The Kaira Looro Architecture Competition 2026

What is the Kaira Looro Architecture Competition?

Kaira Looro is a non-profit international architecture competition organised by Balouo Salo, an independent humanitarian organisation working with rural communities in southern Senegal. The name Kaira Looro comes from the Mandinka language and is generally translated as “building peace” or “architecture for peace”. For the organisers, this extends beyond the physical act of building: architecture becomes a way of creating spaces based on solidarity, dignity and shared community life.

The competition began in 2016 as a workshop before developing into the international competition that continues today. It was established with two connected aims: to raise awareness around humanitarian and development issues while generating funds for projects that address real needs in vulnerable communities. At the same time, Kaira Looro provides emerging architects with international visibility and opportunities for professional development through awards, publications and internships with leading architectural practices.

This connection between competition and humanitarian action is particularly important. Kaira Looro is not simply asking participants to imagine architecture for a hypothetical future. The competition is linked directly to Balouo Salo's work in Senegal, and its registration proceeds are donated to humanitarian projects. According to the competition's terms, 100% of registration proceeds are allocated to Balouo Salo's humanitarian activities, including projects involving wells, schools, health centres and water infrastructure.

The organisation reports that its projects have reached more than 50,000 people, with initiatives developed around access to water, healthcare, education and community infrastructure. 

This makes Kaira Looro unusual within the architectural competition landscape, as the competition itself has become part of a wider cycle: architects contribute ideas, participants contribute through their registration, and those funds support projects intended to have a tangible impact on communities.

Uche Okeke Legacy and Kaira Looro

Uche Okeke Legacy is proud to participate in this initiative as a media partner of Kaira Looro, helping to share the competition's work and the ideas of the emerging architects involved.

The partnership also has a natural connection to the Legacy's wider interest in the relationship between creativity, education, culture and community. Uche Okeke's own practice was deeply concerned with the role of art and design within society, particularly through his engagement with education, cultural heritage and the development of new approaches rooted in African contexts.

Uche Okeke Legacy has previously highlighted Kaira Looro and its humanitarian ambitions, describing the competition as an initiative that gives students and young architects the opportunity to develop design responses to humanitarian issues while contributing towards charitable projects.

For Uche Okeke Legacy, supporting the competition is therefore also an opportunity to draw attention to a generation of young designers who are considering architecture not only as a profession, but as a means of responding to social and environmental realities.

The 2026 Challenge: A Community Centre for Rural Senegal

The theme of the 2026 competition was “Community Center: Architecture for solidarity and social connection.”

Participants were asked to design a Community Centre in a rural area of southern Senegal. The proposed building was intended to become a shared space where education, culture, social interaction and community development could happen under one roof. The brief imagined a centre that could host community assemblies, meetings with authorities, training and remedial courses, craft and entrepreneurial workshops, cultural activities, recreational events and awareness-raising programmes. It needed to be multifunctional, inclusive and safe, while remaining closely connected to the local context.

But the challenge went beyond deciding what rooms should be included. The centre was to be conceived as a humanitarian self-construction project, without heavy machinery or specialised personnel. Participants were encouraged to consider natural and locally available materials, simple construction techniques and sustainable solutions that could reduce environmental impact while making the eventual project more achievable within its context. The result was a brief that required participants to balance several different questions at once: How can architecture respond to climate? How can local materials be used effectively? How can a building support education and community life? And how can design encourage local participation rather than imposing an unfamiliar architectural model?

The 2026 competition attracted participants from more than 125 countries, with a jury chaired by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and including internationally recognised architects such as David Adjaye, Benedetta Tagliabue, Amanda Levete, Mario Cucinella, Manuel Aires Mateus, Giancarlo Mazzanti, Agostino Ghirardelli, Urko Sanchez, Raul Pantaleo, Saad El Kabbaj, Driss Kettani, Emmanuelle Moureaux and Mohamed Amine Siana.

From this international field, the jury selected three projects from Greece, Poland, and Colombia for the First, Second, and Third Prizes.

First Prize: Afroditi Ioannidou and Vladimir Gligorovski, Greece

The First Prize was awarded to Afroditi Ioannidou and Vladimir Gligorovski of Greece. Their proposal takes inspiration from the traditional impluvium house of Casamance, reinterpreting its central open space as the heart of a community centre.

Rather than designing a conventional enclosed building, the architects organised the centre around a semi-circular arc. Along this curve are a covered entrance, library, study area, central community space, workshop, storage and WC facilities. The different spaces flow into one another, creating a sequence of indoor, semi-outdoor and outdoor areas. At the centre is an outdoor amphitheatre, conceived as a gathering place for the community.