Every year, the great and the good of the British architecture scene gather to find out who will be crowned with the award for the best building in the UK. The final shortlist features six projects, which have been whittled down from hundreds of submissions that stretch across the length and breadth of the land, reflecting every scale and type of client. Sometimes it seems like an impossible set of criteria to judge and therefore prizes for the best small project, best house and best housing have been created to help support other work.

Instead of employing all those local and national judges – with a grand jury at the final stage – why not simply throw a few photos onto the internet and allow the general public to vote for their favourite in a knockout-style tournament? This is exactly what has been created by Tom Ravenscroft for the Alternative Stirling Prize. We’re not saying it’s a better process but tastes on social media can certainly differ from industry arbiters. Does this tell us something about the court of public opinion? Is it useful for the profession to consider outside perspectives?

We make no promises to answer these questions but please come and join us for a live event where we can discuss the merits of public decisions and find out who will take home the top prize at the 2022 Alternative Stirling Prize.

Speakers:

Tom Ravenscroft, Dezeen (chair) Pooja Agrawal, Public Practice

Cath Slessor, Twentieth Century Society

Sean Griffiths, Professor of Architecture

Nile Bridgeman, Afterparti Marwa El Mubark, Afterparti Paul Monaghan, AHMM

amongst others….