Team of Italian Architects Win the “Future School for Ukraine” Competition Organized by Lithuania

A winner of a competition for an adaptive technical school design for the “School of the Future for Ukraine” has been selected. This competition was initiated by Lithuania and organised together with architectural and educational experts from Ukraine. It will be used as a blueprint for the construction of new sustainable and safe schools in Ukraine.

The international jury awarded first prize to the Italian architectural team “Scandurra Studio Architeturra srl”, which collaborated with the Ukrainian architect M.A. Vustianskyi.

The adaptive technical school design based on their project is expected to be finalised in February 2025. Ukrainian authorities as well as international partners active in Ukraine’s recovery, will be able to use it free of charge to rebuild schools.

The second place in the competition was granted to a team of Ukrainian architects registered by Pe Danila Bielokopytov, who collaborated with colleagues from the Netherlands – “Orange architects”, and the third place went to the team from Finland „Huttunen-Lipasti Architects Ltd“, who collaborated with Ukrainian architect Dmytro Sorokevych. The winners were granted the prize of €12,000, the runners up won €10,000, and the prize for the third team won €8,000.

“Winning a competition is always a source of pride and joy, but in this case, it is enhanced by the opportunity to do something concrete, in our own small way, for Ukraine, which is close to our hearts”, said Poé Matteo George, the representative of the winning team from Italy and director of  “Scandurra Studio Architeturra srl“.

“The “Future School for Ukraine” project is an inspiring contribution by Lithuania and international partners to Ukraine’s victory and the future of Ukrainian children… The efforts of ten teams of architects helped to draw the attention of the international community to the fact that bomb explosions and alarm sirens are yet more frequent than the school bell in Ukraine today,” said Lithuanian Vice-Minister Simonas Šatūnas.

Every rebuilt school is an investment in Ukraine‘s Future

The damage caused by Russia to Ukraine’s education sector is immense. According to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, more than 1,600 schools have been affected by the attacks. As many as 197 have been completely destroyed. Rational solutions and the support of the international community are needed to rebuild them.

“Russia’s war against Ukraine is an existential struggle for the future of Ukraine. The enemy wants to seize our lands, destroy our language and culture, and prevent a new generation of free Ukrainians from growing up. That is why the restoration and development of education are more important today than ever before. Every restored school, every shelter and every return to a living educational process is a step towards preserving our identity. The development of an adaptive school project is an opportunity to rebuild more schools, saving money and time on the technical preparation of the project. I am grateful to our partners from Lithuania for their continued support of our education and for launching the “Future School for Ukraine” initiative,” said Oksen Lisovyi, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine. 

The project “Future School for Ukraine” is implemented by the Central Project Management Agency (CPVA) in partnership with the Agency for Restoration of Ukraine and the Lithuanian Union of Architects. It is funded with €500,000 from the Lithuanian Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid Fund.

Projects evaluated based on five criteria

All the projects in the competition were evaluated based on five criteria: the quality of the architectural idea, its adaptability, functionality, sustainability and the cost of design services. The first prize-winning project, prepared by a joint Italian-Ukrainian architectural team, focuses on the efficient use of materials and rational construction solutions to make the most efficient use of funds.

The materials used in the modular construction can be reused, which makes the construction more sustainable, and the layout of the school itself will also allow the various spaces within the school grounds to be used for a variety of community uses such as events, meetings and trainings.

According to Rūta Leitanaitė, a member of the Council of the Lithuanian Union of Architects (LAS), the model proposed by the LAS and approved by the CPVA for selecting the best idea for a new school through an open international architectural competition has proved to be a great success – the work done in the preparation of the competition task together with architectural and educational specialists from Ukraine helped to find the best-suited solution for the Ukrainian communities. LAS also initiated “Future School for Ukraine” to become a part of New European Bauhaus Lab “Public Infrastructure for Ukraine“, launched by the European Commission.

A total of 15 projects were submitted to the call for proposals. They were evaluated by an international jury of experts, including architects Viktor Zotov (Ukraine), Carl Backstrand (Sweden), Helena Sandman (Finland), Viktorija Blažienė and Rolandas Palekas (Lithuania), Ana Novosad, former Minister of Education of Ukraine and founder of the NGO savED, and Artūras Žarnovskis, head of the programme “Co-Create Future of Ukraine”.

According to H. Sandman, the importance of supporting children and youth to continue their daily life as normal as possible is crucial even in the most challenging times. 

“There is power in education to rebuild and inspire hope. This makes this project extremely important. When selecting the winner, I looked for sustainable, innovative and flexible designs that not only addressed immediate needs but also fostered resilience, community, and a vision for a brighter future for Ukrainian children”, said H. Sandman. 

All the ideas that were included in the competition can be found here.