Judges

Judith Loesing is a director at East, a London - based architecture, landscape and urban design practice. She has recently completed a research fellowship with the Architecture Foundation on the role of trees in London and has published a book, the London Arboretum (2025). She sits on a number of London Design Review Panels, holds a residency at TU Munich at the studio Krucker Bates and sings and gardens in her spare time.

Rafiq Azam is the founder and principal architect of internationally acclaimed Dhaka-based architecture practice Shatotto. Shatotto focuses on research and design across civic, institutional, cultural and landscape projects with an emphasis on ecological and social sensitivity. Recent projects in the public realm include the Bahadur Shah Park, Delowar Hossain playground and Rasulbagh children’s park in Dhaka, which was highly commended in the inaugural AR Public awards in 2022.

Rasulbagh children’s park was completed as part of a city-wide initiative to revitalise parks and playgrounds, and the publicly funded project was awarded to Shatotto. Azam’s regeneration included a rainwater treatment strategy – providing potable water to the community and resolving a waterlogging issue – that has made the park safer and more accessible to use.

Alongside his work for Shatotto, Azam has taught at several institutions across his career and is presently a visiting professor at BRAC university in Bangladesh. He is also a member of the board of advisors for the International Association of Mosque Architecture. Azam is the subject of a recent monograph, Rafiq Azam: Old Dhaka-New Story: Architecture in Bangladesh, published by Rizzoli in 2025, covering his contribution towards the transformation of Dhaka’s urban landscape, including his most significant public projects.