Every community grows around places where people can meet, share experiences, and build connections. These are the spaces that safeguard collective memory, renew traditions, and transform aspirations into the future. Yet, in many rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, the absence of shared community spaces deeply limits social, cultural, and economic development.
It is from this urgent need that the theme of the Kaira Looro Architecture Competition 2026 is born. The competition invites architects, students, designers, engineers, and young professionals from all over the world to design a Community Center in a rural area of southern Senegal. An architecture conceived as a symbol of inclusion, resilience, and hope, destined to become the beating heart of collective life.
The Community Center will be a vibrant, safe, and multifunctional space, capable of hosting educational, cultural, and social activities. A place to meet, learn, share ideas, organize community assemblies, carry out craft and entrepreneurial workshops, and promote creative, cultural, and awareness-
raising initiatives. A center designed to strengthen collective identity, encourage active participation, and become a lasting engine of development for the entire community.
The project must be conceived as a humanitarian self-construction intervention, without the use of heavy machinery or highly specialized labor, prioritizing the use of natural materials, simple construction techniques, and sustainable solutions. This approach will ensure real and long-lasting benefits while minimizing environmental impact. Architecture thus becomes not only a physical space, but also a tool for empowerment, dignity, and social cohesion.
Also for the 2026 edition, Kaira Looro confirms itself as the only completely non-profit international architecture competition, free from any commercial purpose. All proceeds are entirely allocated to the humanitarian projects of the organization Balouo Salo, which works to improve access to education, healthcare, and infrastructure in the most fragile areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. Taking part in Kaira Looro therefore means not only competing, but actively contributing to a concrete and tangible change.
The 2026 edition is set to be the most important in the history of the competition, thanks to the presence on the jury of some of the most influential architects on the international scene, including Kengo Kuma, David Adjaye, Benedetta Tagliabue, Amanda Levete, Manuel Aires Mateus, Agostino Ghirardelli, Giancarlo Mazzanti, Mario Cucinella, Urko Sanchez, Raul Pantaleo, Saad El Kabbaj, Driss Kettani, Emmanuelle Moureaux, and Mohamed Amine Siana. A jury of the highest profile, destined to make this edition a reference point in the history of humanitarian architecture.
The 2026 competition will also introduce an enhanced internship prize program, offering winners the opportunity to carry out a professional experience within some of the most prestigious architecture studios in the world, including Kengo Kuma & Associates in Tokyo, Benedetta Tagliabue EMBT
in Barcelona, Adjaye Associates in New York, and SBGA | Blengini Ghirardelli in Milan. This will allow young talents to directly engage with international excellence.
Registrations will open on January 8, 2026, and participation will be possible either individually or in teams, with at least one member under the age of 35.
Kaira Looro 2026 is not just a competition: it is an invitation to design with awareness, to build with responsibility, and to place talent at the service of human dignity.
AWARDS
As per tradition, the competition also aims to launch young architectural talents into the international arena by awarding prestigious prizes and professional growth opportunities. Some of the most significant awards include:
1st Prize: €6,000, internship at Kengo Kuma & Associates (Japan), and the realization of the project as a humanitarian initiative.
2nd Prize: €2,000 + internship at one of Benedetta Tagliabue EMBT (Spain), Amanda Levete Architects (London), or SBGA Blengini Ghirardelli (Milan).
3rd Prize: €1,000 + internship at one of EMBT (Spain), ALA (London), or SBGA Blengini Ghirardelli (Milan).
The competition also recognizes special and honourable mentions, as well as 35 finalists. All awarded projects will gain international visibility and be published in prestigious architectural journals and the competition’s official book.
JURY
The jury of Kaira Looro is made up of some of the world’s most renowned and award-winning architects worldwide, such as:
DATES AND DEADLINES
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ABOUT KAIRA LOORO
Kaira Looro is an International Non-Profit Architecture Competition founded with the mission of promoting humanitarian architecture and supporting vulnerable communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
It is the only architecture competition in the world that reinvests 100% of its proceeds into real humanitarian projects.
ABOUT BALOUO SALO
Balouo Salo is an international humanitarian organization operating mainly in West Africa, committed to improving access to clean water, healthcare, education, and essential infrastructure. Through participatory and sustainable projects, Balouo Salo has positively impacted tens of thousands of people and continues to promote human dignity, resilience, and social development.
Ιόλη Κάνιστρα - 08/12/2025
Archetype team - 05/12/2025
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