The Royal Gold Medal has a rich and storied history dating back to its establishment in 1848 by Queen Victoria. This esteemed award, presented annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), honors architects and designers who have made left an indelible mark on the built environment.
Over the years, the Royal Gold Medal has been bestowed upon luminaries such as Sir Norman Foster, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, and Sir David Adjaye, recognizing their visionary work, innovative designs and global impact.
Royal Gold Medal Recipients
2020s | 2010s | 2000s | 1990s | 1980s | 1970s | 1960s | 1950s | 1940s | 1930s | 1920s | 1910s | 1900s | 1890s | 1880s | 1870s | 1860s | 1850s | 1840s
2020s
Yasmeen Lari, Pakistan, Royal Gold Medal 2023
Balkrishna Doshi, India, Royal Gold Medal 2022
David Adjaye, Ghana/UK, Royal Gold Medal 2021
Grafton Architects, Ireland, Royal Gold Medal 2020
2010s
Nicholas Grimshaw, UK, Royal Gold Medal 2019
Neave Brown, UK/USA, Royal Gold Medal 2018
Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Brazil, Royal Gold Medal 2017
Zaha Hadid, UK, Royal Gold Medal 2016
Sheila O’Donnell and John Tuomey, Ireland, Royal Gold Medal 2015
Joseph Rykwert, UK, Royal Gold Medal 2014
Peter Zumthor, Switzerland, Royal Gold Medal 2013
Herman Hertzberger, The Netherlands, Royal Gold Medal 2012
David Chipperfield, UK, Royal Gold Medal 2011
I.M. Pei, China/USA, Royal Gold Medal 2010
2000s
Álvaro Siza, Portugal, Royal Gold Medal 2009
Edward Cullinan, UK, Royal Gold Medal 2008
Jacques Herzon and Pierre de Meuron, Switzerland, Royal Gold Medal 2007
Toyo Ito, Japan, Royal Gold Medal 2006
Frei Otton, Germany, Royal Gold Medal 2005
Rem Koolhaas, The Netherlands, Royal Gold Medal 2004
Rafael Moneo, Spain, Royal Gold Medal 2003
Archigram, UK, Royal Gold Medal 2002
Jean Nouvel, France, Royal Gold Medal 2001
Frank Gehry, USA, Royal Gold Medal 2000
1990s
City of Barcelona, Spain, Royal Gold Medal 1999
Oscar Niemeyer, Brazil, Royal Gold Medal 1998
Tadao Ando, Japan, Royal Gold Medal 1997
Harry Seidler, Australia, Royal Gold Medal 1996
Colin Rowe, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1995
Michael Hopkins and Patricia Hopkins, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1994
Giancarlo de Carlo, Italy, Royal Gold Medal 1993
Peter Rice, Ireland, Royal Gold Medal 1992
Colin Stansfield Smith, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1991
Aldo van Eyck, The Netherlands, Royal Gold Medal 1990
1980s
Renzo Piano, Italy, Royal Gold Medal 1989
Richard Meier, USA, Royal Gold Medal 1988
Ralph Erskine, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1987
Arata Isozaki, Japan, Royal Gold Medal 1986
Richard Rogers, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1985
Charles Correa, India, Royal Gold Medal 1984
Norman Foster, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1983
Berthold Lubetkin, Russia, Royal Gold Medal 1982
Philip Dowson, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1981
James Sterling, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1980
1970s
Charles and Ray Eames, USA, Royal Gold Medal 1979
Jørn Utzon, Denmark, Royal Gold Medal 1978
Sir Denys Lasdun, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1977
Sir John Summerson, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1976
Michael Scott, Ireland, Royal Gold Medal 1975
Powell and Moya, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1974
Sir Leslie Martin, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1973
Louis I Kahn, USA, Royal Gold Medal 1972
Hubert de Cronin Hastings, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1971
Robert Matthew, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1970
1960s
Jack Coia, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1969
Buckminster Fuller, USA, Royal Gold Medal 1968
Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1967
Ove Arup, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1966
Kenzo Tange, Japan, Royal Gold Medal 1965
Edwin Maxwell Fry, Royal Gold Medal 1964
William Holford and Baron Holford, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1963
Sven Markelius, Sweden, Royal Gold Medal 1962
Lewis Mumford, USA, Royal Gold Medal 1961
Pier Luigi Nervi, Italy, Royal Gold Medal 1960
1950s
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Germany/USA, Royal Gold Medal 1959
Robert Schofield Morris, Canada, Royal Gold Medal 1958
Alvar Aalto, Finland, Royal Gold Medal 1957
Walter Gropius, Germany/USA, Royal Gold Medal 1956
John Murray Easton, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1955
Sir Arthur George Stephenson, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1954
Le Corbusier, France, Royal Gold Medal 1953
George Grey Wornum, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1952
Emanuel Vincent Harris, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1951
Eliel Saarinen, Finaland, Royal Gold Medal 1950
1940s
Sir Howard Robertson, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1949
Auguste Perret, France, Royal Gold Medal 1948
Sir Albert Richardson, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1947
Sir Patrick Abercrombie, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1946
Victor Vesnin, USSR, Royal Gold Medal 1945
Sir Edward Maude, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1944
Sir Charles Herbert Reilly, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1943
William Curtis Green, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1942
Frank Lloyd Wright, USA, Royal Gold Medal 1941
Charles Voysey, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1940
1930s
Sir Percy Thomas, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1939
Ivar Tengbom, Sweden, Royal Gold Medal 1938
Sir Raymond Unwin, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1037
Charles Holden, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1936
Willem Marinus Dudok, The Netherlands, Royal Gold Medal 1935
Henry Vaughan Lanchester, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1934
Sir Charles Reed Peers, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1933
Hendrik Petrus Berlage, The Netherlands, Royal Gold Medal 1932
Sir Edwin Cooper, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1931
Percy Worthington, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1930
1920s
Victor Laloux, France, Royal Gold Medal 1929
Sir Guy Dawber, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1928
Sir Herbert Baker, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1927
Ragnar Östberg, Sweden, Royal Gold Medal 1926
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1925
Sir John James Burnet, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1923
Thomas Hastings, USA, Royal Gold Medal 1922
Sir Edwin Lutyens, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1921
Charles Girault, France, Royal Gold Medal 1920
1910s
Leonard Stokes, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1919
Ernest Newton, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1918
Henri Paul Nénot, France, Royal Gold Medal 1917
Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1916
Frank Darling, Canada, Royal Gold Medal 1915
Jean-Louis Pascal, France, Royal Gold Medal 1914
Sir Reginald Blomfield, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1913
Basil Champneys, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1912
Wilhelm Dörpfeld, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1911
Sir Thomas Graham Jackson, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1910
1900s
Sir Arthur Evans, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1909
Honoré Daumet, France, Royal Gold Medal 1908
John Belcher, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1907
Sir Thomas Graham Jackson, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1910
Sir Arthur Evans, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1909
Honoré Daumet, France, Royal Gold Medal 1908
John Belcher, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1907
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, The Netherlands, Royal Gold Medal 1906
Sir Aston Webb, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1905
Auguste Choisy, France, Royal Gold Medal 1904
Charles Follen McKim, USA, Royal Gold Medal 1903
Thomas Edward Collcutt, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1902
Rodolfo Lanciani, Italy, Royal Gold Medal 1900
1890s
George Frederick Bodley, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1899
George Aitchison, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1898
Pierre Cuypers, The Netherlands, Royal Gold Medal 1897
Sir Ernest George, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1896
James Brooks, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1895
Lord Leighton, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1894
Richard Morris Hunt, USA, Royal Gold Medal 1893
César Daly, France, Royal Gold Medal 1892
Sir Arthur Blomfield, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1891
John Gibson, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1890
1880s
Sir Charles Thomas Newton, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1889
Baron Theophil von Hansen, Austria, Royal Gold Medal 1888
Ewan Christian, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1887
Charles Garnier, France, Royal Gold Medal 1886
Heinrich Schliemann, Germany, Royal Gold Medal 1885
William Butterfield, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1884
Francis Penrose, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1883
Heinrich von Ferstel, Austria, Royal Gold Medal 1882
George Godwin, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1881
John Loughborough Pearson, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1880
1870s
Marquis Melchior de Vogüé, France, Royal Gold Medal 1879
Alfred Waterhouse, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1878
Charles Barry, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1877
Joseph-Louis Duc, France, Royal Gold Medal 1876
Edmund Sharpe, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1875
George Edmund Street, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1874
Thomas Henry Wyatt, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1873
Friedrich von Schmidt, Germany/Austria, Royal Gold Medal 1872
James Fergusson, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1871
Benjamin Ferrey, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1870
1860s
Karl Richard Lepsius, Germany, Royal Gold Medal 1869
Sir Austen Henry Layard, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1868
Charles Texier, France, Royal Gold Medal 1867
Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1866
Sir James Pennethorne, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1865
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, France, Royal Gold Medal 1864
Anthony Salvin, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1863
Robert Willis, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1862,
Jean-Baptiste Lesueur, France, Royal Gold Medal 1861
Sydney Smirke, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1860
1850s
Sir George Gilbert Scott, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1859
Friedrich August Stüler, Germany, Royal Gold Medal 1858
Owen Jones, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1857
Sir William Tite, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1856
Jacques Ignace Hittorff, France, Royal Gold Medal 1855
Philip Hardwick, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1854
Sir Robert Smirke, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1853
Leo von Klenze, Germany, Royal Gold Medal 1852
Thomas Leverton Donaldson, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1851
Sir Charles Barry, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1850
1840s
Luigi Canina, Italy, Royal Gold Medal 1849
Charles Robert Cockerell, UK, Royal Gold Medal 1848