CDA Lifetime Achievement Award, Christian de Portzamparc architecte Français, Contemporary French design studio

CDA Lifetime Achievement Award: Christian de Portzamparc, France

19 September 2025

Christian de Portzamparc to receive the 2026 Créateurs Design Awards Lifetime Achievement Award

Celebrated French architect and urbanist selected by CDA’s international peer body; ceremony confirmed for 17 January 2026 in Paris.

photo courtesy of architects office

CDA Lifetime Achievement Award – Architect Christian de Portzamparc

Paris — [September 2025] — The Créateurs Design Association (CDA) is honored to announce that Christian de Portzamparc has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the CDA Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. de Portzamparc has confirmed he will attend the black-tie ceremony in Paris on 17 January 2026 to accept the honour in person.

“Je reçois le prix CDA’s Lifetime Achievement Award comme un honneur suprême, car rien n’est plus beau que cette idée d’accomplissement.

L’accomplissement, pour un architecte, c’est une somme de bâtiments, des quartiers même.
Rien n’est plus beau que de visiter ce que on a construit et d’entendre la joie de ceux qui y vivent ou y travaillent.

Les projets ont marqué des périodes, des lieux, des espaces de nature si variée.
Le travail, l’inspiration, les recherches furent partagés avec des acteurs si différents. Je remercie tous ces partenaires.

Tous les projets portés par une même passion : la beauté n’est pas séparable de l’utile.
Prenons garde à ne pas ôter le beau.”

-— Christian de Portzamparc

English translation (approved by Christian)

“I receive the CDA’s Lifetime Achievement Award as the highest honour, for there is nothing more sublime than the notion of true achievement.

For an architect, achievement is the sum of buildings or neighbourhoods.
Nothing is more beautiful than walking through what one has created and hearing the joy of those who inhabit or work within these spaces.

Each project has marked a moment in time, a place, a space – each distinct, each unique in character.
The work, the inspiration, the research was shared with a multitude of different actor, to all of whom I extend my heartfelt gratitude.

All projects are driven by the same passion: beauty is inseparable from utility.
Let us be careful not to remove the beautiful.”

— Christian de Portzamparc

“One of the most visionary architects of our time, Christian de Portzamparc has reshaped how cities are imagined and experienced,” said Yuri Xavier, Founder of the Créateurs Design Association. “His work from civic landmarks to thoughtful urban strategy has given form to a more humane, poetic urbanism. We are deeply proud to honor his extraordinary, generational contribution to design and architecture.”

“There is the Oscar, the Grammy, the Tony, the Pritzker, and then there is the Créateurs Design Awards,” said designer Lee F. Mindel, who has compared the CDA to the design industry’s own Oscars — a testament to the awards’ growing prestige and influence.

photo courtesy of architects office

A peer-led selection and an international legacy –

The CDA Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an individual or firm whose work has made a profound and enduring impact on architecture and design. Recipients are nominated and selected through a peer-to-peer process led by the CDA’s global membership more than 300 leading creatives across 55+ countries. Past laureates include Tadao Ando, Gaetano Pesce, Iris Apfel, Pierre-Yves Rouchon, Robert A.M. Stern, and Sir Norman Foster.

This year’s announcement follows a robust nomination period in which CDA members identified Christian de Portzamparc as a singular figure whose body of work spans landmark cultural buildings, innovative urban strategies, and an incisive architectural language that unites scale, program and public life.

photo : N. Borel

About Christian de Portzamparc

Christian de Portzamparc is an architect and urban planner whose career has consistently pushed the boundaries of form, program and urban design. The first French architect to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize (1994), his honours include the Grand Prix National de l’Architecture (1993), the Grand Prix de l’Urbanisme (2004), and the 2018 Praemium Imperiale for Architecture. His landmark projects range from the Cité de la Musique and Philharmonie Luxembourg to international commissions such as the LVMH Tower (New York), the Suzhou Cultural Center (China), and the China National Convention Center (Beijing). Portzamparc’s work is known for its rigorous spatial thinking, its attention to civic life, and the concept of the “open block” that reimagines the urban fabric as a balance of public and private.

Créateurs Design Association Ceremony

● Event: Créateurs Design Awards — Lifetime Achievement Presentation
● Date: 17 January 2026 (Paris) black-tie ceremony
● Location: Paris (venue details to be announced)
● Attendance: The ceremony is exclusive to CDA nominees (finalists) and official partners. Press requests and interview coordination will be handled through the CDA press office. Mr. de Portzamparc will be present to accept the award.

Submissions now open Deadline: 23 November, 2025

Submissions for the 2026 Créateurs Design Awards are now open. The entry deadline is 23 November. For full submission details and entry rules, visit our website: https://www.createursdesignawards.com.

About the Créateurs Design Association (CDA)

The CDA is a global initiative dedicated to celebrating creative excellence across architecture, interiors, product design, digital art, and curation. With a peer-to-peer selection model led by more than 300 distinguished members worldwide, CDA awards highlight innovators whose work advances the cultural and commercial life of the built and designed environment.

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Christian de Portzamparc : link to key buildings and architectural designs

Atelier d’architecture Christian de Portzamparc : link to studio and biography information

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Atelier d’architecture Christian de Portzamparc Designs

Atelier d’architecture Christian de Portzamparc Building Designs on e-architect:

European Commission New Headquarters in Brussels, Brussels, Belgium, Europe
Design: Christian de Portzamparc | Artelia | Florence Mercier

image © 2019. Project by 2Portzamparc, Florence Mercier Paysagiste and ARTELIA Bâtiment & Industrie