The Heroic City of Ukraine
Irpin is a city located in the Kiev Oblast (region) of Ukraine. It is situated approximately 20 kilometers northwest of the capital city of Kiev, making it a popular destination for those looking to escape the hustle and bustle of the city while still remaining in close proximity. With a population of around 43,000, Irpin is a relatively small city but has a lot to offer visitors.
ICAUS 2025-26
ISKENDERUN
"Now that this second phase of work, this second ICAUS initiative, is complete, we are deeply grateful for the participation of the competing teams. Unlike the first ICAUS, this competition involved greater theoretical and technical complexity and difficulty, as it focused on how to better protect a city from earthquakes. For this reason, and considering this additional complexity and the high level of design resolution in the winning proposals, we are very impressed, pleased, and proud of this process that has now concluded. Congratulations again to the winning teams."
Cristian Wittig, Dean of ICAUS Contest.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FOR ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM STUDIENTS
The reconstruction of a city destroyed by an earthquake
The international competition “Iskereun: New Resilient Proseismic City”, organised by the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at TED University in Turkey in collaboration with Thought Group Chile, invites architecture and urban planning students to imagine and design an innovative conceptual plan for the reconstruction of Iskenderun, Turkey, following the devastating Kahramanmaraş earthquake. The fundamental idea behind this international architecture competition was to create a fresh, creative, innovative, free and spontaneous conceptual vision for the future, unencumbered by professional or economic constraints.
Winners 2026
1st place
Resilient RiversideUrbanity in Iskenderun
Studients: Deniz Yeni, Beyza Nur Işlak & Talha Akay.
Professor: Elif Merve Nalçakar & Sonat Özcivanoğlu.
University: TED University, Turkey.
"Project [...] presents a coherent and well-structured proposal that engages carefully with the contextual conditions of İskenderun. It demonstrates a clear capacity to read the city through its existing spatial and territorial characteristics and to translate this reading into a consistent design framework. One of the project’s main strengths lies in its handling of multi-scalar relationships."
Cansu Canaran, Jury Chair
2nd place
EARTHQUAKERESISTANT CITY DESIGN
Studients: Yuliana Ajuacho Velasco, Jose Daniel Burgos Ricaldez, Claudio Yamil Hoyos Zárate, Giovana Yauli Mano, Emilio, Gutierrez Ruck & Alexia Nathalia Guareba Rivero.
Professor: Gabriel Reynaldo García Tardío & Sergio Alejandro Pol Pinto
University: UNIFRANZ University, Bolivia.
"Project [...] is recognized for its clear effort to construct a design framework grounded in the interpretation of earthquake and tsunami impacts. The proposal begins with an analytical reading of how these forces affect the built environment and attempts to translate this understanding into a
structured design approach. This position is considered valuable, as it aligns closely with the intention to treat disaster conditions as an integral part of the design process."
Cansu Canaran, Jury Chair
3rd place
A Case for the FutureDevelopment of IskenderunCity, Considering
earthquakes and tsunami
Professor: Fulvio Wirz
University: University of East London, UK.
"The project demonstrates a clear intention to move beyond incremental interventions and instead develop a comprehensive system at the city scale, which is considered a valuable contribution within the context of the competition"
Cansu Canaran, Jury Chair
Honorable Mention
New Resilient Proseismic City Design
Professor: Fulvio Wirz
University: University of East London, UK.
"A notable aspect of the project is its attempt to define the spatial implications of its conceptual framework. The use of a system described as procedural blender operations is considered valuable, as it suggests a structured method for generating urban form through iterative and rule-based processes."
Cansu Canaran, Jury Chair
Jury Report
Read our jury’s detailed professional assessment of the winning projects in the PDF below.