The Quiet Tower
Dezeen Competitions: Buildner's latest competition, The Quiet Tower, invites architects and designers to rethink an observation tower on Latvia's remote Livonian Coast.
Proposals should outline the tower as "more than a viewing platform" while spotlighting the architecture's relationship with the landscape.
Organiser: Buildner
Competition: The Quiet Tower
Judges: yet to be announced
Registration deadline: 13 January 2027
Winner announcement: 6 April 2027
Prizes: the first prize is €5,000, the second is €2,500 and the third is €1,000, with an additional €1,000 prize for the Buildner Student Award and €500 for the Buildner Sustainability Award
Competition overview
The Quiet Tower competition invites architects, designers, and creative thinkers to imagine a small observation tower on Latvia's remote Livonian Coast near Cape Kolka.
Set within a landscape of forests, dunes, sea winds, and quiet coastal villages, the competition asks participants to rethink the traditional observation tower as a vertical experience connected to atmosphere, nature and reflection.
Rather than focusing on monumentality or spectacle, proposals are encouraged to explore simplicity, emotional connection, and the relationship between architecture and landscape.
The future tower is envisioned as more than a viewing platform – it may become a lookout ritual, a room above the trees, a sheltered pause within nature, or a place for watching weather, sunsets, and changing horizons.
Inspired by Nordic retreat culture, fire lookout towers, dune watchpoints, and quiet architectural interventions, the competition encourages thoughtful proposals that respond sensitively to the character of Latvia's Baltic coastline.
The competition offers a total prize fund of €10,000, including awards for the winning proposals and honourable mentions. Final registration closes on 13 January 2027, with winners scheduled to be announced on 6 April 2026.
Eligibility and judging criteria
The competition is open internationally to architects, students, designers, and creative professionals from all backgrounds.
Instead of creating a traditional tourist destination, the vision is to offer visitors a place to slow down, disconnect from everyday routines, and experience the atmosphere of the Baltic coast through landscape, weather, silence and observation.
The future tower is imagined not simply as a viewing platform, but as a lookout ritual, a room above the trees, a sheltered pause within nature, or a contemporary object inspired by the spirit of the coastline.
How to enter
Entrants can enter the competition or gain more information via Buildner's website.
Submission deadlines
Registrations are open until 13 January 2027, with submissions closing on 15 February.
Winners will be announced on 6 April.
About Buildner
Buildner specialises in creating and managing architecture contests, offering a platform for architects to showcase innovation and engage with a global community.
Its mission is to inspire creativity and professional growth in the architectural industry.
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