BOTANICAL TURN 2026

Reimagine the Future of Cities Through Living Infrastructure

Calling Architects, Landscape Architects, Urban Designers & Visionary Designers

What if botanical gardens were no longer isolated destinations—but became the living infrastructure of our cities?

Botanical Turn challenges you to rethink the relationship between plants, people, and the built environment. Design a visionary proposal that transforms botanical gardens into connected urban systems capable of addressing climate resilience, biodiversity loss, and healthier public spaces.

Why Participate?

International Design Competition
€5,000 Prize Pool
Free Registration (EU-funded)
Global Exposure through Non Architecture and the Naturescapes Project
Open to students and professionals from all disciplines (individuals or teams of up to five members).

Your Design Challenge: Select ONE CITY
Lisbon, Portugal
Cagliari, Italy
Lima, Peru

Develop one concept expressed across three interconnected scales:

• Networked-City Vision – A city-wide botanical strategy
• The Node – A transformative urban intervention
• Tiny Botanical Garden – A compact architectural prototype communicating botanical knowledge

Together, these scales should form one coherent living infrastructure that reconnects cities with nature.

Design Beyond Green Spaces

This competition isn't about designing another park.

It's about creating:

Nature-based urban systems
Climate-adaptive public spaces
Biodiversity networks
New experiences between people and plants
Innovative architectural thinking that reshapes the future of cities.

Important Dates
Registration Opens: 18 May 2026
Submission Deadline: 18 September 2026

Are You Ready to Shape the Botanical Turn?
Bring together architecture, ecology, landscape, technology, culture, and imagination to create a new model for urban life.
Design the city as a living ecosystem!

Join Botanical Turn 2026 and let your ideas grow beyond the garden.

https://www.non-a.com/botanical-turn/