Cristin Marii Titma at the awards ceremony. Photo by BAUA Awards 2025
On October 25, the Faculty of Architecture and Design at RISEBA University of Applied Sciences in Riga hosted the central event of the BAUA Awards 2025 — the final presentations and award ceremony celebrating the most outstanding graduation projects by Baltic architecture students.
This year’s BAUA Awards 2025, organized by the Baltic Architects Unions Association (BAUA), concluded with inspiring project presentations and the announcement of two laureates — Cristin Marii Titma and Marit Maribel Pulles, both representing Estonia.
The Grand Prix was awarded to Cristin Marii Titma, a graduate of the Estonian Academy of Arts, for her Master’s thesis “painless CONCRETE: building ruins.”
Her work explores how existing concrete structures can be reused for new buildings — reducing environmental pollution and conserving natural resources. In her theoretical research, Titma examined the challenges and opportunities within the concrete industry through the lens of circular economy principles and sustainable construction. Her project culminated in Pärnu, where materials from a donor building were “transplanted” to another structure — a sensitive and thought-provoking approach to rethinking how we view building materials and the construction process itself.
The BAUA Awards 2025 Recognition Prize went to Marit Maribel Pulles, a graduate of Tallinn University of Technology, for her thesis “Standardized Earth Architecture Solutions: Case of Casamance Women’s Centre.”
This year, 14 projects were nominated for the BAUA Awards 2025, representing seven Baltic architecture schools from Baltic countries. The projects were evaluated by an international jury of renowned architects.
The BAUA Awards aim to present, compare, and celebrate the best student works in architecture across the Baltics. The competition serves as a platform for young architects to showcase their creativity, receive professional feedback, and engage with the international architectural community. It reflects the educational standards and outcomes of architecture schools in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, fostering dialogue, collaboration, and professional connections among emerging architects and academia.
Founded in 2012, the BAUA Awards rotate annually among the Baltic capitals. This autumn, the region’s most promising young architects gathered in Riga to share their ideas and celebrate architectural excellence.
