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
Kazuyo Sejima & Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA), Japan, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2025)
Lesley Lokko, xxx, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2024)
Yasmeen Lari, Pakistan, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2023)
Balkrishna Doshi, India, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2022)
David Adjaye, Ghana/UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2021)
Grafton Architects, Ireland, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2020)
2010s
Nicholas Grimshaw, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2019)
Neave Brown, UK/USA, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2018)
Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Brazil, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2017)
Zaha Hadid, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2016)
Sheila O’Donnell and John Tuomey, Ireland, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2015)
Joseph Rykwert, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2014)
Peter Zumthor, Switzerland, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2013)
Herman Hertzberger, The Netherlands, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2012)
David Chipperfield, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2011)
I. M. Pei, China/USA, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2010)
2000s
Álvaro Siza, Portugal, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2009)
Edward Cullinan, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2008)
Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, Switzerland, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2007)
Toyo Ito, Japan, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2006)
Frei Otto, Germany, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2005)
Rem Koolhaas, The Netherlands, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2004)
Rafael Moneo, Spain, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2003)
Archigram, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2002)
Jean Nouvel, France, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2001)
Frank Gehry, USA, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2000)
1990s
City of Barcelona, Spain, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1999)
Oscar Niemeyer, Brazil, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1998)
Tadao Ando, Japan, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1997)
Harry Seidler, Australia, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1996)
Colin Rowe, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1995)
Michael Hopkins and Patricia Hopkins, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1994)
Giancarlo de Carlo, Italy, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1993)
Peter Rice, Ireland, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1992)
Colin Stansfield Smith, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1991)
Aldo van Eyck, The Netherlands, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1990)
1980s
Renzo Piano, Italy, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1989)
Richard Meier, USA, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1988)
Ralph Erskine, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1987)
Arata Isozaki, Japan, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1986)
Richard Rogers, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1985)
Charles Correa, India, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1984)
Norman Foster, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1983)
Berthold Lubetkin, Russia, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1982)
Philip Dowson, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1981)
James Sterling, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1980)
1970s
Charles Eames & Ray Eames, USA, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1979)
Jørn Utzon, Denmark, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1978)
Sir Denys Lasdun, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1977)
Sir John Summerson, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1976)
Michael Scott, Ireland, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1975)
Powell and Moya, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1974)
Sir Leslie Martin, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1973)
Louis I Kahn, USA, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1972)
Hubert de Cronin Hastings, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1971)
Robert Matthew, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1970)
1960s
Jack Coia, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1969)
Buckminster Fuller, USA, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1968)
Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1967)
Ove Arup, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1966)
Kenzo Tange, Japan, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1965)
Edwin Maxwell Fry, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1964)
William Holford and Baron Holford, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1963)
Sven Markelius, Sweden, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1962)
Lewis Mumford, USA, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1961)
Pier Luigi Nervi, Italy, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1960)
1950s
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Germany/USA, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1959)
Robert Schofield Morris, Canada, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1958)
Alvar Aalto, Finland, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1957)
Walter Gropius, Germany/USA, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1956)
John Murray Easton, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1955)
Sir Arthur George Stephenson, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1954)
Le Corbusier, France, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1953)
George Grey Wornum, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1952)
Emanuel Vincent Harris, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1951)
Eliel Saarinen, Finland, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1950)
1940s
Sir Howard Robertson, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1949)
Auguste Perret, France, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1948)
Sir Albert Richardson, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1947)
Sir Patrick Abercrombie, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1946)
Victor Vesnin, USSR, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1945)
Sir Edward Maude, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1944)
Sir Charles Herbert Reilly, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1943)
William Curtis Green, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1942)
Frank Lloyd Wright, USA, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1941)
Charles Voysey, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1940)
1930s
Sir Percy Thomas, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1939)
Ivar Tengbom, Sweden, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1938)
Sir Raymond Unwin, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1037)
Charles Holden, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1936)
Willem Marinus Dudok, The Netherlands, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1935)
Henry Vaughan Lanchester, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1934)
Sir Charles Reed Peers, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1933)
Hendrik Petrus Berlage, The Netherlands, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1932)
Sir Edwin Cooper, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1931)
Percy Worthington, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1930)
1920s
Victor Laloux, France, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1929)
Sir Guy Dawber, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1928)
Sir Herbert Baker, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1927)
Ragnar Östberg, Sweden, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1926)
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1925)
Sir John James Burnet, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1923)
Thomas Hastings, USA, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1922)
Sir Edwin Lutyens, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1921)
Charles Girault, France, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1920)
1910s
Leonard Stokes, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1919)
Ernest Newton, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1918)
Henri Paul Nénot, France, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1917)
Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1916)
Frank Darling, Canada, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1915)
Jean-Louis Pascal, France, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1914)
Sir Reginald Blomfield, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1913)
Basil Champneys, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1912)
Wilhelm Dörpfeld, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1911)
Sir Thomas Graham Jackson, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1910)
1900s
Sir Arthur Evans, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1909)
Honoré Daumet, France, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1908)
John Belcher, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1907)
Sir Thomas Graham Jackson, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1910)
Sir Arthur Evans, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1909)
Honoré Daumet, France, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1908)
John Belcher, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1907)
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, The Netherlands, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1906)
Sir Aston Webb, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1905)
Auguste Choisy, France, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1904)
Charles Follen McKim, USA, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1903)
Thomas Edward Collcutt, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1902)
Rodolfo Lanciani, Italy, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1900)
1890s
George Frederick Bodley, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1899)
George Aitchison, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1898)
Pierre Cuypers, The Netherlands, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1897)
Sir Ernest George, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1896)
James Brooks, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1895)
Lord Leighton, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1894)
Richard Morris Hunt, USA, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1893)
César Daly, France, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1892)
Sir Arthur Blomfield, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1891)
John Gibson, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1890)
1880s
Sir Charles Thomas Newton, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1889)
Baron Theophil von Hansen, Austria, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1888)
Ewan Christian, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1887)
Charles Garnier, France, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1886)
Heinrich Schliemann, Germany, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1885)
William Butterfield, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1884)
Francis Penrose, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1883)
Heinrich von Ferstel, Austria, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1882)
George Godwin, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1881)
John Loughborough Pearson, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1880)
1870s
Marquis Melchior de Vogüé, France, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1879)
Alfred Waterhouse, U,, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1878)
Charles Barry, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1877)
Joseph-Louis Duc, France, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1876)
Edmund Sharpe, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1875)
George Edmund Street, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1874)
Thomas Henry Wyatt, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1873)
Friedrich von Schmidt, Germany/Austria, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1872)
James Fergusson, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1871)
Benjamin Ferrey, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1870)
1860s
Karl Richard Lepsius, Germany, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1869)
Sir Austen Henry Layard, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1868)
Charles Texier, France, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1867)
Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1866)
Sir James Pennethorne, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1865)
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, France, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1864)
Anthony Salvin, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1863)
Robert Willis, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1862)
Jean-Baptiste Lesueur, France, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1861)
Sydney Smirke, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1860)
1850s
Sir George Gilbert Scott, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1859)
Friedrich August Stüler, Germany, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1858)
Owen Jones, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1857)
Sir William Tite, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1856)
Jacques Ignace Hittorff, France, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1855)
Philip Hardwick, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1854)
Sir Robert Smirke, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1853)
Leo von Klenze, Germany, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1852)
Thomas Leverton Donaldson, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1851)
Sir Charles Barry, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1850)
1840s
Luigi Canina, Italy, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1849)
Charles Robert Cockerell, UK, RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1848)