The prize is named after Dr Rifat Chadirji, a renowned Iraqi architect, theorist and author whose influence and importance stretches far beyond his built work. The Rifat Chadirji Prize is an annual international award that calls for design proposals that respond to local challenges in Iraq. Through its various themes, this prize aims to introduce Iraq and its challenges to the world and invite architects to submit ideas that would resolve the country’s urban problems, while also establishing an open source of ideas tackling social issues in Iraq through design.
In its second cycle, the Rifat Chadirji Prize, which witnessed the overwhelming participation of 310 firms and individuals from 54 countries, asked participants to transform the current unused site of the Old Governorate Building into the Baghdad Design Centre while integrating the damaged original facades into their ideas for the new building. The facades will be a memorial for an era in Baghdad’s history.