IAAC Celebrates Built by Nature’s GAEA Award for Impactful Innovation

The Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) celebrates Built by Nature on winning the World Economic Forum’s inaugural Giving to Amplify Earth Action (GAEA) Award in the Impactful Innovation Accelerator category. The award was presented at the WEF Annual Meeting 2025 in Davos, Switzerland.

In its first year, the GAEA Awards recognize pioneering partnerships addressing global climate and nature challenges through innovative and scalable solutions. Out of more than 120 nominations, an independent jury selected five transformative initiatives driving systemic change worldwide.

The Impactful Innovation Accelerator Award highlights solutions that create enabling ecosystems for climate and nature innovation. It acknowledges Built by Nature’s work in advancing sustainable timber and biobased construction materials as a strategy to reduce embodied carbon while supporting responsible forestry stewardship.

This recognition also strengthens Mass Madera, a growing network led by IAAC and supported by Built by Nature, dedicated to expanding mass timber construction in Spain as a key strategy for decarbonizing the built environment.

With Built by Nature’s support, Mass Madera has become a leading platform for knowledge exchange, research, and industry collaboration, allowing IAAC to further accelerate timber-based systems, advocate for policy changes, and drive innovation within the sector.

About Mass Madera

Mass Madera is a pioneering network dedicated to accelerating the use of mass timber construction in Spain as a key solution to reducing carbon emissions in the built environment.

By fostering collaboration among key stakeholders—including developers, architects, construction companies, researchers, investors, policymakers, and environmental organizations—Mass Madera aims to increase the number of square meters built with timber and drive systemic change in the construction sector.

Spain presents a significant untapped potential for sustainable forestry and mass timber construction. With 37% of its land covered by forests, including over 2.6 million hectares of certified forest, the country has the resources to scale sustainable timber-based construction while supporting rural economies and addressing climate change.

Guided by the principles of Connect, Coordinate, and Catalyze, Mass Madera is committed to expanding the adoption of industrialized timber construction, advocating for policy advancements, and positioning timber as a viable ecological alternative in the context of the current climate emergency. Read more.

Mass is More was the installation designed by IAAC and Bauhaus Earth for the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona. The project, opened from 1st to 9th of October 2022, established a dialogue between the industrial modernity of the 20th century and the new low-emission buildings of the 21st century.

Students of the 2021 Master in Advanced Ecological Buildings and Biocities (MAEBB) designed their final thesis project, the Solar Greenhouse, a full-scale prototype that actively aids in the intensive food production efforts at Valldaura Labs.

TOVA is Spain’s first 3D printed prototype using earth, built with a Crane WASP. The project born from the ongoing research conducted by IAAC to find new ways of facing the social and environmental challenges of the future through its various education and research programs. The construction has been carried out at the Valldaura Labs and represents the bridge between the past — vernacular earthen architecture — and the future — large scale 3D printing technology.

About Obra del Año 2023 (Project of the Year) by ArchDaily in Spanish

For the fifteenth consecutive year, ArchDaily presents the Project of the Year Award, the only award in the world of architecture in Spanish, in which the winners are chosen by popular vote. ArchDaily readers will be responsible for determining which were the works that inspired them during 2022, representing the identity of local contexts, but at the same time, marking the way of doing architecture around the world.