'Confronting Informality' Awards 20 Proposals Tackling the Challenges of Informal Settlements

Read the original version in Spanish here.

Published on July 04, 2026

Twenty proposals for informal settlements from Brazil to Bangladesh have been awarded in Confronting Informality, the first edition of the competition organized by TU Delft's Department of Urbanism, alongside universities from around the world.

Launched last April, this ideas competition addresses the challenge of urban settlements based on the principles of the New Urban Agenda. Through their projects, architecture and urban planning students from all over the world answered the following question: how can we create healthy, safe, and resilient environments in informal settlements while simultaneously preserving social networks and a sense of community?

"We live in an urban world, but explosive, unplanned urbanization processes in developing countries mean that new informal settlements are growing in population and size—often without infrastructure, access to sanitation, or quality public spaces," the organizers explained in the competition brief.

Discover the winning projects below:

Winner

AA138 – Towards Equilibrium
Dhaka, Bangladesh

Authors: Rahfatun Nisa Nova, Md. Nazim Uddin, Nazila Sabrin Zaman, Monjura Khatun Nisha, Ayesha Labiba Khalil
Institution: BRAC University (Bangladesh)

Finalist

AA135 – Community Articulation in the Neighbourhood
Salvador, Brazil

Authors: Ana Clara Oliveira de Araújo, Mariana Ribeiro Pardo, Camila Pinho de Mello
Institution: Federal University of Bahia (Brazil)

AA20 – Productive Informality
Cairo, Egypt

Authors: Philipp Winter, Laura Ximena Vargas Pabon, Florangela Chahuayo Huillca, Ahmed Mamdouh Hussein
Institution: Cairo University (Egypt)

Honorable Mention

**AA143 – Garbageistan* - The Land of ‘Impure’**
Karachi, Pakistan

Authors: Ferya Ilyas, Shizhe Ma, Yilin LaiUn
Institution: University of Stuttgart (Germany)

AA11 – Inforder Domino
Tirana, Albania

Authors: Amina Chouari, Antonio Sposetti, Chiara Magli, Mariaelena Scaglia
Institution: Politecnico di Milano (Italy)

Finalists

AA14 – The Walkable City
Mumbai, India

Authors: Pramada Jagtap, Pranav Thole
Institution: Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture (India)

AA21 – Settlement in a Fragile Soil
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Authors: Herick Ribeiro do Nascimento, Tayná Santiago Pinto
Institution: PUC-Rio (Brazil)

AA22 – Reforming Waste – Piping Mansheyat Naser
Cairo, Egypt

Authors: Arise Wan, Charlene Chan Huishan, Kareem Nems, Lee Xiao Hui, Mohamed Moharram
Institutions: Dessau International Architecture Graduate School (Germany) + Anhalt University of Applied Sciences (Germany)

AA23 – (PRE)Occupying Anchieta
São Paulo, Brazil

Authors: Lucas Lerchs, Karoline Andrade Barros
Institutions: KU Leuven (Belgium) + University of São Paulo (Brazil)

AA24 – City in the Making
São Paulo, Brazil

Authors: Matthias Lamberts, Ken Vervaet, Luíza Cirillo, Jeroen Stevens
Institution: KU Leuven (Belgium)

AA25 – Reflecting Informality on Renewal Strategy
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Authors: Lelissa Erkissa Kasim, Boja Muluneh Merdasa
Institution: Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (Ethiopia)

AA29 – A Framework for Empowerment
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Author: Praveen Raj
Institution: UC Berkeley, College of Environmental Design (United States)

AA36 – Form(u/a)lizing the Informality
Mumbai, India

Authors: Alan Alexander, Vinita Anil Mhatre
Institutions: Rotterdam School of Management (Netherlands) + Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture (India)

AA37 – Convergent Surfaces
Caracas, Venezuela

Authors: Francis Fernández, Adriana Ramírez
Institution: Universidad Central de Venezuela (Venezuela)

AA42 – Room(s) for Manufacture
Valparaíso, Chile

Authors: Livia del Conte, Irene Conversano
Institution: TU Delft (Netherlands)

AA44 – Emerging Formality
Petare, Venezuela

Authors: Nicolás Pérez, Elizabeth Hauver
Institution: Wentworth Institute of Technology (United States)

AA48 – Responsive Archipelago
Caracas, Venezuela

Authors: Saúl Yuncoxar, Gabriel García, Juan Carlos Moreno
Institution: Universidad Central de Venezuela (Venezuela)

AA127 – Expandable Limits
Caracas, Venezuela

Authors: Oliver Belisario, Javier Pereira, Luis Porras, Luis Sandoval
Institution: Universidad Central de Venezuela (Venezuela)

AA136 – Systemizing Sanitation
Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Authors: Anell Marie Padilla Mazier, José Lenin Peralta Portillo, Stephanie Adria Patzer
Institutions: University of Guelph (Canada) + TECHO (Honduras)