Streetlife Design Competition is organized by a Dutch urban furniture manufacturer Streetlife and Landezine – Landscape Architecture Platform.
Students and young professionals from the field of landscape architecture and the development of open public space were invited to participate. Registrants needed to select a ‘lost site’, and develop a proposal for a redesign.
Shortlist announced
There were a large number of inspiring entries from around the world, including entries from North America to Ukraine. After careful evaluation, the expert jury selected 10 finalists. The announcement of the winners will take place on Friday, March 28, 2025 in Leiden, the Netherlands.
Finalists 2024-2025
Unveiling the Layers of Place
Spain /
Between two streams of water lies a dryland agricultural plain, surrounded by population centers and marked by moments of transformation. In 1930, a masia was converted into a military barracks, and around it, structures associated with military activity emerged: soldiers’ houses, shooting ranges, ammunition depots… Today, only scattered fragments remain, vestiges of a seemingly ephemeral past whose traces still resonate.
The Learning Curve
Stockholm / Sweden /
When larger cities leave less and less room for the unplanned, the unexplored, and the yet-to-be-imagined, they risk becoming more uniform, offering homogeneous spaces designed around similar ideals. Our site is a closed-off interchange with high ecological value, offering the potential to become a recreational and educational environment for the local community.
SPURS- From Lost Tracks to Vibrant Lives
Los Angeles / California / USA /
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
1770
In downtown Los Angeles, numerous abandoned railroads and spurs lie hidden beneath layers of asphalt and concrete. As remnants of the city’s industrial past, they have contributed: to fragmented urban fabrics, social disconnection and ecological decline. Yet, those forgotten spaces hold immense cultural and ecological potential, offering opportunities for transformation into productive urban infills and interconnected networks.
Re-Envisioning Lives
New York / New York / USA /
University of Pennsylvania
Would you want to live under the looming shadow of a 40-story JAILSCRAPER? The residents of Chinatown, New York, say no. The city’s fixation on colossal jail towers threatens to erode the neighborhood’s culture, strip away its vibrant street life, and, most critically, manifest a blatant disregard for and discrimination against a vulnerable community.
From Ruins to Roots
Kharkiv / Ukraine /
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, lies just 30 kilometers from the Russian border. As a frontline city, it has faced relentless shelling and destruction, with nearly a quarter of its infrastructure damaged by April 2024. The war has inflicted severe physical losses, compromised safety, weakened community cohesion, and caused profound psychological trauma, compounded by strategic efforts to destabilize residents and interrupt daily life. Landscape architecture plays a significant yet often overlooked role in mitigating the destabilizing impacts of warfare.
The Sensory Spine
Glasgow / United Kingdom /
Opened in 1896, the Glasgow Botanic Gardens Station and railway line once played a crucial role in connecting the Botanic Gardens to the city centre. Although the station closed in 1939 (and the line followed in 1964) the site continues to hold historical significance for the visitors. Revitalising this lost site’ will address modern needs and breathe new life into this historic location, transforming it into a cultural landmark once again.
Emergency Landscapes
Greece /
Attica, in central Greece, is one of the country’s most fire-prone regions, home to about a third of its population. Much of its urban growth is near flammable forests, often lacking fire prevention infrastructure or clear land-use planning. Greece’s Mediterranean climate has long made it vulnerable to wildfires, a threat intensified in recent decades by climate change, urban sprawl, and changing land management. To build a more resilient Attica, involving the community in fire prevention and recovery is essential. Empowering residents with knowledge and resources will strengthen preparedness and foster collective resilience against future disasters.
Flowing Forward
Richmond / Canada /
The Fraser River, one of British Columbia’s most treasured environmental assets, flows 1,375 km into the Pacific Ocean at the Strait of Georgia. Over centuries, urbanization, and industrialization have led to the shrinking of river delta ecosystems and the alteration of mixed wet forests. Wetlands – once vibrant ecosystems that| filtered water, stored carbon, and provided habitats for countless species – have diminished, leaving in their wake a fragile, fragmented and lost landscape.
West Broad School
Georgia / USA /
University of Georgia
Historically, the West Broad School has been a place where children’s autonomy is taken away. How can we revitalize its abandoned grounds in a way that opens the space up to the public and returns agency to the children who will play here?
Remnants
London / United Kingdom /
Sandwiched between the 02 complex and the shiny Greenwich high rises lies an area of the Thames path that has up to now avoided the radical march towards urbanisation. This map shows both our walk as well as areas that have been reclaimed from the river over the last 300 years. These overlapping area are the ones we wanted to focus on due to their history of occupation.
The nominated projects can be viewed in detail on the Streetlife Design Competition website.
