ArchDaily's inaugural Student Project Awards have successfully highlighted the promising visions of the next generation of architects, reinforcing the platform's dedication to nurturing emerging talent. The awards received an overwhelming global response, underscoring a collective aspiration for architectural solutions that champion coexistence. Following a rigorous selection process by a panel of esteemed architects and practitioners, three main winners and four honorable mentions were chosen, each demonstrating exceptional creativity and a deep understanding of architecture's role in fostering harmony between human activity, the built environment, and natural ecosystems. These projects collectively illustrate a progressive interpretation of 'Architecture of Coexistence,' extending beyond mere social harmony to encompass multi-layered conditions where humans, environments, and spaces intricately intertwine.
ArchDaily Student Project Awards Unveil Pioneers of Coexistence in Architecture
In November 2025, ArchDaily initiated its groundbreaking Student Project Awards, born from a profound belief in the transformative potential of emerging architectural minds. This pioneering competition aimed to recognize and elevate the innovative spirit of architecture students worldwide, providing a crucial platform for visibility and dialogue on the future of design. The theme, 'Architecture of Coexistence,' challenged participants to explore how architectural interventions could mediate and integrate diverse elements—people, ecologies, and infrastructures—within a cohesive framework.
After an intensive evaluation period, which saw a longlist of 104 projects refined to a shortlist of 20, an external jury meticulously assessed each submission. Their focus extended beyond conventional outputs, delving into the core ideas, critical questions, and underlying architectural philosophies. On April 1, 2026, ArchDaily proudly unveiled the three main winners and four honorable mentions, showcasing projects that profoundly embody the awards' spirit and address contemporary architectural priorities.
The winning projects, stemming from esteemed universities in Argentina (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba), Spain (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid), and the United States (Harvard University), offer diverse approaches to the coexistence theme:
- Escuelita Lochiel (Harvard University, United States) by Leslie Ponce-Diaz: This project reimagines a historic adobe schoolhouse near the U.S.–Mexico border. It transforms the site into a modern early education center, where architecture, landscape, and ecology converge through an adaptive adobe system. The design fosters cultural continuity and environmental awareness, emphasizing experiential, place-based learning. Judge Balázs Bognár praised its "masterful weave of interior space, free-flowing nature, and unrestricted rooms," highlighting its open and engaging design for future generations.
- Regenerative Salt Landscapes (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina) by Ezequiel Lopez, Maria Victoria Echegaray, and Agustina Durandez: Located in Jujuy's Olaroz Salt Flat, this proposal tackles the environmental challenges of lithium extraction. Instead of opposing industrial processes, it redefines them as catalysts for regeneration, integrating remediation, agriculture, and energy production. The project establishes a distributed infrastructure where ecological systems and human activity harmoniously intersect, aiming to convert mono-extractive territories into diversified, collectively managed environments. Ivan Blasi commended it as a "powerful and mature proposal that redefines extractive territories as spaces of regeneration and coexistence."
- ParkTEA: Architecture of Coexistence (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain) by Ignacio Martinez Pardo: This project addresses neurodiversity within the urban fabric, specifically in Madrid's former Cuatro Caminos depots. It integrates specialized care programs with public spaces, challenging the conventional isolation of autism-related care. The design uses spatial clarity, sensory calibration, and programmatic hybridity to create an environment that supports both autonomy and interaction, positioning inclusion as an integral aspect of urban life. Jeanne Autran-Edorh and Fabiola Büchele noted its "insistence of architecture of care to be inclusive and part of a city rather than a-part of it."
Four additional projects received honorable mentions, further enriching the discourse on how architecture can promote harmonious living, adaptation, and connection across various scales and contexts:
- Urban Continuity: A Systemic Park in Milan (Polytechnic Institute of Milan, Italy) by Elena Eliseeva, Mariia Kovalenko, Laura Cappelli, Claudia Cipollone, and Marta Colombi: This project re-envisions Milan's southern edge as a car-free, evolving landscape, reintroducing water and reactivating forgotten infrastructures to foster collective experience and intergenerational use.
- Parazoa Building: Hydroecological Reprogramming (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil) by Tiago Barros Aguiar: Transforming a São Paulo parking structure into a hydroecological system, this project integrates water management with public programming, utilizing aquaponics, biodigestion, and constructed wetlands to create a closed-loop infrastructure.
- Geographism: Over the Landscape Impermanence (Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia) by Daniel Eslava Tovar: Situated in Manaure, this project approaches architecture as a process of geological and cultural reconstruction, integrating productive activities with communal practices and reconnecting fragmented landscapes.
- When Objects Become Architects (The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong) by Zhang Zichun: Focusing on an informal residential building in Bangkok, this project examines how everyday objects influence spatial organization and social interaction, introducing new connections and shared spaces that support collective life.
These awards celebrate the visionary work of students and the dedicated efforts of the ArchDaily team and jury members who made this inaugural edition a resounding success. Each submission, regardless of its final standing, contributed significantly to the evolving architectural discourse, particularly in its focus on fostering coexistence through thoughtful and innovative design.
This initiative not only celebrates individual achievements but also illuminates a broader, hopeful trajectory for architecture. By empowering students to conceptualize and develop projects that address complex societal and environmental challenges, ArchDaily fosters a generation of architects committed to building a more integrated, empathetic, and sustainable future. The diverse array of winning projects, ranging from community-focused educational spaces to regenerative industrial landscapes and inclusive urban interventions, serves as a powerful testament to the potential of design to act as a mediating practice of care, reconnecting fragmented relationships and shaping spatial realities that promote genuine coexistence.