History
Since 2013, the ICONIC AWARDS have given a platform to ideas that move architecture and design forward. What began as the ICONIC AWARDS: Innovative Architecture is now an international platform spanning Architecture, Interior, Product, Communication and Concept.
Architecture Sets the Course
The first projects are recognised through the ICONIC AWARDS: Innovative Architecture, establishing an approach that looks beyond the individual building. The focus includes urban and landscape concepts, as well as solutions that shape places and the way people live.
Interior Design Expands the Perspective
The ICONIC AWARDS: Interior Products launches as a dedicated award for the furnishing and interior sectors, putting furniture, materials and products at the centre.
Two Strands, One Platform
The two former formats are united. Today, the ICONIC AWARDS span Architecture, Interior, Product, Communication and Concept, highlighting how closely buildings, interiors, products and materials work together.
The ICONIC AWARDS were first presented in 2013. With the ICONIC AWARDS: Innovative Architecture, an international competition was established for the architecture, construction and real estate sectors – with the ambition to take a broader view of architecture.
The focus extended beyond completed buildings. The competition also recognised holistic architecture and interior concepts, urban and landscape planning, innovative materials, products, and communication and interpretation concepts. It looked at the wider network that gives a place its character: the people, products, materials and processes behind the built environment.
The competition quickly evolved into a platform that encouraged practices, clients, developers, manufacturers and other partners across the value chain to exchange ideas.
In 2015, the German Design Council established a dedicated award for the furnishing and interior sectors. The ICONIC AWARDS: Interior Products built on the German Design Council’s long-standing work in furniture and interiors and focused on the spaces in which design is experienced.
The award recognised innovative products and solutions for interiors. It assessed not only individual pieces of furniture, materials or products, but also their contribution to space, use and the wider design concept.
From then on, the two formats addressed different sectors but followed the same conviction: design has the greatest impact when it connects people, spaces and their surroundings in meaningful ways.
In 2025, the German Design Council united the ICONIC AWARDS: Innovative Architecture and the ICONIC AWARDS: Interior Products in one shared format. In doing so, it brought the entire construction and design value chain into closer dialogue.
The ICONIC AWARDS recognise projects and solutions that connect buildings, interiors, products, materials and communication. The expanded focus ranges from transformation and the circular economy to sustainable materials, new ways of working and living, and health- and user-centred spaces.
With the main categories Architecture, Interior, Product, Communication and Concept, as well as the additional categories Circular Design and Innovative Material, the ICONIC AWARDS show the many ways towards a built environment fit for the future.