Urban Toilets Competition 2026
Competition Brief
The Urban Toilets Competition 2026 challenges architects, designers, and creatives to rethink public restrooms as vital elements of urban infrastructure, which extend beyond their basic functional use. The project invites participants to create a public restroom system that meets the actual needs of an urban location anywhere in the world, which requires them to design facilities that ensure privacy, accessibility, and durability while enabling access for all. The competition transforms basic public building design into an opportunity for innovative design solutions that create positive societal change. For design competitions and design challenges, our architecture competitions overview provides background information.
Intent
The competition encourages designers to explore how public toilets can become expressive, socially valuable elements of urban life. The project demonstrates how public spaces and civic experiences develop through design by focusing on infrastructure elements which people typically overlook. The historical and theoretical frameworks of competition design are available through our guide to architectural design competition.
Purpose
Urban Toilets aims to provoke fresh thinking about essential urban necessities. Thoughtful design improves urban identity while creating comfortable spaces which include all users and enhance their overall experience. The article about architectural competitions explains how competition transparency affects different aspects of contest dynamics from an editorial standpoint.
Requirements
Participants may choose any urban site worldwide. The submission requires participants to provide one A1 panel which includes horizontal design and one written summary. The competition allows participation from Architects, designers, students, engineers, planners, and multidisciplinary teams.
Jury
- Cecilia L. Muiños – Mol Arquitectura (Ourense, Spain)
- Daigo Ishii – Future-scape Architects (Tokyo, Japan)
- Agustina Berta – TAF/Metalocus (Madrid, Spain)
- Tiago Pedroza Martins – Pema Studio (Aves, Portugal)
- Zehua Zhang – KPF (New York, USA)
- Florencia Ciceri – FAPyD – UNR (Rosario, Argentina)
- Giuseppe Geraci – Sapienza University (Rome, Italy)
- Lorenzo de Pascale – Commisura (Milan, Italy)
Fees
| Registration Type | Fee (EUR) |
|---|---|
| Early Registration (until April 24) | €59 |
| Standard Registration (April 24 – June 19) | €89 |
| Late Registration (June 19 – July 10) | €129 |
Rewards
| Prize | Amount / Benefit |
|---|---|
| First Prize | $3,000 |
| Second Prize | $2,000 |
| Third Prize | $1,000 |
| 5 Golden Mentions | Free membership coupons |
| 10 Honorable Mentions | Free competition coupons |
| 30 Finalists | Published on Terraviva channels |
Dates
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Submission Deadline | July 10, 2026, 3:00 PM CET |
| Winners Announcement | August 10, 2026, 12:00 PM |
✦ ArchUp Competition Review
The Urban Toilets Competition 2026 is organised by TerraViva Competitions with a clearly published international jury, which provides evaluation assessment through its moderate transparency level. The competition allows worldwide participants to compete with their submissions while presenting their professional architectural work, which shows new uses for public toilets that serve as essential public facilities. The prize distribution system offers awards between $1,000 and $3,000, which comes with additional recognition and publishing opportunities that create a low value compared to the necessary conceptual work. The main advantage for participants comes from developing their portfolios and gaining publication credits along with international recognition because they do not receive direct funding support. The jury’s diverse professional backgrounds ensure informed critique, although more explicit scoring criteria would enhance clarity.
Conclusion
The Urban Toilets Competition uses an essential public requirement to create new design possibilities for architectural work. The competition requires designers to think about public value because it helps them understand architectural design elements that exist outside their basic functions. The competition provides international recognition through its financial awards, which are limited, but it enables participants to address vital issues regarding public space design and social inclusion. The evaluation process needs clearer criteria and defined standards for applicants to assess their proposals, yet the competition proves how design changes our interaction with vital urban facilities.
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