Elias and Yousef Anastas
12 Oct 2026, 7 pm

Elias and Yousef Anastas are among the most outstanding architects of their generation. The jury for the 2026 Berlin Art Prize in the architecture category – George Arbid, President of the Arab Centre for Architecture in Beirut, Philipp Oswalt and Donata Valentien, members of the Architecture Section of the Akademie der Künste – selected them as this year’s prize-winners.

Having grown up in a Palestinian family of architects, they studied and worked in France before returning to Bethlehem. There, in 2012, they founded “Local Industries”, a collective for design and furniture production, and in 2016 “SCALES”, a research platform that explores the interconnection of otherwise separate levels of scale.

Through their practice, AAU Anastas, they have realised public and cultural buildings, including the courthouse in Tulkarem (2015), the courthouse in Hebron (2021), a gallery space at the Benedictine monastery in Abu Ghosh (2019), and the conversion of Dar AlMajus into a community centre in Bethlehem (2023). Also in 2023, “The Wonder Cabinet” was established on the outskirts of Bethlehem – an experimental production space for architects, designers, chefs, craftspeople, musicians and artists, housed in a new three-storey building. They received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2025 for this project.

The art prize certificate will be presented by Manos Tsangaris, President of the Akademie der Künste, and Anh-Linh Ngo, Vice-President of the Akademie der Künste and a member of the Architecture Section. Elias and Yousef Anastas will provide an insight into their extensive body of work. The introduction will be given by the jury members George Arbid and Philipp Oswalt; Philipp Oswalt will also moderate the discussion that follows.