The prestigious international architecture competition Kaira Looro has officially announced the winners of its 2025 edition, which saw unprecedented participation from all over the world. The initiative confirms itself once again as one of the most influential competitions in ethical and humanitarian architecture. Organized by the international non-profit organization Balouo Salo, the competition aims to empower young architectural talents, support sustainable development projects, and foster architectural research that benefits the most vulnerable communities on the planet.

The theme for the 2025 edition was the design of a Nursery School in rural areas of Southern Senegal, a safe, inclusive, and sustainable educational environment for children aged 3 to 6. The goal was to address one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s most pressing issues: the extremely limited access to early childhood education, a crucial phase for cognitive, emotional, and social development. In this region, less than 10% of preschool-aged children have access to educational facilities. Many villages lack dedicated infrastructures, and when they do exist, they are often inadequate. Families either cannot afford the costs or must travel long distances to access basic education. This reality perpetuates the cycle of poverty and inequality.

The competition invited participants to design a structure of no more than 500 sqm, featuring areas for learning, playing, resting, and nutrition, while emphasizing the use of local materials, environmental sustainability strategies, and self-construction techniques. The project site represented the rural context where Balouo Salo has been actively working for over ten years, implementing initiatives that have reached thousands of people.

The 2025 edition recorded record-breaking participation, with over 1,000 teams from 118 countries, including India, Italy, South Korea, Turkey, Poland, Indonesia, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, China, France, Japan, and Morocco.

Projects were awarded by an international jury composed of some of the most renowned architects of our time: Kengo Kuma (Kengo Kuma & Associates), Benedetta Tagliabue (EMBT), Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, Ramón Vilalta (RCR Arquitectes), Mario Cucinella (MCA Architects), Sir David Adjaye OM OBE (Adjaye Associates), Amanda Levete (AL_A), Manuel Aires Mateus
(Aires Mateus), Giancarlo Mazzanti (El Equipo Mazzanti), Agostino Ghirardelli (SBGA | Blengini Ghirardelli), Raul Pantaleo (TAMassociati), Emmanuelle Moureaux (emmanuelle Moureaux INC) , Saad El Kabbaj, Driss Kettani, and Mohamed Amine Siana. Supporting the jury was the scientific committee composed of Raoul Vecchio (Balouo Salo), Sebastiano D’Urso and Grazia Nicolosi (University of Catania), Dario Distefano (Archicart), and Moulaye Diabate (Balouo Salo).

The first prize was awarded to the team of Florentin Mougin, Timothé Fiedler, and Anne Sok from France. They will receive a cash prize of €5,000 and the internship award at Kengo Kuma & Associates in Tokyo. The second prize, of €2,000 was awarded to Siarhei Karoza from Poland. The third prize, €1,000 went to Kota Shima, Aoi Samitsu, Ishin Matsumoto, and So Kobayashi from Japan. Second and third place also win the Internship Awards thanks to which they will be able to do an internship at one of the prestigious studios Benedetta Tagliabue EMBT in Barcelona, Amanda Levete Architecct in London or SBGA Blengini Ghirardellia in Milan.

Two honourable mentions were awarded by Kengo Kuma and whole jury, to the Bolivian team of Alvaro Eduardo Taboada, Manuel Alejandro Jaramillo Paredes, Nathaniel Alonso Perich Soto, and Mateo Javier Grijalva Mancheno, and to individual participant Bogdan Loviste from Romania.

Additionally, 10 special mentions were given to outstanding projects from Argentina, France, Iran, Japan, Vietnam, Tanzania, South Korea, Italy, and Kenya. 35 finalists were also selected. All awarded projects are featured on the official website and will be published on the printed competition volume, which is distributed to media partners and academic and humanitarian institutions worldwide.

As per tradition, 100% of the competition proceeds are donated to Balouo Salo’s humanitarian projects in West Africa, aimed at improving access to water, education, and public health. The winning designs from the 2021 and 2022 editions—focused on a Women’s Training Center and a Centre to fight against child malnutrition—are currently under construction and on-going and will
provide long-term benefits to vulnerable communities.

The 2025 edition reaffirms Kaira Looro’s mission as a unique platform where architecture merges with ethics, social responsibility, and sustainable innovation.

1ST PRIZE from France, Project by Florentin Mougin, Timothé Fiedler, Anne Sok

2ND PRIZE, from Poland, Project by: Siarhei Karoza

3RD PRIZE from Japan, Project by: Kota Shima, Aoi Samitsu, Ishin Matsumoto, So Kobayashi

HONOURABLE MENTIONS 1 - from Bolivia project by Alvaro Eduardo Taboada, Manuel Alejandro Jaramillo Paredes, Nathaniel Alonso Perich Soto, Mateo javier Grijalva Mancheno

HONOURABLE MENTIONS 2- from Romania project by Bogdan Loviste

To view all awarded projects and stay updated on future editions: https://www.kairalooro.com