A huge congratulations to Farshid Moussavi, who has been awarded the 2026 Soane Medal by Sir John Soane’s Museum.

The annual award recognises architects, educators and critics who have made a major contribution to their field through practice, history and theory, while helping to further public understanding of architecture. Established in 2017, the Soane Medal has become an important recognition of contributions to architecture that extend beyond individual projects and into education, research and architectural culture.

Moussavi is the founder of Farshid Moussavi Architecture and has built an international career spanning architectural practice, education and writing.

Born in Shiraz, Iran, Moussavi studied at Harvard Graduate School of Design, University College London and Dundee University. She has maintained a longstanding connection with architectural education, holding teaching positions at institutions including the Architectural Association, Harvard, UCLA, Princeton and Columbia University. She also served as head of the Institute of Architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.

In 2011, she founded Farshid Moussavi Architecture. The practice’s work includes the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland, La Folie Divine apartments in Montpellier, Îlot 19 multi-tenure housing in Paris and the Harrods Toy Department in London.

More recently, FMA completed the Ismaili Center Houston in Texas, its largest project to date, following an international competition. Moussavi has also worked across retail and cultural projects, including the Victoria Beckham flagship store in London’s Mayfair.

Alongside her architectural practice and teaching, Moussavi is the author of four books, most recently Architecture and Micropolitics, published in 2022.

The Soane Medal was established to continue Sir John Soane’s mission of encouraging a better understanding of the importance of architecture in people’s lives.

Its recipients therefore represent a broad understanding of architectural contribution. The award recognises not only buildings and architectural practice, but also the role of education, research, criticism and ideas in shaping the profession.

Previous recipients include Madelon Vriesendorp, Hanif Kara, Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, Peter Barber, Marina Tabassum, Denise Scott Brown, Kenneth Frampton and Rafael Moneo.

Moussavi’s selection reflects the breadth of her own career. Her work demonstrates how architectural practice can exist alongside teaching, writing and research, with each informing the other. For the wider profession, this is particularly relevant at a time when the role of the architect continues to evolve. Architects are increasingly working across disciplines and engaging with questions around culture, technology, housing, sustainability and the social role of the built environment.

Moussavi will collect the 2026 Soane Medal at the Royal Academy of Arts in London on 24 November 2026, where she will also deliver the annual Soane Medal Lecture. The lecture will provide an opportunity to hear directly from Moussavi about her career, approach to architecture and the ideas that have shaped her work.