, in the near future. We look forward to receiving your applications.