The Norman Foster Foundation has named three joint winners in its contest to reimagine Freedom Square in Kharkiv, UkraineOrganised by Buildner in collaboration with Kharkiv City Council, UNECE, and Arup the competition sought proposals to revamp the citys iconic Regional Administration Building, which was hit by an airstrike on 1 March 2022, and to improve surrounding public spaces in Freedom SquareThe Kharkiv Freedom Square contest launched two years after Norman Foster met the mayor of Kharkiv to discuss reconstruction set out to transform the enormous yet underutilised and impersonal public space into a new vibrant hub of activity that truly resonates with the people of Kharkiv.The winners were a below-ground memorial design by Jansen Che of Australia, a seasonal landscape of biodiverse green zones and multifunctional spaces by Nischal Ba of India, and a proposal to redefine Freedom Square by balancing historical preservation with modern design by Daniel Mintz of Israel.Competition site: Regional Administration Building, KharkivIn a website statement, the Norman Foster Foundation said: Collectively, rather than identify one clear winner and second and third places the jury decided to give equal weighting and prize money to three projects of equal standing, whose ideas would contribute to a second stage competition, open to new entrants as well as those who had competed in the present competition.The competition is seen as a success, particularly by the local representatives, who found it valuable in starting to redefine their needs symbolically as well as functionally. The importance of gravitas in any proposal was a theme that recurred in the discussions.The intention now is to create a second competition which will be open to new entrants to further develop the ideas proposed in the first stage. The jury were mindful that, for example, the final design for The Reichstag in Berlin evolved from a competition that morphed into a second stage; a testament to the impact of striving for the future of our cities.The Russian invasion of Ukraine started more than two years ago on 24 February 2022, and has resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties, the displacement of millions of people and the destruction of large areas of the country.Kharkiv is the second largest city in Ukraine and has been the focus of significant fighting, shelling and missile strikes amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The included an airstrike on the historic Regional Administration Building on 1 March 2022 which killed 29 people and injured more than 35 others.In May 2022, Norman Foster met with Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of Kharkiv and revealed plans to co-ordinate architects in the rebuilding of Kharkiv. In November, Buildner and the Norman Foster Foundation revealed the winners of an earlier contest to rebuild housing and public spaces in the Kharkiv suburb of Saltivka.The latest competition also comes a year after an international ideas contest was held to reconstruct a former high-school in Kharkiv, Ukraine. In February, the Lithuanian government launched an open international contest to rebuild educational infrastructure across Ukraine.Competition site: Kharkiv Freedom SquareThe contest set out to identify innovative and forward-looking strategies for revitalising the 1954 Regional Administration Building and surrounding 115,000m Freedom Square.Freedom Square reflects the history of Soviet-era planning in the city and in recent decades has served as an important cultural heart and urban landmark, hosting a variety of public events.Proposals for Freedom Square were required to respect and acknowledge the citys heritage while also providing a physical embodiment of the citys potential future. Key aims included creating a pedestrian friendly environment, transforming the space into a vibrant community hub and adopting sustainable landscape strategies.Plans for reimagining the Regional Administration Building were meanwhile expected to create a symbol of Ukraines progress and prosperity which balances heritage with contemporary design and draws on examples such as the Reichstag Building in Berlin.Judges included Norman Foster; Beatriz Colomina, director of graduate studies at the Princeton University School of Architecture; Ihor Terekhov, mayor of Kharkiv; Moshe Safdie of Safdie Architects; and Anupama Kundoo, architect and professor at TU Berlin.