Winnipeg-based 5468796 Architecture has been awarded the $50,000 Professional Prix de Rome prize by the Canada Council for the Arts. The firm won for its project, Table for 12, which will allow hosts from eight cities to set the table for informal conversations about architecture.

The aim of the project is to promote Canadian architecture, identify synergies between cities and provide opportunities for global exchange. These “tables of 12” will include architects and their clients, journalists, politicians, artists and engineers, among others. They will discuss the state of design in their respective cities as well as their policies and what it takes to create a strong design culture. The host cities span four continents.

Table for 12 will launch at the Winnipeg Design Festival in September, followed by discussions hosted in Mexico City, Mexico; New York; Lisbon, Portugal; Eindhoven, Netherlands; Copenhagen, Denmakr; Tokyo; and Sydney, Australia. The project’s findings will be shared during the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Festival of Architecture in June 2014.