Dewi Prys Thomas Trust
The Dewi-Prys Thomas Trust, established in 1990 to celebrate the life of Dewi- Prys Thomas (1916-85), a man who had a profound influence on architecture and town planning in Wales. Dewi was well known to many, especially former architecture and town planning students at Cardiff University where his influence was felt so strongly beyond his retirement in 1981.
In Dewi-Prys Thomas’s name, the Trust aims is to promote excellence in architecture, town planning, civic design, landscape design and other creative disciplines that contribute to the quality of life, identity, and regeneration of Wales.
The Trust initially bestowed awards to high achieving students at the Department of City and Regional Planning and the Welsh School of Architecture at Cardiff University. Between 2003-2015, the Trust awarded a prestigious triennial prize described in 'Touchstone: the magazine for architecture in Wales’, as 'Wales's most important architectural award’ though it also recognised excellence in the fields of landscape design, urban & civic design, environmental improvements, sustainability projects, civil engineering and public art.
After an absence of eight years, we were delighted to reinstate this prize in partnership with the Royal Society of Architects in Wales in 2023. The Dewi-Prys Thomas Award is now bestowed annually to a project or initiative that responds best to its site and context, contributes positively to the distinctiveness of the place, and responsibly addresses the environmental and social challenges of Wales in the 21st century. The Trust is also producing a monograph about the work and career of Dewi-Prys Thomas as part of ‘The Architecture of Wales’ series being published by the RSAW and the University of Wales Press.
The Trust has financed its past activities from money raised in 1990 in Dewi-Prys Thomas’s memory, upon the initiative of Cardiff 2000, the former Civic Society for Cardiff. Thirty-five years on, these funds have dwindled, and The Trust is seeking further contributions to maintain our activities. Contributing to our GoFundMe will enable us to continue our work promoting high quality architecture and urban / public design that improves the quality of life for people in Wales and to prolong the legacy of this charismatic teacher and advocate for Wales and the built environment.
The Dewi-Prys Thomas Trust
Organiser
Simon Fenoulhet
Organiser