The results of the 2025 Streetlife Design Competition, organized by Streetlife and Landezine, have been revealed. This year’s competition invited students and emerging professionals in landscape architecture and related fields to choose a “lost site” and propose a redesign. The competition received 86 inspiring submissions from around the globe. At an award ceremony held in Leiden, the Netherlands, on March 28,2025, ten finalists presented their projects. Following this, the jury evaluated and announced three competition winners and three honourable mentions. And for the first time, the University Prize was presented to the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Porto based upon the average score of projects submitted by their students. We are pleased to announce the following:
1st Prize: Re-Envisioning Lives
Yangyi Li, Menghan Yu, Xinyi Zhang / University of Pennsylvania
“Re-Envisioning Lives” addresses the controversial proposal to build a “jailscraper” in New York City’s Chinatown. This tower would replace the current “Tombs” detention facility and serve as an alternative to Rikers Island, becoming the tallest jail in the world. Amid strong community opposition, the designers offer a progressive vision for reforming the justice system while maintaining the neighborhood’s social fabric.
The proposal reimagines the correctional facility as not just a jail but as a communitycentered space that promotes ecological responsibility. The design emphasizes transparency, dismantling traditional typologies in favor of care-based systems, xand integrating the building’s façade into a living habitat for wildlife. This radical shift frames landscape not as a barrier but as a bridge for societal change.
2nd Prize: Unveiling the Ruins – Reinterpreting History to Create a New Story
Vincent de Gasperi, Aleix Aymerich, Lucas de la Fuente / Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
Located in Spain, “Unveiling the Ruins” transforms former military grounds into “portals to possible futures.” The project weaves together multiple histories, fostering new relationships with place, memory, and identity. It goes beyond passive reflection, introducing collective archaeological practices and layering contemporary landscapes over the reinterpreted past, challenging traditional approaches to history and stratigraphy.
The design represents a healing process, turning a site of trauma into one of renewal. It incorporates reclaimed materials and reintroduces language to reconnect people with the landscape, not only physically but socially and culturally, through the creation of spaces that are open, closed, high, or low.
3rd Prize: Remnants
Aphra Das Gupta, Henry Westphal-Reed, Lenka Rajmont
Set in London’s Greenwich Peninsula, within one of the last remaining industrial sites, “Remnants” explores the transformation of fences and discarded materials into building blocks for new, sustainable spaces. The project offers a bold approach to urban redevelopment, using simple, site-specific methodologies to capture and reuse resources. It highlights human agency as a positive force in shaping places, while also allowing natural systems to become an integral part of human habitation. The design exemplifies the potential of landscape architecture to make a meaningful impact in cities worldwide.
Honourable Mention: Emergency Landscapes
Athanasia Pappa, Aikaterini Ntavou
“Emergency Landscapes” was awarded a honourable mention by the jury. The project focuses on soft prevention strategies for severe climate disasters, particularly the wildfires that frequently threaten both ecosystems and urban areas in the Attica region of Greece. The proposal also highlights the challenges of land speculation and social discontent, offering solutions to address these interconnected issues.
Honourable Mention: SPURS – From Lost Tracks to Vibrant Lives
Ziting Wang, Zilan Wang / Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Awarded a honourable mention, SPURS – From Lost Tracks to Vibrant Lives takes a compelling approach to rail tracks in Los Angeles, transforming them from urban dividers into connectors.
Honourable Mention: Flowing Forward
Angat Desai, Tatiana Nozaki
Set in Richmond, Canada, Flowing Forward seeks to reclaim the lost edges of the Fraser River, which have been fragmented by industrialization, extraction and urbanization. Through a series of interventions along the river and the resharing pf a concrete-covered island, the project aims to restore the river’s natural flow and course.
University Award:
Four universities competed in the inaugural University Award category. The four competing universities were as follows:
- Faculty of Sciences from the University of Porto
- Suny College of Environmental Science and Forestry
- University of Georgia
- University of Kentucky
Based on the average competition scores of entrants from the above universities, the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto is the award winner. Credit to:
Professor José Miguel Esteves Lameiras
Professor Paulo Jorge Rodrigues Farinha Marques
All winners were selected by a distinguished jury, including Sylvia Karres from Karres en Brands, Giulia Frittoli from BIG Landscape, José Almiñana from Andropogon, Peter Krouwel from Streetlife and Zaš Brezar from Landezine.
We would like to thank all participants for their efforts and congratulate everyone for their exceptional contributions!
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