RIBA names winners of 2025 students’ medals

Designs for a reimagined slave trade memorial in Malawi, a shared ecosystem in Helsinki and a creative dissertation on Shetland’s evolving traditions of “island-making” have been announced as RIBA’s best student projects for 2025.

The institute unveiled the winners of its Silver and Bronze President’s Medals earlier this week, naming Glory Kamthumzi as the winner of the Silver medal for her project ’Dialogues in Sticks & Stones: Spatial testimonies of the East African slave trade in Nkhotakota, Malawi’.

Kamthumzi’s project was nominated by the University of the Free State in South Africa, marking the first time that a RIBA President’s Medal has been awarded to a student at a school of architecture in South Africa.

The project reimagines a rural memorial on the Nkhotakota lakeshore, Malawi, where the histories of the Swahili Arab slave trade, the work of Scottish missionary David Livingstone and local African chiefdoms meet. 

Combining a slave route memorial centre with a beachside fishing village, the proposed design transforms into a commemorative landscape that RIBA said offers a powerful and sensitive “space for remembrance, bridging history, heritage, and healing”.

Kamthumzi said: “It is deeply meaningful for a project grounded in African history, craft, construction, and culture to receive this recognition. 

“This award affirms the richness and relevance of our narratives, as well as the talent emerging from South African architecture schools. It motivates me to continue being a custodian of our heritage throughout my architectural journey.”

The Bronze Medal was awarded to William Li for his project ’Contemplating the “Dam”olition: A study in multi-species inhabitation’, which imagines new habitats which could be creates if the Vanhankaupunginoski Dam in Helsinki were demolished.

Nominated by the Bartlett School of Architecture, the project advocates for a shared ecosystem and a reassessment of priorities in order to build a sustainable future.

Li said the award “represents my growth as an architecture student and serves as a powerful reminder to remain curious and continue pushing boundaries in architecture.”

The Dissertation Medal was awarded to Finlay Aitken at the Bartlett for his project ‘Remaking the Extractive Island: Landscape, custom and misrule in Shetland’.

The critical thesis reimagines the shifting landscapes of the Shetland Islands using the idea of ‘island-making’, a form of self-mapping that shapes how people relate to their surroundings.

Tracing different periods throughout the history of the Shetland Islands and analysing the nuances of walking the line between spatial strategies of environmental management and symbolic expressions of identity, the thesis ultimately argues for a renewed approach to extractive spaces and infrastructures.

Aitken, who was nominated by the Bartlett, said he was “deeply honoured and overjoyed” to receive the medal.

He added: “The work I produced could not have been accomplished without the astute guidance of the staff and tutors at The Bartlett School of Architecture, whose enduring support and wisdom I am truly grateful for. I also wish to acknowledge my wonderful friends and family, whose continued support has been a constant source of inspiration for my passion for architecture.”

RIBA president Chris Williamson said: “It’s fantastic to see the highest-ever number of entries for the President’s Medals, and a first win for a South African university. The work was of such exceptional calibre and diversity that the judges once again awarded additional commendations in every category.

Williamson added: ”I’m hugely encouraged to see emerging architects embracing new, innovative ways of thinking and designing to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving world.

”What sets this year’s winning projects apart is not only their deep commitment to a sustainable future while evidencing a thoughtful engagement with history and heritage, but also, and in a quite humbling way, how they carve new facets for the architect’s role in learning from and representing the communities they serve.

”This is a new generation of emerging professionals for whom architecture is a much wider discipline than the one we currently know. I can only see good things happening as these new colleagues strengthen and celebrate the highest standards of innovation, ethics, and social responsibility in our profession. “