Karlovo Living Landscape
The Karlovo Living Landscape competition lures architects, urban designers, and planners to depict a novel residential area on the hills above Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. The contest has to do with a rare outright devoid of slope on the western side of the Sásová district. This area has a southern face towards the valley and fences natural forests that are under protection. The aspiration is a sustainable, low-rise, human-scaled neighbourhood where housing, landscapes, and community life interwine.
A 21st-century living model is just around the corner: a place where not only architecture but also ecological and social interaction will be the standard. The proposals should not only fit the landscape but also get along with it in a manner that respects site, terrain, and natural surroundings. The aim is to produce a district that sounds deeply rooted in history whilst bringing along modern comforts, sustainability, and a feeling of togetherness.
Competition Overview
The new neighbourhood has to be masterplanned by the participants on a sloped terrain of 53,105 m² which is directly connected to the city and surrounded by forest. The design should not only take into account the density of built area but also include ample green and open spaces in terms of ratio. The housing should be clustered according to the slope and the types of land. The plan should arrange the dwellings, courtyards, green paths, community spaces, and pedestrian connections in an orderly, walkable layout.
The competition is accessible for both individuals and teams. There can be professionals, students, urban planners, and landscape designers who take part. The brief appreciates proposals that deal contextually with the site, terrain, ecology, and community needs while still being able to provide realistic architectural and urban solutions.
Timeline
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Competition Opening | 4 November 2025 |
| Early Registration Ends | 9 January 2026 |
| Standard Registration Ends | 6 February 2026 |
| Late Registration Ends | 20 February 2026 |
| Phase 1 Submission Deadline | 20 February 2026 |
| Phase 2 Submission Deadline | 10 April 2026 |
| Winners Announcement | 27 April 2026 |
Entry Fees
| Registration Type | Fee |
|---|---|
| Early Registration | € 89 |
| Standard Registration | € 109 |
| Late Registration | € 139 |
Awards
| Prize | Details |
|---|---|
| 1st Prize | € 10,000 |
| 4 Finalists | € 3,000 each |
| 10 Golden Mentions | Free membership coupon to Terraviva |
| 10 Honorable Mentions | Free entry coupon for another competition |
| Top 30 Projects | Published on Terraviva channels |
Architectural & Urban Analysis
The design logic requires a careful and delicate blending of housing and landscape. The site has a slope towards a valley and is adjacent to forest land that is free from construction, thus the buildings must be quite large in height to adapt to the terrain instead of leveling it. Housing clusters should be built in such a way that they follow the slope, thus making it possible to have views and get rid of the natural water. There should be open spaces, shared courtyards, expensive roads and green corridors that go through the houses just like nature and thus create the impression that architecture is not far from nature. The competition prefers low-rise human-scale buildings that have material strategies which are in harmony with the context and climate. Sustainable systems, natural ventilation and local ecological conditions should determine the planners’ and layout’s decisions. The layout must include community life by means of common spaces, courts and smooth pedestrian movement. It is not merely a matter of creating habitats, but of reconsidering nature proximity in our lives, density design without landscape losing intimacy, and community building in the fragile environment of the mountain.
Competition Importance
The Karlovo Living Landscape competition is important because it opens up the most urgent questions regarding ecological urban expansion, sustainable living, and community building. The challenge of the competition can be phrased like this: how to mediate between the urban needs and landscape preservation through architecture, as cities grow and natural areas shrink.
By suggesting a sustainable and neighborhood-acquainted, participants not only perform the role of provocateurs but also contribute to the resilient housing, eco-urbanism, and human-centered design discussion. This competition is of paramount importance right now since it throws light on the issue of how to live at the edge of natural systems responsible and still have the luxuries of comfort and social connections.
✦ ArchUp Competition Review
The Karlovo Living Landscape Competition, organized by Terraviva, is inviting architects, students, and interdisciplinary teams to come up with designs for a context-responsive housing project with clear deadlines, fees, and prizes on a sloped site in Banská Bystrica, where a sustainable low-rise neighborhood is proposed. The organizer has a good reputation, and the brief is very detailed, even though the jury’s composition is mentioned only briefly. The requirements are very practical and mainly focus on the integration of nature, adaptation to the site’s characteristics, and planning of the community; therefore, the two phases of the timeline and the monetary awards are in proportion to the scale of the project. To sum up, the competition provides a well-defined platform for innovators and proposes an easily manageable problem that attracts new talents.
Conclusion
Karlovo Living Landscape is an exception to the rule and lots of projects often get turned down as just an imaginary construction sites as they have to coexist alongside each other. It questions the traditional requirements around aesthetics, comfort, and health by giving no less importance to all of them. Modern housing with all its drawbacks is the main reason for the continued urban migration while the countryside is more and more deserted and loser to nature.
Working at the intersection of town and mountain, between built form and living landscape, and between modern life and nature, designers are encouraged to present ideas that are considerate, feasible, and daring. A possible future urban scenario where the city and nature coexist is through the competition.
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