On February 19, Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind will be presented with the 14th Dresden International Peace Prize—or, simply, the Dresden Prize—at the Semperoper, an opulent 19th-century opera house located steps from the Elbe River in the war-ravaged-and-rebuilt core of the German city that shares the prize’s name. Libeskind is the first architect to receive the prestigious annual honor awarded by nonprofit association Friends of Dresden. He joins past laureates including reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, war photographer James Nachtwey, Syrian educational activist Muzoon Almellehan, the “forefather of all whistleblowers” Daniel Ellsberg, and Olympic gold medal–winning American athlete and civil rights icon Thommie Smith. 

Per a statement from the 2023 Dresden Prize jury, Libeskind is being honored with the prize for a “very special part of his work, which can be referred to as memorial architecture.”