Description
Please note: this competition is open exclusively to students of OP Jindal and HSE.
How do buildings evolve with time while preserving their essence?
Our cities are brimming with buildings which are old and have significant historic and cultural value. The tragedy however, has been the extremely polarised approach to this challenge —either absolute demolition followed by fresh construction on one side, or preservation-focussed conservation on the other. This is where Adaptive Reuse becomes pertinent — it responds to the call of the future without either considering the past as sacrosanct and inviolable, or steamrolling the historic layers of the buildings altogether.
The facades are an essential feature in such historic contexts which are under tremendous economic, political, technological, or cultural change. By responding to shifting socio-economic, cultural, and technological landscapes, the new facade becomes a living narrative and functional evolution to bridge the past, present, and future.
This competition invites undergraduate students of art/architecture/design to visualize the adaptive reuse of old building facades.
About the Partner
The Jindal School of Art and Architecture (JSAA) is a place that produces paradigmatic shifts in the way we MAKE, THINK and MANAGE all Built Environments; from the most intimate to the most public, from the analogue to the digital, from the real to the virtual.
JSAA fosters interdisciplinary work that cuts across intellectual terrains and institutions worldwide allowing students and faculty to actively address the most pressing issues and problems facing our world today.
Brief
How can the facades of old buildings adapt to the economic, political, technological, and/or cultural change in cities with a rich tangible heritage, and geared towards cultural change, economic growth and technological up-gradation?
This competition challenges students in architecture, design, and art to reimagine the facades of 50-100 year old buildings in Delhi NCR or St. Petersburg through adaptive reuse. Participants will analyze the changing inhabitation and cultural contexts of the building followed by its translation into an adaptive facade design using AI tools.
The submissions should explore the dynamic exchanges between the building facade and heritage, sustainability, technology, and/or cultural and material landscape. The winning entries will bring forward innovative building facades that respond to cultural, social, and/or technological change, inspiring dialogue on adaptive inhabitation through building facades in real-world conditions.
The participants can approach the adaptive building facade as one which:
Themes for Exploration
Heritage & Narrative: How does the original facade reflect the building’s cultural, social, and economic past, and how can these narratives be reinterpreted for a futuristic design?
Sustainability: How can sustainable materials and techniques be incorporated into the new facade to extend the building’s life cycle and reduce environmental impact?
Technological Innovation: Can the facade be dynamic, integrating smart materials, kinetic elements, or responsive lighting to interact with environmental conditions and user input?
Visual Symbolism & Iconography: What symbols, motifs, or narratives from the original design can be reimagined to communicate a futuristic identity and foster contemporary cultural dialogue?
Functional Evolution & Community Engagement: How can the redesigned facade enhance the building’s functionality to serve as a dynamic public space that adapts to evolving urban socio-economic needs?
Requirements / Mode of Submission
A1 size Poster (300 dpi): A visual representation mapping the chosen facade. The poster should include (but may not be limited to) sketches, diagrams, references/citations/precedents, highlights of the design question and design response, important design details 60-second reel: A short video showcasing the transformation of the old building into the reimagined facade. Write-Up: A concise (approximately 300-word) narrative explaining:
Each project must be submitted independently. Group submissions will not be considered.
The final output should be visually compelling and conceptually strong, illustrating how the proposed facade integrates past, present, and future.
References
Stages of the Competition
Start Date: 1 October, 2025 Submission Deadline: 15 December, 2025
Requirements / participants
• Open to undergraduate students in architecture, design, and art. • Participants must be 18 +
Jury
Mitya Kharshak — Designer, founder, and Editor-in-Chief of PROJECTOR, an international media platform dedicated to design and visual arts, with a focus on the research of national design schools. He is also the Dean of the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL in Saint Petersburg. Mitya graduated from the Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design and completed postgraduate studies in Art and Architecture Theory and History at the same institution.
Badrinarayanan Srinivasan (Badri) — Architect, designer, and educator with over 35 years of academic experience. Founder of a multidisciplinary design practice launched in 1994, with a portfolio spanning architecture, interiors, product, graphic, and exhibition design. Holds a PhD in Architecture from SPA Delhi and a PGCert in Higher Education from Nottingham Trent University (UK). Prof. Badrinarayanan Srinivasan is currently the Dean of Jindal School of Art and Architecture.
Andrey Punin — Artist, architect, and Associate Professor at the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL in Saint Petersburg. Member of the Union of Architects of Russia and head of the creative workshop «ARKI,» focusing on interdisciplinary approaches to architecture and visual culture.
Sourav Banerjea — Associate Professor at the Jindal School of Art and Architecture in Sonipat, India. He comes with almost 14 years of professional and academic experience, keenly interested in the questions of functional aesthetics, built identities and material expositions. Throughout his career as a Built Environment Designer, he has learned, appreciated, and practiced the art of generating built forms and volumes that are
Sergey Padalko — Architect and head of the architectural studio Vitruvius & Sons. Among his completed projects are the Barcode shopping center, the Lumiere residential building, and the renovation of the Round Market. He is also the author of numerous exhibition designs for major institutions including the State Hermitage Museum, the Tretyakov Gallery, and the Manege Central Exhibition Hall.
Sukanya Sharma — A distinguished Conservation Professional and Assistant Professor and Chair — Archiving and Exhibition Action Group at Jindal School of Art and Architecture. With a master’s in architectural conservation from SPA, Bhopal and certification in Heritage Impact Assessment from UNESCO, ICCROM-Italy and WHITRAP-Shanghai, her extensive project contributions span Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Amritsar, and Madhya Pradesh. Sukanya received honors for her Built Heritage mapping in Jammu by the J& K Department of Tourism and a scholarship for the Young Professional Forum — Emerging Skills for Heritage Conservation, Rome (2022). She works closely in collaboration with the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Govt. of Haryana. She is currently a Research Fellow at Jindal Institute of Haryana Studies, focusing on documenting the Cultural heritage of Sonipat.
Awards for OP Jindal Students
1st Place — An opportunity to present the project at an offline exhibition in Saint Petersburg. Travel and accommodation expenses between Delhi and Saint Petersburg will be covered.
2nd Place — ₹20,000 INR 3rd Place — ₹10,000 INR
Awards for HSE Students
1st Place — An opportunity to present the project at an offline exhibition in Sonipat. Travel and accommodation expenses between Saint Petersburg and Delhi will be covered.
2nd Place — ₽20,000 3rd Place — ₽10,000
Intellectual Property & Results Positioning
Winning projects may be exhibited physically or digitally. A competition booklet documenting the submissions might be published. Social media campaigns featuring selected projects.
Contacts
If you have any questions, please email us at: support@dafes.org