Karlovo Living Landscape , Banská Bystrica / Slowakei

 

TerraViva launches KARLOVO LIVING LANDSCAPE, a new international competition structured in 2 Phases that invites architects, designers and urban planners to imagine a sustainable residential neighbourhood at the gateway between city and mountain in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia.

 

Prizes up to 25.000 € will be awarded to the winners, selected by an international jury panel including Jan van Dijk (van Dijk Architects), Maria Lucrezia De Marco (Stefano Boeri Architetti), Harrison Stallan (OMA) and Chao Li (Snøhetta), among others

 

Set in the mountainous heart of Slovakia, Banská Bystrica is a city where geography and history are deeply intertwined - a place where nature is always within sight and urban life flows gently between peaks and forests. On the western edge of its Sásová district lies a vast, undeveloped hillside - a rare void within the urban fabric, facing south toward the valley and bordering the forests of the Low Tatras National Park.

 

Karlovo Living Landscape challenges participants to design a new sustainable neighbourhood on this exceptional site: a compact, low-rise district that merges architecture, ecology and community life into a coherent whole. The goal is to create a model of 21st-century housing - bold yet harmonious, inclusive yet respectful of its context.

 

• 1st Prize: 10.000€

• 4 Finalists: 3.000€ each

• 10 Golden Mentions: coupon for a free Terraviva membership

• 10 Honorable Mentions: coupon for a free Terraviva competition

• Top 30: published on Terraviva channels

 

The project site covers 53,105 m² of sloping terrain, directly connected to the city and surrounded by protected natural areas. Participants are asked to propose a masterplan that balances density and open space, designing housing clusters that adapt to the slope and interact through courtyards, green paths and shared spaces.

 

What kind of spatial rhythm could capture the experience of living within the landscape rather than beside it? How could you design dwellings that feel both timeless and profoundly connected to a place? The goal is to define a site that truly feels like “a good place to live”, meeting contemporary expectations of comfort, sustainability and community life.

 

• PHASE 1 | Two A1 Panels + a Brief Text describing the proposal

• PHASE 2 | Four A1 Panels + a Technical Report with text and images + A Summary Metric Sheet &

Editable files

 

• Katarína Michalková (Bratislava, Slovakia) | BMX Studio

• Juan Lucas Young (Berlin, Germany) | Sauerbruch Hutton

• Martin Pavelek (Banská Bystrica, Slovakia) | SK Chambers of Architects

• Jan van Dijk (Dundalk, Ireland) | van Dijk Architects

• Maria Lucrezia De Marco (Milan, Italy) | Stefano Boeri Architetti

• Harrison Stallan (Rotterdam, Netherlands) | OMA

• Maria Virginia Theilig (Rosario, Argentina) | FAPyD

• Chao Li (New York, United States) | Snøhetta

 

• Competition Opening: November 4th, 2025

• 89 € “Early" Registrations: November 4th - January 9th

• 109 € “Standard” Registrations: January 9th - February 6th

• 139 € “Late” Registrations: February 6th - February 20th

• Submission Deadline (Phase 1): February 20th, 2026

• Finalists Announcement (Phase 1): March 13th, 2026

• Submission Deadline (Phase 2): April 10th, 2026

• Winners Announcement (Phase 2): April 27th, 2026

 

 

The competition is open to students, architects, designers, artists, engineers, urban planners, makers and creatives of all kinds. Participants can compete individually or in teams.

 

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