The competition stands out for its distinctive 'silent' format, where architects must communicate their ideas purely through visual imagery without any accompanying text, descriptions, annotations, or even diagrammatic labels. Participants enjoy complete creative freedom in selecting their sites, whether real or imaginary, and determining the scale of their projects. The interpretation of 'positive' and 'negative' emotions remains entirely up to the designers, allowing them to explore contrasts between feelings such as fear and joy, anxiety and calm, or anger and love.
With the announcement of Edition 6 results, Buildner has simultaneously launched the seventh edition of the competition, offering a prize fund of 10,000 EUR with an advanced registration deadline of September 18, 2025. The organization currently manages several other active competitions, including the tenth edition of the MICROHOME competition in collaboration with Kingspan and Hapi Homes, the Mujassam Watan Urban Sculpture Challenge focused on innovative sculptures reflecting Saudi Arabia's heritage and future ambitions, and the Howard Waterfall Retreat competition inviting architects to design multi-generational family retreat spaces at the historic Howard Falls in Pennsylvania.
A distinguished international jury panel evaluated the submissions, including notable figures such as Bartosz Haduch, an architect and academic from Krakow leading the interdisciplinary collective NArchitekTURA; Robert Hutchison, a Seattle-based architect and photographer exploring the intersection of architecture and art; Jiafeng Li, an architect practicing across the United States, Europe, and China with expertise in environmentally responsive design; Jürgen Mayer H., founding partner of Berlin-based J.MAYER.H und Partner known for experimental architecture; Françoise N'Thépé, head of the Paris-based practice FRANÇOISE N'THÉPÉ ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN; Nuno Pimenta from Porto, Portugal, whose work spans installation and performative public spaces; Charles Tashima, director of Studio Tashima in London specializing in adaptive reuse; Stephanie Deumer, a Canadian visual artist based in Los Angeles working in multimedia installations; and Andreas Profanter, a partner at noa network of architecture in Bolzano.
To complement the competition, Buildner has published 'Emotional Architecture: Designing Experiences That Provoke Feelings,' a comprehensive book examining the intricate relationship between architecture and human emotions. The publication explores how spaces profoundly influence feelings through the strategic use of light, layout, materials, and spatial arrangements, featuring curated projects from multiple editions of the Museum of Emotions competition submitted by architects and designers worldwide.
The first prize was awarded to 'Not Forgotten. Reassembled.' by Natalie Battah from Sweden. This powerful project explores themes of loss, memory, and collective healing through architecture, drawing inspiration from war-torn landscapes of the Middle East. The design guides visitors through a transformative journey from a dark, ruin-filled space to a sunlit courtyard where they actively participate in rebuilding processes. Using salvaged materials including ceramic, mosaic, brick, and limestone, visitors reassemble modular walls while preserving scars such as bullet holes and cracks as integral parts of the renewed structure. The installation transforms visitors from passive observers into active co-creators, emphasizing material reuse, human-scale detail, and emotional resonance to create an evolving museum experience rooted in recovery and shared memory.
The second prize went to 'Refracted Expression' by Rongxin Tang and Yuwei Wu from China. This innovative concept embeds a museum within a lakeside cave, exploring the emotional tension between outward expression and inner truth. Inspired by camera obscura principles, the design features a single pinhole in the cave wall that projects an inverted image of a sunlit forest and shimmering lake onto the dark interior surface, transforming nature into a fleeting, meditative spectacle. The architectural journey contrasts light and darkness, comfort and unease, with a smooth basalt platform offering serene landscape views while visitors must wade through shallow water to access the shadowy cave, evoking subconscious discomfort.
Weihao Yin from Spain earned third prize with 'The Emotive Odyssey,' introducing a linear spatial sequence anchored by a narrow channel carved through a concrete landscape. The museum experience unfolds as a meditative walk along a sunken corridor that gradually opens into a field of wild vegetation, culminating in a walled courtyard. The composition relies on strong axiality, rigid geometry, and the contrast between enclosure and release, using water sparingly but effectively to guide movement and encourage both visual and emotional reflection.
The Buildner Student Award was presented to '[1000,10000] Kelvin' by Alexandra Ilinca Domnescu, Daria-Alexandra Pirvu, Alexandra-Mihaela Udrişte, and Stefania-Sorana Gurau from Romania. This immersive concept translates the Kelvin light temperature scale into an emotional architectural journey through two circular halls. Visitors first enter a narrow, steam-filled vestibule leading to a compact, heated chamber glowing in deep amber light at 1000 K, where warm metal surfaces and oppressive atmosphere provoke tension and unease. They then transition into a vast, cool-blue hall at 10,000 K filled with diffused light and chilled surfaces, offering relief and serenity while maintaining visual connection through a narrow slit between spaces.
Several highlighted submissions demonstrated exceptional creativity in exploring emotional architecture. 'Chiaroscuro' by Pak Shing Ernest Cheung from the University of Sydney, Australia, drew inspiration from the visual art technique to create opposing yet interconnected spaces using light and shadow. One hall features soft natural light and warm, organic materials encouraging calm and introspection, while the other remains sunken and shadowed, constructed from rusted steel, concrete, and dark textures to elicit discomfort and isolation.
'The Circle of Life' by Aleksandra Zofia Forystek and Matjan Mataj from the United States presents an experiential journey from devastation to renewal set within a fire-scarred forest. Visitors traverse a barren, charred landscape before encountering a monolithic, circular concrete structure that reveals a pitched-roof tunnel resembling a house outline. The dark, unbroken corridor builds unease until visitors emerge into a vibrant courtyard alive with greenery, symbolizing the cyclical nature of destruction and rebirth.
'In the End, I'm in Despair Again' by Jinwoo Pyun and Jihun Shin from Hoseo University, South Korea, confronts the cyclical nature of war and peace through an endless oval path symbolizing the repetition of conflict and fragile calm. Visitors begin in a narrow, oppressive trench-like space formed from rusted Corten steel marked with bullet holes, eventually emerging onto a vast, open plain representing peace and freedom, only to curve back into darkness, creating a haunting loop where peace proves momentary and despair returns.
Other notable submissions included 'Reflections of Scale – The Architecture of Opposite Emotions' by Quyết Tiến Ngô from Vietnam, playing with perception and proportion through everyday objects magnified to surreal proportions, and 'Protection' by Sung Jin Lee, Woosop Yi, and Jisun Woo from South Korea, inspired by the dual nature of sea urchins with sharp exterior spines that create hostility outside while filtering gentle light and calming sounds inside.
Additional highlighted projects included 'Inseparable' by Jun Hanajiri and Takashi Miyase from Waseda University, Belgium, which confronts the hidden relationship between urban beauty and waste through a riverside museum design, and 'Price of Harvest' by Jacque Cheong Park-Gen, Lua Ying Yuan, Chun Yi Ong, and Lee Jian Cheng from Malaysia, reimagining industrial silos as emotional vessels representing life phases from emptiness and fear to growth and abundance.
The Museum of Emotions Competition continues to demonstrate architecture's profound capacity to influence human emotions and experiences. As the competition moves into its seventh edition, it maintains its commitment to exploring how spatial design, material choices, lighting, and architectural sequencing can create powerful emotional narratives that speak to visitors without the need for words. The diverse range of winning and highlighted projects showcases innovative approaches to emotional architecture, from personal healing and memory to broader themes of conflict, environmental awareness, and human resilience.
