An open international ideas contest featuring an €9,000 prize fund is seeking concepts to reimagine a typical tenement-style apartment in Milan’s Isola district (Deadline: 12 September) The ‘Milan Design District’ competition – organised by TerraViva Competitions and supported by Material Bank – invites architects, designers, interior designers, artists and students to transform an apartment inside Via Arese 18 into a ‘masterpiece of contemporary design that embodies Milan’s avant-garde spirit.’ The call for concepts aims to identify a range of solutions that could be used to re-imagine Milan’s classic traditional tenement-style ‘Casa di Ringhiera’ buildings. Concepts must provide a home for a single person or a couple aged under 40 working in the architecture or design industry. Contest site: Via Arese 18 in Isola, Milan According to the brief: ‘The competition challenges designers to rethink urban living in Milan, blending tradition with bold, future-forward interiors that prioritise both aesthetics and functionality. ‘Proposals should create a cohesive apartment for a young professional or couple, embracing flexibility, innovative spatial solutions and a strong design identity. ‘How can contemporary interiors foster a sense of community while offering personal retreat? How can design bridge tradition and progress? With this challenge, designers are invited to push boundaries, embracing daring creativity to craft a vision for the future of urban living in one of the world’s great design capitals.’ Located a short distance from Milano Porta Garibaldi railway station, Isola is a popular residential district in the centre of Milan. Local landmarks include Boeri Studio’s Bosco Verticale residential skyscrapers and the Isola Pepe Verde community gardens which were the focus of an architectural competition in 2018. In 2023, TerraViva held an earlier contest for new housing at the abandoned Cascina Lossano complex in rural Italy. Taiwan and Italy-based Corrado Kay Hwa Severino, Luca Quadro, Jacopo Leccia and Giorgio Martellono won the €5,000 top prize with a vernacular architecture concept featuring a new greenhouse. The latest competition comes four years after London’s PLP Architecture, New York’s Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Carlo Ratti Associati of Turin and Gross Max of Edinburgh were named winners of an international competition to masterplan an Olympic Village for the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics at Porta Romana on the other side of the city. Contest site: Via Arese 18 in Isola, Milan The ‘Milan Design District’ competition seeks proposals to transform an apartment within a prominent corner complex located at Via Arese 18 in Isola. Proposals may reconfigure the interior walls and introduce new partitions but existing window locations must be retained. Concepts will be judged on originality, creative interpretation of the programme, interior design, contemporary approach, sensitive use of materials and colours, and graphic representation. Submissions should include two digital A1 panels, a short written description and a visual mood board. Judges will include Joachim Stumpp from Material Bank, Stefania Carraro of Milan-based SDA Bocconi, Harrison Stallan from OMA of Rotterdam, Tatiana Dimou of Tatiana Dimou Architects in Greece and Giulio Ubini of TUC Studio in Milan. The overall winner – to be announced on 13 October – will receive a €5,000 top prize while a second prize of €2,000 and third prize of €1,000 will also be awarded along with a Material Bank ‘best mood board’ award worth €1,000. How to apply Deadline: 12 September 2025 Fee: Until 13 June: €59; from 13 June to 8 August: €79; from 7 August to 12 September: €109 Competition funding source: Terraviva & Material BankContact details: Project funding source: (no funding) Owner of site(s): Private info@terravivacompetitions.comVisit the competition website for more information 2025-04-14 Merlin Fulcher Share