In an architectural landscape often shaped by iconic buildings and celebrated individual designers, something remarkable is unfolding. The European Citizens’ Initiative known as HouseEurope ! has captured global attention—not with bricks and mortar, but with civic ambition, policy innovation, and a vision for a greener future. In June 2025, this grass-roots movement received the prestigious OBEL Award, an honor traditionally reserved for built works or individual architects. Their recognition marks a profound shift, signaling the power of collective agency, sustainable renovation, and systemic transformation in Europe’s built environment.
HouseEurope ! was born out of civic concern and professional insight. Spearheaded by architects, researchers, and activists like Olaf Grawert, Alina Kolar, and Ludwig Engel, the initiative challenges demolition-driven development. It calls for a “right to reuse,” advocating tax incentives for renovation, fair assessments of existing structures, and recognition of embedded carbon in building materials . With projections warning that nearly 1.5 billion m² of European building stock—larger than Paris and Berlin combined—could be lost by 2050, their message is urgent .
What makes HouseEurope ! compelling is its hybrid approach: part documentary campaign, part legislative blueprint, part social movement. Supported by exhibitions like “FIX IT!” across Germany, and a CCA-produced film To Build Law, it blends storytelling with policy design. This fusion connects people to place and purpose. For instance, a homeowner in Berlin, initially skeptical about renovation costs, was moved by local stories featured in the film. Faced with the choice to demolish or rehabilitate her family’s home, she leaned toward a retrofit—driven by this newfound understanding of social, economic, and emotional value embedded in older buildings.
The OBEL Award judges praised HouseEurope ! precisely for those qualities. Under its 2025 theme “Ready Made”—which encourages rethinking and repurposing existing resources—the jury noted that this initiative transcends individual projects. It wields policy as architecture’s tool for the common good. Nathalie de Vries, OBEL’s jury chair, emphasized that architects must act as civic agents. The award reflected this ambition: a young, democratic, pan-European campaign championing sustainable practices at scale.
In his local community in Hamburg, building engineer Tobias saw HouseEurope ! live. He attended a pop-up exhibition, and discussed retrofit proposals at a local planning meeting. Always focused on cost-efficiency, he admitted being moved when local families shared how they regained pride by revitalizing their post‑war homes—transforming facades once associated with decline into symbols of resilience. That emotional impact is central: this isn’t about abstract sustainability metrics, but about rooted people in places that matter.
At its core, HouseEurope ! leverages the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) instrument—an underused democratic tool that allows EU citizens to launch legal propositions if backed by 1 million signatures from at least seven member states. Launched February 2025, the campaign must reach its goal by January 2026. This structural mechanism closes gaps between grassroots and policy, redefining who gets to decide the future of Europe’s buildings.
When Amelie, a young architect from Lyon, learned that digital signatures are collected across EU countries, it struck her how connected European towns are by shared architectural history. Facades in Lyon echo those in Bologna, and Berlin’s districts testify to shared human effort. HouseEurope ! offered a pathway to preserve this shared heritage without freezing it in time—but making it livable and affordable.
Winning the OBEL Award amplifies that ambition. Instituted in 2019, the OBEL Prize celebrates built and conceptual work that acts as “tangible agents of change” . Under the 2025 “Ready Made” theme, HouseEurope !’s focus on adaptive reuse and policy aligns perfectly. The initiative was lauded for demonstrating system-scale agency—even architecture’s capacity to legislate.
The implications are tangible for everyday Europeans. A retiree in Prague indicated to local councillors that her apartment block, built in the 1960s, could be retrofitted with better insulation and community spaces instead of demolished. She pointed to HouseEurope !’s model for discussion. A developer in Valencia cited the initiative for using restored heritage buildings as affordable student housing, leveraging tax incentives rather than tearing them down.
Critics warn that legislative proposals like tax relief or revised asset valuation require political will. Still, the process is underway: campaigns, events in Brussels, and public hearings by 21 October 2025 in the EU’s capital are planned . Meanwhile local governments—from Belgium’s VAi-supported team to Germany’s touring exhibitions—are building pressure.
The story gains emotional texture through community voices. One grandmother from Amsterdam tearfully shared how saving her family home didn’t just preserve memories—it restored a sense of rootedness, anchoring three generations under one roof. These personal narrations bring abstraction into focus, showing what is at stake: identity, climate resilience, and intergenerational equity.
Inside the professional world, architects and urban planners increasingly reference HouseEurope ! when drafting proposals. Academics at ETH Zurich, where co‑initiator Engel teaches, are building classes around this civic model. Students learn not just design, but policy drafting, cultural mobilization, and signature campaigning—skills architects need in volatile times.
The award’s ripple effects also energize future architectural generations. During the OBEL Awards ceremony, Professor Nathalie de Vries spoke directly to young practitioners: architecture is more than buildings. It is ideas, systems, citizenship. That message resonated widely—across design studios, public forums, and European planning offices.
As HouseEurope ! approaches its signature threshold, it exemplifies how policy-driven architecture can influence markets too. Financial speculators, who often favor demolition and new builds, face a shift. If renovation becomes as easy, affordable, and socially valued, investment patterns may realign—fostering a construction economy rooted in regeneration, not erasure.
Yet, reaching the milestone remains a challenge. The timeline is tight, opposition exists, and legal mechanisms remain complex. Citizens must remain engaged. A teacher in Vilnius organized local workshops to encourage signatures and explain VAT reforms and embodied carbon—transforming technical policy language into actionable knowledge. These workshops recreate HouseEurope !’s grassroots DNA: policy work powered by lived experience.
At its core, this award recognizes a simple but powerful idea: architecture extends beyond material design. It is memory, ecology, democracy, and social fabric. HouseEurope ! carries this truth in every signature, story, and converted building. And with the OBEL stamp, its message is louder: architecture is not just where we live—it is how we live together.