Dikshya Pokharel, Zhasmin Roumieh and Mareike Steffen, first-year students on the IUDD Master’s programme, won the ‘Special Prize for Interdisciplinary and Sustainable Building’, sponsored by eZeit Ingenieure GmbH, in the urban planning category of the 2026 AIV Schinkel Competition with their project ‘The Gentle City’. The competition focused on the medium-sized town of Luckenwalde in Brandenburg.

Organised by the Berlin-Brandenburg Association of Architects and Engineers (AIV), the competition aimed to gather site-specific project proposals that are economically viable and as scalable as possible within the characteristic spatial and architectural context of Luckenwalde. The jury was impressed by the “clear and consistent approach of the work towards the further development of the existing block, in which the transformation is viewed not as a replacement but as a strategic continuation of existing structures”. The project was supervised by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sigrun Langner, Dr. Mara Trübenbach, Jannik Petry and Elisabeth Peters from the Chair of Landscape Architecture and Planning.

The jury highlighted in particular: “This project is awarded the eZeit Special Prize because it establishes sustainability as a guiding design principle and gives it a concrete spatial form. The minimisation of CO2 emissions through a consistent focus on existing buildings and the integration of water-sensitive open spaces, but above all the interdisciplinary linking of urban development and landscape architecture, demonstrate a resource-conserving approach in line with the spirit of the prize.”

In addition to the Special Prize for Interdisciplinary and Sustainable Building, students from the Bauhaus University Weimar were awarded the Schinkel Prize as well as two honourable mentions in the urban planning category.

Background AIV-Schinkel-Prize

The AIV Schinkel Prize is awarded by the Association of Architects and Engineers of Berlin and Brandenburg and has been recognising outstanding technical and scientific achievements by young planners since 1852. The award ceremony takes place annually on the birthday of the Prussian architect, urban planner, conservationist and visual artist Karl Friedrich Schinkel.

The prize is awarded in several specialist categories, including urban planning, architecture, landscape architecture, structural engineering, transport planning and fine art. Each category is endowed with 3,000 euros. The aim of the competition is to promote young talent in the field of planning and design.

For the 171st edition of the prize, there were a total of 140 entries, 50 of which were in the ‘Urban Planning’ category. Of these, twelve projects were awarded prizes across six specialist categories. 


Further information:
AIV-Schinkel-Wettbewerb - Architekten- und Ingenieurverein zu Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar: Aktuelles