EUROPAN 17 Competition Results Announced

Europan 17 site on the Eastern Islands in Helsinki

The winners of the Europan 17 Competition have been announced today. 11 juries selected 49 winners, 52 runners-up and 57 special mentions on 51 sites in 12 European countries. The theme of Europan 17 was Living Cities 2 – Reimagining Architecture by Caring for Inhabited Milieus.

It was a pleasure to serve as Chairman of the Jury for the two Europan 17 sites in Finland, one in the eastern archipelago in Helsinki, and the other on the Vaskiluoto island in Vaasa. Congratulations to all the winners! Big thanks to the organizers for making the process so smooth, and for the fellow jury members for inspiring discussions and reflections.

The award ceremony for the Helsinki site takes place today, on December 4, 2023 in the afternoon. Anni Sinnemäki, Deputy Mayor for Urban Environment, City of Helsinki will deliver the opening words. The award ceremony for the site in Vaasa will be held the following day, on December 5, 2023.

  • For the full list of the winning projects and the teams behind the proposals arranged by site and by country, see HERE.

Reimagining Architecture by Caring for the Inhabited Milieus

EUROPAN is an European competition of urban, landscape and architectural projects leading to implementation. It is conducted in partnership with European municipalities, local authorities, and clients.

The competition is directed at young professionals in the fields of architecture and urban design. Competitors are encouraged to form multidisciplinary teams, each team including at least one architect. All team members, whatever their profession, must be under 40 years of age on the closing date for the submission of entries.

The theme of the Europan 17 Competition, Living Cities 2, builds on the theme of the Europan 16 competition. It seeks to find innovative approaches to address the coexistence and interrelationship of all the elements of the living world. It calls for a radical shift in paradigm towards a more immersive approach to the conception and production of space.

It prompts an approach founded in care for living milieus. To overcome the opposition between nature and culture and anthropocentrism during times marked by natural disasters and a climate emergency, the competition asked for proposals that demonstrate sensitivity, responsibility, and creativity in their treatment of the site.

The Europan 17 Finland jury visiting the competition site on the Eastern Island in Helsinki

Let the Birds sing! Responsible Recreation: Helsinki Eastern Archipelago

Helsinki’s eastern archipelago is a unique maritime milieu with valuable natural and cultural-historical sites and varying landscapes. The public use of the eastern archipelago has so far been low when considering the number of islands and the extent of the area. In the future new landing sites for boats and other related structures, constructions and buildings will make the islands more accessible to visitors. This will improve the services available in the archipelago and make them more attractive for recreational use.

The goal of the competition was to create an overall plan and visual idea to serve as the basis for the future development of the area. The competition also sought for ideas for of island-specific solutions. While improving the potential of the recreational use of the islands, special attention was to be paid to repairing the damaged and worn out natural areas and to enhancing biodiversity. Protecting vulnerable and sensitive nature and landscape from new wear caused by expanding recreational use was set as a key requirement to be addressed.

Winners for the Helsinki Eastern Archipelago Site

  • The winner for the site in Helsinki is the proposal Halailla luontoa by Benedikt Hartl (DE) in collaboration with Maximilian Löschke (DE)
  • The runner-up for the site In Helsinki is the proposal Haven – For Humans and Non-Humans Alike by Saara Kantele (FI) and Paul Bot (NL)
  • Special mentions for the site in Helsinki were afforded to two proposals: Aallonharja by Eelis Leino (FI), Filip Neagu (FI) and Island tools by Aron De Cesero (IT), Annachiara Sartor (IT) and Marta Magnaguagno (IT)
The Europan 17 Finland jury visiting the competition site on the Vaskiluoto Island in Vaasa

Tabula Non-Rasa! Living City Meets the Sea

The island of Vaskiluoto is situated to the west of the Vaasa city centre. The island is connected to the mainland by an embankment in the east and a bridge in the south. Vaskiluoto is partly preserved in a near natural state, and partly heavily shaped by human action, especially in the major cargo, oil and passenger port areas. One third of the island’s surface is in residential and other accommodational use, including a camping site. However, there are very few inhabitants living on the island. The central location calls for developing Vaskiluoto as a unified part of the Vaasa urban area.

The goal of the competition was to conceive a new residential area on the island of Vaskiluoto, located adjacent to the city centre, where a rich urban fabric meets the surrounding nature and the sea. Competitors were asked to come up with a vision for a sustainable and attractive lifestyle for the future residents.

The site holds great potential because of its central location and the surrounding sea. According to the new Vaskiluoto master plan, the competition site at tip of the northern peninsula of the island is assigned for housing. The competition project site consists of the plot of a demolished hotel and an existing camping area, together with adjacent areas to the east.

Winners for the Vaasa – Vaskiluoto Site

  • The winner for the site in Vaasa is the proposal (me)tsä by Justo Diaz (ES), Guillermo Pozo (ES)
  • The runner-up for the site in Vaasa is the proposal Paapuuri by Sampo Ojala (FI), Sara Lähdesmäki (FI), Milja Leinonen (FI) in collaboration with Rebecca Maresia (FI), Anna-Juulia Alaruikka (FI), Claudia Antao (PT)
  • Special mention for the site in Vaasa was given to the proposal Field of Connections by Maria Amador (ES), Julio Sanchez (ES), and Mario Montero (ES)

Europan 17 Competition in Numbers

A total of 815 entries were submitted to propose new ideas for developing the designated sites with inhabited milieus to be regenerated. In response to the territorial challenges present at the site, the awarded projects propose different complex, global and dynamic spatial reconfigurations in damaged inhabited milieus in order to revitalize biological and human communities.

The 158 winning teams are based in 14 different countries. 59% won in their country of residence while 41% won abroad. The winning teams that were most motivated to compete abroad come from Italy (12 teams out of the 13 winning teams based in Italy won a prize on a foreign site (92%). Respectively, in Spain 18 teams out of 40 (45%), in Germany 6 out of 20 (30%), in France 8 out of 35 (23%), won a prize on a site abroad.

Out of a total of 55 registrations received by Europan Finland, 38 were for Helsinki and 17 for Vaasa. 45% of the registrations for the two sites in Finland were submitted by Finnish teams. Helsinki received 22 entries and Vaasa 11.

The EUROPAN 17 is organised as a joint initiative by 12 European structures in the participating countries, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Slovenija and Sweden. The organisers in Finland were the City of Helsinki and the City of Vaasa together with Europan Suomi Finland.