Introduction
Buildner is pleased to announce the results of its fifth annual Last Nuclear Bomb Memorial competition, an initiative supporting the universal ban on nuclear weapons.
Inspired by the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the competition invites designers to conceptualize a memorial on a decommissioned nuclear test site, emphasizing the profound historical and environmental impact of nuclear warfare. As a silent competition, submissions are required to convey their message visually, without the use of text, titles, or annotations.
This year’s submissions were reviewed by a distinguished jury panel featuring experts from architecture, urbanism, and the arts. Olha Kleytman, founder of Ukraine-based SBM Studio, brings expertise in architecture and urban design, alongside her humanitarian work through the NGO "Through the War." Flora Lee, Associate Partner at MAD Architects, has contributed to major international projects including the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and UNIC Residential in Paris. Peter Newman, a London-based artist, explores humanity’s relationship with space and modernity, with exhibitions spanning Trafalgar Square, the Hayward Gallery, and the Guggenheim Museum in Venice. Vincent Panhuysen, co-founder of KAAN Architecten, integrates contextual sensitivity into large-scale projects, such as the Netherlands American Cemetery Visitor Center. James Whitaker, founder of Whitaker Studio, is an architect known for his widely published Joshua Tree Residence, the most popular project on Dezeen in 2017. Wu Ziye, co-founder of China’s Mix Architecture, has received international acclaim for his studio’s exploration of spatial consciousness, materiality, and integration with nature.
Buildner and the jury extend congratulations to the winning and shortlisted teams and express gratitude to all participants for their dedication to this global design competition.
We sincerely thank our jury panel
for their time and expertise
Olha Kleytman
Founder of SBM studio
Ukraine
Flora Lee
Associate Partner, MAD Architects
USA
Peter Newman
artist
UK
Vincent Panhuysen
KAAN Architecten
Netherlands
James Whitaker
Founder of Whitaker Studio
United Kingdom
Wu Ziye
co-founder of Mix Architecture
China
1st Prize Winner
Urbs Aeterna
We participate in architecture competitions to exercise our creativity and express our freedom. After graduation, entering a firm often means conforming to established practices, making it harder to think outside the box. Competitions, on the other hand, allow us to experiment, take risks, and question conventional approaches. Beyond personal growth, these challenges connect us to the international architecture community, fostering discussions on pressing global issues and becoming a tool for dialogue and reflection.
Read full interview
Italy
Jury feedback summary
The project presents a memorial using sand and metal to depict a post-apocalyptic vision of what appears to be Rome reduced to an archaeological remnant. The design evokes the destruction and preservation paradox, allowing viewers to observe the site from above or navigate its fractured streets leading to a central void. A ghostly wireframe reconstruction of a vanished temple stands as the focal point, symbolizing loss and memory.
The project quite literally conveys our predictions of what will happen after the last nuclear explosion. But it's good that the designers are working with natural materials such as sand and metal. It gives you the opportunity to see a dead city like Pompeii from above and also walk the streets and reach the main square with the temple, which has evaporated, leaving only a ghost behind. A good project, but its price and environmental impact may not be justified.
Olha Kleytman / Buildner guest jury
Founder of SBM studio, Ukraine
A thoughtful, elegant and relevant design. Something to be discovered over time with a destination that echoes the history. Peter Newman The design is simple yet very effective and impactful.
Flora Lee / Buildner guest jury
Associate Partner, MAD Architects, USA
Buildner's commentary, recommendations and techniques review
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This presentation effectively conveys the project’s conceptual intent through a well-balanced mix of plan drawings, aerial perspectives, and atmospheric renderings. The human figure in blue provides a strong focal point, creating contrast against the muted sandy tones while reinforcing scale. The wireframe structures emerging from the landscape evoke themes of memory and absence, blending poetic storytelling with methodical precision.
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10/10 Linework
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10/10 Quality of drawings
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9/10 Balance of color
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10/10 Layout
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9/10 Hierarchy
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N/A Annotation
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N/A Text
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10/10 Clarity of story
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10/10 Clarity of diagrams
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9/10 Quality of overall presentation
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2nd Prize Winner
The Rainbow Of Renewal
We join architecture competitions to challenge ourselves, explore innovation, and push design boundaries. Architecture competitions offer creative freedom to experiment beyond constraints. The Last Nuclear Bomb Memorial especially allows us to communicate ideas purely through imagery, where representation and concept take precedence over text explanation, making the visual narrative and the concept important.
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United States
Jury feedback summary
The project envisions a memorial for the last nuclear bomb through a landscape intervention that transforms destruction into renewal. A circular water installation generates mist, evoking the image of an explosion while simultaneously creating rainbows, symbolizing hope. The design’s ephemeral quality enhances its poetic impact, making it a striking presence on the horizon. The intervention integrates with the natural environment, fostering an evolving atmospheric experience.
The idea is innovative. Its effect is interesting - mist from the water looks like explosive gas from nuclear bombs, but the mist is creating rainbow. It seems as if the design is turning the painful into the hopeful.
Flora Lee / Buildner guest jury
Associate Partner, MAD Architects, USA
There’s something wonderfully ephemeral about this project, that makes it feel perfect. It would be magical to see this on the horizon.
James Whitaker / Buildner guest jury
Founder of Whitaker Studio, United Kingdom
By using the landscape water installation to create the natural environment atmosphere with rainbows, it is very distinctive and impressive. However, under such bold imagination, this plan also has certain deficiencies. For example, it may be overly affected by the weather. If based on this, it can be extended to provide unique climate experiences in different weather conditions or even at night, the effect will be even better.
Wu Ziye / Buildner guest jury
co-founder of Mix Architecture, China
Buildner's commentary, recommendations and techniques review
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This presentation excels in communicating an ephemeral concept, a challenge for architectural and design projects. The use of mist and light to generate a rainbow creates a poetic and atmospheric response to the theme, reinforced by strong color balance and clear, well-composed visuals.
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7/10 Linework
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10/10 Quality of drawings
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10/10 Balance of color
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9/10 Layout
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8/10 Hierarchy
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N/A Annotation
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N/A Text
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9/10 Clarity of story
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9/10 Clarity of diagrams
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9/10 Quality of overall presentation
3rd Prize Winner +
Buildner Student Award
Buildner Student Award
Projected Destruction
This is the first architectural competition I have participated in! I was interested by the key feature that you cannot submit text with your project for this competition. I am particularly interested in art and architecture involving earthwork installations, and this seemed right up my alley.
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United States
Jury feedback summary
This project envisions a memorial set within a cratered landscape. A striking linear structure cuts through the void, acting as both a bridge and a viewing platform, inviting visitors to experience the vastness of destruction. The interplay of light and shadow within the perforated walls creates dynamic spatial effects, offering different perspectives from above and within. The scale and placement evoke a sense of isolation and reflection.
I liked this project because I could imagine myself stood in the centre of the crossing and being overwhelmed by the scale of it all. I wonder if this would be even better if the wall extended further, beyond the crater, fading into the landscape?
James Whitaker / Buildner guest jury
Founder of Whitaker Studio, United Kingdom
It's a beautiful work with light and space. It is possible to look from above and see completely different images. At the same time, its future project budget and its heavy environmental impact may be unjustified. It is not entirely clear what materials will be used.
Olha Kleytman / Buildner guest jury
Founder of SBM studio, Ukraine
An inventive and unique proposal. The strong design elements could be a little distinct from the subject.
Peter Newman / Buildner guest jury
artist, UK
Buildner's commentary, recommendations and techniques review
Order your review here
The simplicity and clarity of the plan drawing make it a strong focal point, effectively grounding the project’s spatial strategy. The section, featuring zigzagging ramps, is visually striking but lacks clear intent or explanation—are these paths random or deliberately composed? As conceptual lines, they communicate movement, but without further articulation of materiality or structure, they remain undeveloped in terms of architectural realization.
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6/10 Linework
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8/10 Quality of drawings
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6/10 Balance of color
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7/10 Layout
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7/10 Hierarchy
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N/A Annotation
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N/A Text
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7/10 Clarity of story
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7/10 Clarity of diagrams
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7/10 Quality of overall presentation
Honorable mentions
Shortlisted projects
In ever bloom, We rest.
The Big Boys' Playground
A Bridge of Time
absence
Fall Out
Mycelial Rebirth: Fungi Restoring Nuclear Wounds
Atomic Bloom
Urbs Aeterna
Between tides
The Rainbow Of Renewal
The Void
Walking on thin ice
Desert Bloom
Echoes of Silence
Smoke Screen
A SILVER LINING
Why Don't I See You
Ninety-Nine Graves, Infinite Hope
The Tip of the Iceberg
The Bound Ascendant
"Used to be there"
Projected Destruction
The Oasis
The Scar
Labirynth
SUBMERGED[Ω]
Soft Fallout
The floating Memorial
If The Seed Doesn't Die, Please Plant This Book
Möbius Elegy: Red Warning and Green Return
The Messenger
UP TO YOU
Silent Currents
A Matter Of Time
Dandelion Field
Border of two worlds
Absence
THE COMMON BURDEN
Beams of Lives
Wash Away Our Iniquities
