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AZ Awards 2026 Finalist in Social Good: The Lost Shtetl Museum

Located on the site where a former Jewish village once stood, the Lost Shtetl Museum pays reverence to the hundreds of townspeople — and thousands of others in nearby communities — who were executed during the Nazi’s reign of terror. As a reclamation of the area’s painful past, the museum’s architecture, designed by Finnish studio Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects, emulates a tranquil, dreamlike shtetl with its cluster of hipped roofs and textured marine aluminum “shingles.” As visitors move through the exhibition, black granite walls close in to convey loss. Then, at the exhibition’s end, vaulted ceilings cascade light into common areas, lifting the atmosphere.

AZ Awards 2026 Finalist in Social Good: The Lost Shtetl Museum

Team: Rainer Mahlamäki with Ilkka Syrjäkari (Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects); Augustas Audėjaitis (Studija 2A); Enzo Enea (Enea Landscape Architecture); Büke Kumyol (Ralph Appelbaum Associates)

Award of Merit: Buildings Over 1,000SqM
The Lost Shtetl Museum
With its cluster of hipped roofs and textured white aluminum shingles, the Lost Shtetl Museum pays tranquil reverence to the area's painful past.

Explore more Award Winners

2023
Winner + People’s ChoiceBuildings Over 1,000SqM
Location
Toronto, Canada
Firm
Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, Toronto, Canada
2013
People’s ChoiceBuildings Over 1,000SqM
Location
Mexico City
Firm
FR-EE Fernando Romero Enterprise, Mexico City
Team
Fernando Romero, with Mauricio Ceballos
2025
People’s ChoiceBuildings Over 1,000SqM
Award of MeritEnvironmental Leadership
Location
New Westminster, Canada
Firms
hcma architecture + design with PFS Studio, Canada
Photo
Nic Lehoux