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Culture and Creativity

Architecture

Discover the links between EU policies, programmes and architecture towards a shared culture of architecture.
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The European Union is developing an integrated and people-centred approach to a sustainable built environment, where architecture has a major role to play to design buildings, public space and urban landscapes that contribute to citizens’ quality of life. 

It does this through many EU policies and funding programmes such as the cultural policy and the initiatives of the Creative Europe programme listed below.

The current EU Work Plan for Culture 2023-2026, includes quality built environment in the actions for EU cooperation on culture. European Directors for Architectural Policies (EDAP) gather under each Presidency of the Council of the European Union to consider possible initiatives to achieve a high-quality living environment for everyone, including those living in rural and remote areas, such as outermost regions. These meetings focus on topics such as the quality of tomorrow’s housing, the restoration, renovation and adapted re-use of cultural heritage, and improvements of architecture competitions and public procurement, and to build synergies with the New European Bauhaus.

Facts and figures about architects in Europe

The 2022 Architects’ Council of Europe's study The architectural profession in Europe, supported under Creative Europe, estimated there to be 620 000 architects in Europe. These contribute €21 billion worth of work to Europe’s economy.

Sustainable architecture is growing rapidly: 46% of architects ‘frequently’ design low energy buildings.

21% of architects were educated in another country, and another 19% have seriously considered working in another country.

The study also highlights that gender balance is becoming more equal: In 2022, 46% of architects in Europe are female compared to 36% 10 years before. The pay gap still exists but is down to 17%, almost half of what it was ten years before.

EU Policy framework: a brief timeline

  • 2024

    The Architects’ Council of Europe's study Architecture Policies in Europe, supported by Creative Europe, offers an updated overview of the actors, policies, tools, and initiatives promoting high-quality architecture and Baukultur in Europe.

    It details the origins and spread of architectural policies, key institutional actors, policy approaches, and examples of initiatives enhancing design quality.

  • 2023

    Five years after the adoption of the Davos Declaration, a second Conference of European Ministers of Culture under the title “Common Good – Shared Responsibility” took place.

    Ministers discussed with representatives of the private sector how to achieve together high-quality Baukultur for Europe. As an outcome, the Davos Baukultur Alliance united Baukultur actors from the public and private sectors and civil society.

  • 2021

    The Report Towards a shared culture of architecture – Investing in a high-quality living environment for everyone recommends ensuring high-quality architecture and built environment.

    The report is the outcome of a Member State expert group, who proposes key criteria to assess the quality of places as well as policy recommendations to create a shared culture of architecture report-provides-recommendations-to-ensure-high-quality-architecture-and-built-environment.

    The group was formed under the Council Work Plan for Culture 2019-2022.

  • 2018

    The European Ministers of Culture and stakeholders adopted the Davos Declaration “Towards a High-quality Baukultur for Europe” in January 2018. It highlighted the central role of culture in the built environment and called for an integrated and quality-based approach to the environment shaped by man.

    The concept of Baukultur includes architecture, heritage, public space, landscape and infrastructure.

  • 2017

    The French Ministry of Culture organised an informal meeting of the European Directors of Architecture (EDAP) in 2017 to the discuss the concept of Baukultur and to exchange good practices among the EDAP.

    Since then, EDAP gather under each Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

  • 2012

    The European Forum for Architectural Policies (EFAP), an international network devoted to foster and promote architecture and architectural policies in Europe, allowed for policy exchange among EU countries and published a Survey on Architectural Policies in Europe in 2012.

  • 2008

    The Council conclusions on architecture: culture's contribution to sustainable development in December 2008 called for the mainstreaming and awareness-raising of architecture’s contribution to a “high-quality living environment”.

    In the same document, the Council calls on EU countries to “make allowance for architecture and its specific features, in particular its cultural aspects, in all relevant policies, especially in research, economic and social cohesion, sustainable development and education policies”.

  • 2007

    In May, European ministers responsible for urban development approved the Leipzig Charter of Sustainable European Cities, which mentions the important role that quality of public spaces, man-made landscapes and architecture play in the living conditions of urban populations.

  • 2001

    The Council Resolution on architectural quality in urban and rural environments of 12 February 2001 flagged new architecture as 'the heritage of tomorrow'.

    It encouraged EU countries to promote architectural quality by means of exemplary public building policies, including through the Structural Funds.

  • 1985

    The EU Directive on the Mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications in architecture, approved in 1985 was the first official document on architectural policy at European level.

Creative Europe support to architecture

The Creative Europe programme supports architecture through its different actions:

  • EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture
  • Creative Europe Networks and Creative Europe Platforms
  • European Cooperation Projects
  • Sectorial support

EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture

The European Union organises the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award (EUmies Awards) to recognise excellence in built works of architecture in Europe (Architecture and Emerging) and final diploma works by recently graduated architects (Young Talent), supported through the Creative Europe programme:

Networks and platforms

The Creative Europe programme supports the following networks and platforms in the architecture sector:

European Cooperation projects

These are the European cooperation projects, that Creative Europe supports between 2021 and 2027, that are worth highlighting:

Sectorial support for architecture

The Creative Europe programme provides sectoral support to architecture and heritage for a quality built environment on top of the actions mentioned above, to address common difficulties the sector encounters.

This support includes capacity-building, promotion of Baukultur, peer learning and audience engagement in order to disseminate high-quality principles in contemporary architecture.

Tagged in:  Creative Europe