The memorial dedicated to Ukrainian scouts has been nominated for the prestigious European Union award in the field of contemporary architecture, the Mies van der Rohe Award. The sculpture was unveiled in June 2025. This was jointly announced by co-author Nazar Bylyk and Guess Line Architects.
In addition to the sculptor, architects Kateryna Ivashchuk, Mykhailo Kohut, Yegor Perepelyuk, Yaroslav Ivaskiv, and Andriy Lesiuk contributed to the project.
The first part of the memorial to Ukrainian scouts opened in Kyiv just before the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2025, while the complete sculpture was unveiled on June 17.
“This award is truly one of the most prestigious European honors in the field; if the Nobel Prize for architecture is the Pritzker Prize, then the second one, as architects themselves say, is the Mies van der Rohe Award,” noted Bylyk.
According to the sculptor, the uniqueness of this nomination lies in the fact that usually residential and public architecture competes for such prestigious awards, while memorials have yet to be nominated.
“I have reviewed awards over the decades, and they predominantly focused on innovations in residential and public architecture, with some cultural aspects included. And now, here appears a memorial, which requires not merely functional depth but a more philosophical engagement to interpret the meanings revealed. Thus, I see this not just as an official recognition but as personal creative joy, because memory and our history, which we discussed in the memorial, will now be more accessible to the European audience,” added sculptor Nazar Bylyk.
The Mies van der Rohe Award was established in 1987 in Barcelona by the Mies van der Rohe Foundation. It is awarded every two years and emerged through a European Union program supporting the cultural and creative sectors. The Mies van der Rohe Award recognizes outstanding architectural projects in Europe.