ASF Award 2025
With this award ASF International wishes to encourage an exchange of ideas on how to achieve social and environmental impact using the tools of architecture and planning, and to challenge the profession to adopt a more people-centred architectural practice.
All 27 submitted projects were carefully reviewed by our panel of five expert jury members from across the globe. From these, 20 exceptional projects were selected to be highlighted and exhibited, showcasing the creativity, innovation, and impact of this year’s submissions.
Winning project
Iquitos, Peru – ESPACIO COMÚN
The Muyuna floating stage is a temporary infrastructure built in Belén, Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon, as the main site for the second edition of Muyuna Fest – Floating Jungle Film Festival, an event aimed at reflecting on the forests of the world. Designed by Espacio Común in close collaboration with local builders from the Pueblo Libre community, the 14-meter diameter circular platform was built entirely with materials from the immediate surroundings: lightweight topa wood, branches, natural fibers, and basic hand tools. Its design evokes the “muyunas,” swirling currents typical of Amazonian rivers, blending aesthetically with the landscape and adapting to the extreme fluctuations of the Itaya River.
Category winner: Post-Disaster Project
Pakistan – WM CREATIVE STUDIO RE-LAB
Tranquil Abode is a housing prototype which was created in response to the devastating
aftermath of the 2022 floods, which wrecked over 242,000 homes and affected over 9,182,616
people, to provide a haven.
In the aftermath of the floods, rural regions of Pakistan faced a serious predicament as the
majority of its population lived in mud houses with no foundation and massive girder/log roofs.
Poor infrastructure left them isolated, worsening the already unequal access to social welfare.
Honorable mentions
Kishoreganj, Bangladesh – SADIA SHARMIN & IMRAN HASAN
Project Lighthouse is a community-led learning space for children and youth in a remote village in Bangladesh, where access to educational infrastructure and resources remains scarce. The project emerged from an urgent local need: when the only primary school closed during the COVID-19 pandemic and no remote learning options were available, dropout rates rose sharply. Simply distributing study materials proved inadequate, as many children lacked basic literacy support and a safe place to learn together.
Jakarta, Indonesia – PPPOOOLLL + ASF-ID
Kampung Susun Kunir is a 33-unit collective housing located at the periphery of Jakarta’s Kota Tua (Old Town) that was built for the residents of Kampung Kunir who were evicted in 2015. It is called kampung susun (literally: stacked kampung) as a manifestation of the transformation from primarily informal, landed residential typology to a denser, four storey social housing. This was done through five-years long critical participatory method we call pendampingan where architects codesigned the new settlement with the community in collaboration with the Housing Department of Jakarta Government and civil societies.
Pacitan, Indonesia – ANANTA VANIA ISWARDHANI & FELIX ORLIN
Sekolah Pantai (Coastal School) was originally built in 2014 by Project Child Indonesia (PCI) as an
informal learning space for children. The school is situated in Pacitan, which is one of Indonesia’s
disaster-prone coastal regions. In 2017, severe flooding caused widespread damage across 13
villages, resulting in fatalities and forcing the school to close. With no funding available for repairs, the building remained abandoned for years, despite its crucial role in the community. The design process was shaped through close coordination with all stakeholders, responding to spatial needs, including environmental educational goals, such as beach clean-ups and waste-sorting activities, while addressing the site’s environmental vulnerabilities.
New Dehli, India – VENDELA BERGMAN & SOFIA THYSELL
The project is done in the slum dwelling Hanuman Camp in the south of New Delhi, India. It consists of two points of design: a play area at the community square and a redesign of the community toilet. The project was facilitated through Architects without Borders Sweden and the NGO Centre for Urban and Regional Excellence (CURE), based in New Delhi.
Shortlisted projects
Canterbury, United Kingdom – LAMA AHMED
This proposal transforms an industrial unit into a refugee support hub focused on care, community, and cultural continuity. The design provides vital services including English classes, food and clothing distribution, prayer spaces, and embroidery workshops; with each room shaped to nurture dignity and belonging. Inspired by Middle Eastern heritage, materials like mashrabiya screens and Palestinian tatreez tiles are used to root the space in memory and identity.
Curved partitions guide movement gently, while layered textures, from mashrabiya screens to patterned rugs, create calm, tactile environments.
Irpin, Ukraine – OKSANA PIDLETEICHUK
The Irpin Community Center is a post-war urban regeneration initiative designed in response to the urgent need for social infrastructure in cities affected by the Russian full-scale invasion. Irpin, a heavily damaged suburb of Kyiv, suffers from a severe lack of public cultural, educational, and sport facilities. This project proposes a transformative public space to reconnect a fragmented community, accommodate displaced residents, and support their healing and integration.
Haor, Bangladesh – FARIA TABASSUM SUJAN
Located in the flood-prone ‘Haor(seasonal-wetland)’ region of Bangladesh, this project addresses the chronic seasonal isolation of Gora-Digha village by co-creating a multifunctional community hub with the villagers themselves. Developed through participatory research and grounded in empathy, the design integrates essential services such as education, healthcare, market and cultural forum – into a resilient, adaptive infrastructure.
Khulna, Bangladesh – Md. ASFAQUZZAMAN RAHAD
The primary idea for conceptualizing formal housing beyond brick and mortar is to make a shift in approach: from traditional ‘provision’, a static product, to ‘participation’, a dynamic process, where residents actively engage and contribute. The concept of assembly captures this transformation, representing the convergence of diverse actors, such as developers, designers, and community members, toward a shared, collaborative agenda.
Pakistan – WM CREATIVE STUDIO RE-LAB
Darul Qiyam is an innovative and practical solution developed in response to the challenges
posed by global warming, particularly evident during the catastrophic floods of 2022 in
Pakistan. It addresses the urgent issue of housing insecurity and mass displacement, particularly
in rural areas where most homes are built with unfounded mud walls and heavy log roofs,
leaving communities highly vulnerable and socially isolated during disasters.
Dhaka, Bangladesh – FARAH NAZ NUSRAT
This project proposes a multifunctional, community-led center aimed at addressing the systemic exclusion of the Hijra community in Bangladesh. Rooted in participatory design and indigenous kinship systems, the center incorporates informal education, vocational training, regenerative food systems, health services, animal care, and cultural expression. Its spatial layout is grounded in adaptive, non-binary design principles and developed through iterative community engagement.
Manikganj, Bangladesh – TOWHIDUL ALAM, TABASSUM UL ZANNAT, ARGHA SAHA
In Taluka Nagar, Manikganj, the community came together to transform
their local health center into a space of dignity and care. The Community Clinic Project, an
initiative of the Government of Bangladesh, is being piloted by BRAC Health Programme to
revive and strengthen healthcare delivery in underserved areas. Instead of making decisions for the community, we began by listening to their needs and ideas. The project involved both the adaptive reuse of the existing clinic and the construction of a new, community-focused pavilion.
Barbardiya, Nepal – KUTHI FOR HABITAT AND HERITAGE
Nepal endured a decade-long Maoist revolution (1996–2006) that claimed approximately 17,000
lives and left over 1,530 people missing. The trauma of the conflict persists, manifesting in both physical and psychological suffering. The quest for justice for the disappeared and their families remains largely unresolved. In this context, creating tangible memorial spaces has become essential for collective healing. Kumbhar-Adda Disappeared People Memorial Park is proposed as a national memorial to honor those disappeared lives during the civil conflict and prior movements that led to the establishment of the Republic of Nepal.
London, United Kingdom – DEVAANSH AGARWAL
We are not creating problems by speaking about them. The problems already exist, quietly growing like a disease that starts as a small mole or a small cyst — something easily ignored — but over time becomes a cancer that consumes everything. If we don’t talk about it now, if we don’t recognize it while it’s still invisible, it will grow to a point where it can no longer be reversed. This is not about making life harder; it is about protecting the future. It is about refusing to be complicit in the silent killing of places like Soho, refusing to dress up the violence with beautiful architecture or polite urbanism. It is about cutting through the polished surfaces, showing the wounds underneath, and asking: how did we let it get this far? This project is not a proposal for a new building. It is a wake-up call. It is the beginning of a conversation that refuses to stay silent.
Khulna, Bangladesh – MAHMUD ZAWAD HOSSAIN, TABASSUM UL ZANNAT, FARZANA RAHMAN, TOWHIDUL ALAM, FAHMIDA AKTER KOTH
The Creative Club, an innovative after-school program, empowers adolescents
through self-expression, creativity, and a renewed connection to learning. What makes the Creative Club unique is its participatory design process. Adolescents actively shaped the spaces through focus group discussions and creative workshops, sharing insights on play, creative expression, nature, and cultural traditions. They then directly contributed to the painting murals and crafting decorations that infused their identities into every corner.
Niolo, DR Congo – JIRI PETRZELKA, JAN TILINGER, MARKETA DEBROIS, ANITA CERNA
The orphanage in Loango owns 10 hectares of land in the village of Niolo, 10 km away. The plan is to use the land to create a farm, the operation of which would contribute and enable financial support for the operation of the orphanage. In connection with this, there should be accommodation for the farm manager, a storage room for tools and accommodation for children from the orphanage, who could come during the holidays and learn about the operation of the farm.
Nelson Mandela bay, South Africa – KEVIN KIMWELLE, ALISHA RAMAN, SARVESH SINGH
This is a community-driven, upcycled housing initiative located in Nelson Mandela bay in Eastern Province of South Africa. Spearheaded by community architect Kevin Kimwelle and support by Aptx Studio (Alisha Raman and Sarvesh Singh) in india, the project responds to urgent needs for dignified, safe, and affordable housing by transforming discarded materials into sustainable architecture. Designed in collaboration with local artisans, youth groups, and residents, local and international academic institutions, the home of Gogo Selinah – a grandmother and caregiver—became a prototype for dignified living in under-resourced urban settlements.
Kashitu, Zambia – PETR CANDA, VACLAV CENTNER, SIMON MLCEK, VENDULA RATHUSKA
Kashitu is a rural area on the border between the Copperbelt and Central Province regions in Zambia. There is no secondary school within a 40km radius that can fully meet the educational needs of local students. The school site is strategically located at the junction of a major highway and railway line, providing better transport access for students travelling from more distant areas. The school will include boarding facilities for students and accommodation for teachers, creating a supportive learning environment.
Karachi, Pakistan – WAJIHA SIDDIQUI MEHDI, MUHAMMAD MEHDI ,ABDULLAH BAJWA, PARAS SHAY NUSRAT, MAHRUKH SIDDIQUI, MUHAMMAD NAFEEL QURESHI
The project focuses on creating playful, sustainable installations to bring joy and a sense of belonging to children in marginalized communities in Surjani, Karachi, Pakistan. By integrating sustainable materials, community engagement, and participatory design, the initiative aims to transform spaces into sources of delight and resilience. The project is rooted in the belief that playful interventions can serve as a coping mechanism, offering ephemeral moments of happiness and fostering a deeper connection to place.
Enguserosambu, Tanzania – ARCHITECTURE SANS FRONTIÈRES QUÉBEC & AGENCE SPATIALE
The project is an initiative of the Massaï community of Enguserosambu. Located in northern Tanzania, in the heart of a traditional Maasai community, the school project aims to provide quality education to Maasai children at primary level. Socio-political repression of the Massaï communities in Kenya and northern Tanzania is undermining their access to land, resources, and education. Conceived as a collaborative, humane, and solidarity-driven process, the school project serves as a gateway to quality education for a population striving for social and cultural autonomy within a sustainable perspective.
St. Martin, Caribbean – AGA KUS
The Caribbean, despite its natural beauty, is the second most hazard-prone region
worldwide. It experiences frequent seismic activity, hurricanes, and a growing crisis in
access to affordable, safe housing. These challenges disproportionately affect vulnerable
groups, including young people and students.
This project co-developed potential solutions for student housing at the University of St.
Martin. We created a set of cards to guide discussions and co-creative design sessions
for resilient homes. These cards integrate professional knowledge of building solutions,
helping navigate trade-offs between cost, safety, and comfort tailored to the local
context.
Beirut, Lebanon – DESIGN FOR COMMUNITIES (D4C)
In the aftermath of the 2020 Beirut Port explosion, D4C and the Beirut Urban Lab at the American University of Beirut initiated Nafas—a community center designed to foster inclusive recovery, social cohesion, and environmental resilience in Karantina, one of Beirut’s most underserved neighborhoods. Nafas, meaning “breathe” in Arabic, symbolizes a collective exhale—a space for healing, dignity, and renewal in the face of chronic marginalization and trauma.
Developed through a participatory needs assessment, the project responds to long-standing deficits
in public infrastructure, psychosocial support, and livelihood opportunities.
Jajarkot, Nepal – SHREEJAYA TULADHAR, ARUNIMA DEV, ExCAN NEPAL (EXTREME CLIMATE ADAPTATION NETWORK)
Our project addressed the critical lack of thermal safety and comfort in post-earthquake shelters following the 2023 West Nepal earthquake. In the aftermath, at least 34 reported deaths occurred in the emergency and temporary shelters, which were unable to keep warm. The government recommended 5m X 3m shelters made up of corrugated metal (CGI) sheets as walls and roof, which had serious thermal and condensation issues. The solution involved retrofitting five such shelters with rice husk, an agricultural waste otherwise burnt for disposal. The insulation is readily available, local, low-cost, bio-based, carbon-negative, and non-toxic. It involves filling jute fabric sewn into tubes of specific sizes with safe borax & boric acid for insect protection, which also doubles as a fire retardant.
Trujillo, Peru – NATHALÍ RODRÍGUEZ, JOANNA SANTA CRUZ, VIRNA BAUTISTA
“Architecture with Purpose” is a community-led, participatory design project designed to transform the lives of families living in precarious housing conditions in the outskirts of Trujillo, Peru. These communities face recurring mudslides (huaycos), seasonal rains, and extreme vulnerability (social, economic, and environmental). Many families deal with chronic illness, unemployment, and structural risk daily.
Vietnam – SÂN CHƠI CẦU VỒNG PROJECT
“In just three years, the Sân Chơi Cầu Vồng Project has provided playgrounds for over 3,000 children and created dedicated spaces for kids in more than 11 disadvantaged communities across Vietnam.” SCCV is a social initiative that partners with communities to build safe and creative playgrounds in Vietnam. Our project is built on child-centered principles, guided by five core values: integrity, respect, safety, creativity, and sustainability.
Bangladesh, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Philippines – EMERALD UPOMA BAIDYA
The BRAC IED Playground Prototypes are a series of play equipment and landscape elements
that can be combined in diverse ways to set up an outdoor or semi-outdoor playground
responsive to its context. These prototypes are low-cost and adaptable and are created through
a thorough co-creation process, ensuring community ownership and cultural relevance.
