National Jury

Miķelis Putrāms

Chairman of the jury. Architect, certified passive house designer, co-founder of the architectural firm MADE arhitekti, winner of the Latvian Architecture Award 2023 and 2025 Grand Prix. Putrāms has worked at the architectural firms Plot and B.I.G. in Denmark. He has lectured at European universities and architectural forums and has been a jury member of numerous architectural competitions. MADE arhitekti places a strong public emphasis, the office is setting the bar high in Latvia regarding the future building standards through the use of materials with low embodied energy, the creation of a healthy indoor environment and a focus on energy efficiency. The firm has been awarded the LAGB Grand Prix for the Saldus School of Music and Art (2012), the Daile Theatre Square (2023), and the Salaspils Kindergarten (2025). It was also awarded LAGB for a timber office building in Lizums in 2023. The firm’s works have been nominated three times for the Mies van der Rohe Award. The Pitraga Pietura project has been shortlisted for the New European Bauhaus Prize (2024).

Rūdis Bebrišs

Philosopher and contributing writer. Co-creator, editor, and literary editor of the philosophy magazine Tvērums. Scientific assistant and doctoral researcher at the Department of Philosophy and Ethics, Faculty of Humanities, University of Latvia. Specializes in aesthetics and philosophy of art, particularly questions regarding ontologies of art and everyday aesthetics. Bebrišs’ writings – essays, reviews, interviews and translations – can often be read in Latvian and Baltic cultural media. He received the title of Young Critic at the 2025 Normunds Naumanis Annual Award in Art Criticism.

Velta Holcmane

Architect and editor-in-chief of Latvijas Architektūra magazine since 1999. She has been writing on architecture and cultural heritage in the Latvian press since 1997 and is a member of the Latvian Association of Architects.
She has extensive experience in Latvia’s architectural sector, including work in professional organizations and the curation of major exhibitions in Latvia and abroad, such as Riga Art Nouveau. Architecture and Art, From Pencil to Computer, and Young Architects for Latvia.
She has been editor and project manager of several significant publications, including Latvian Architecture from Ancient Times to the Present, Contemporary Architecture in Latvia, and Latvian Architecture Policy 2020, as well as encyclopaedic editions and art catalogues.
She has coordinated numerous architectural design competitions, including the Liepāja Concert Hall and Klīversala development projects.
In 2023, she was awarded the Order of the Three Stars for her contribution to documenting and promoting architecture in Latvia.

Liene Jākobsone

Ph.D. Liene Jākobsone is a co-founder of the architecture and design studio Sampling Architects, with extensive experience in architecture, interior, and exhibition design, as well as in the realization of cultural events in architecture and design. The studio’s work is characterized by an ambitious and experimental approach and has been widely recognized, awarded, and published both in Latvia and internationally.
Alongside her practice, she is активно involved in education and research as Director and Lead Researcher at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Design and Architecture of the Art Academy of Latvia, and as a guest lecturer at various European universities. In 2025, Sampling Architects’ project Augustīnes dārzs was among the laureates of the Latvian Architecture Award.

Arnita Melzoba

Architect, co-founder of the architectural studio "GAISS". The studio’s core values center on environmentally responsible solutions and the creation of new spatial experiences. The architects of "GAISS" received the Latvian Architecture Annual Award 2017 for the exhibition "Book in Latvia" at the National Library of Latvia. Among the finalists of the Latvian Architecture Grand Award are the private houses "Timber and Lime House" and "Three Slabs House", as well as the office and educational space "Lielvārds". Arnita studied architecture at Riga Technical University, Politecnico di Milano, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. She has participated in international architectural discourse, representing Latvia at the London Festival of Architecture, speaking at the Estonian architecture symposium SISU, and leading workshops at the Valmiera Summer Theatre Festival.

Mārtiņš Ošāns

Architect, co-founder of MARK arhitekti, and author of several internationally recognized buildings. Over 20 years of practice, the office has demonstrated its mission through victories in architectural competitions, professional project development and management, and completed projects featured in both Latvian and international media.
The work of MARK arhitekti has received recognition at Latvia’s leading annual architectural event, the Latvian Architecture Award, as well as awards and commendations at other architecture and construction-related events in Latvia. Their projects have also been nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award, and the office received the prestigious Red Dot Award for the Ambulatory and Emergency Care Centre of the Children’s Clinical University Hospital.

Antra Saknīte

Certified architect and construction project manager; founder of the architectural studio "Mindaro arch". In her architectural practice, she focuses on the synergy between interior and exterior space, as well as between the built environment and nature. In recent years, she has specialized in the design of high-tech production facilities, laboratories, and cleanrooms. The reconstruction of the optical fiber production buildings and site for the company "Lightguide" in Līvāni has achieved outstanding recognition, receiving the Latvian Architecture Award 2025, the DOGA Inclusive Design Award 2025, the DELFI Audience Award 2025, the prestigious international Red Dot Winner 2024, and 1st place in the "Production Facility" category at the Sustainable Construction Awards 2024, among others, and has also been nominated for the EUmies Awards.