Arnhildur Pálmadóttir is the winner of the 2024 Nordic Council Environment Prize

The Nordic Council's Environment Prize goes to architect Arnhildur Pálmadóttir from Iceland for her interdisciplinary interest and focus on reducing CO2 emissions and increasing circularity in the building industry.

Jury’s motivation:

Arnhildur Pálmadóttir is a versatile specialist with a passion to inspire changes in urban planning, architecture and construction of buildings.In her work as an architect, Pálmadóttir's takes part in all stages of building projects e.g. urban planning, designing and construction process of buildings. With her versatile interest and abilities, she is pushing forth changes and finding sustainable solutions for an industry that is responsible for emitting about 40% of the global CO2 emissions.

Her designs, whether being single houses or urban plans, have a strong focus on using sustainably-sourced materials, the reuse of material, reducing energy and resource use, climate-neutral solutions and creating a more sustainable lifestyle e.g. with enabling the use of public transport, sharing economy etc.In addition to heading her own practice, s.ap-arkitektar –she has recently been appointed the head of the Icelandic branch of the Danish architecture and innovation company Lendager, which specializes in sustainability and circularity in construction.

In addition to her work as a practicing architect, Pálmadóttir is also active in academia and public engagement, for example at the design department at the Iceland Academy of the Arts. She has written articles and texts related to innovation, technology and sustainability in design and construction, and is a popular lecturer on the subject.

Pálmadóttir is currently investigating the possibilities of controlling active lava flows into forms, to create buildings. She will display her work on this topic at the 19th Biennale Architettura 2025 in Venice.