2026 WLA Student Awards Shortlist Announced

The 2026 WLA Student Awards received over 130 Entries from more than 20 countries worldwide. The projects were submitted by students and academics from some of the world’s most prestigious university programs. With only three categories, the jurors had difficulty selecting a shortlist of high-quality projects by current and graduating students.

Jury

Yadan Luo
Lecturer, Landscape Architecture Department, Weitzman School of Design,  University of Pennsylvania and Associate Director, Future Cities Initiative, Weitzman School of Design,  University of Pennsylvania Creative Director, YH LAB

Dr Anastasia Nikologianni
Research Fellow at Birmingham City University. Director of the Young Landscape Architects and Emerging Professionals IFLA World

Dr. Maj Plemenitas 
Founder of Linkscale and Amphibious Lab. Academic appointments at RMIT LA and UCL Bartlett include Associate Professorship and co-Directorship of the MA/MLA Landscape Architecture programs (UCL). 

Professor Stefan Tischer
Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Sassari in Sardinia and Aga Khan Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Design GSD at Harvard University (2023-2024), and Landscape Architect

Student Awards Shortlist

The 2026 WLA Student Awards shortlist (listed in alphabetical order by entry name) is as follows:

Conceptual Design

AI Fungi and Residual Ground
David Hancong Ding – Cornell University
Supervisor: Duarte Santo – Cornell University

Deities or Disasters?
Jiacheng He, Xiang Yu, Chi Zhang, Yiming Huang, Jiayi Chang, Siyuan Feng, Yuanting Xu – Southeast University; Guangyuan Zhao – Peiking University
Supervisor: Xiang Zhou – Southeast University

Fluid Itineraries: Rewetting Hobrec
Hanrui Fu – Harvard Graduate School of Design
Supervisors: Chris Reed & Laila Seewang – Harvard Graduate School of Design

Jump into the River
党方红 – 天津美术学院 | Supervisor孙奎利 – 天津美术学院
石珏玮 – 天津大学 | Supervisor 张春彦 – 天津大学
张永欣 – 山东建筑大学 | Supervisor 王越 – 山东建筑大学
Supervisor 郭哲良 – 华南理工大学

Keep Carpet Dusty
Sabrina HoiYan Young & Nils Hayoz (ETH Zurich)
Supervisor: Martina Voser (ETH Zurich)

LANDSCAPE AS HOME Glacier Flour as a Circular System
Chutong Liu & Tong Li – Harvard Graduate School of Design
Supervisors: Dan Stubbergaard –  Harvard Graduate School of Design; Bert de Jonghe – Founder of Transpolar Studio;

Promenade Sylvatica
Hanrui Fu – Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Supervisor: Anita Berrizbeitia – Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Reframe Shade as Negotiated Ground
Zenith(Zhiming) Zhang – Harvard Graduate School of Design;
Supervisors: Anita Berrizbeitia, Eric Kramer & Max Piana – Harvard Graduate School of Design

Re-wilding with Rain
Devi S Nair – CEPT University
Supervisors: Prof. Rhea Shah & Prof. Prasanna Mattikop – CEPT University

The Courtyark Strategy
Mika Magtanong,  Emma Marini, Jack Mok, Georgia Papworth – University of Toronto
Supervisors: Fadi Masoud, Robert Wright, Matt Perotto – University of Toronto

The Sub-Way
Student: Orly Sacke – University of Toronto
Supervisor: Robert Wright – University of Toronto

Water As Calender
Chutong Liu – Harvard Graduate School of Design
Supervisors: Jungyoon Kim, Shunsaku Miyagi – Harvard Graduate School of Design

Graduate

Between Utopia and Rust
Ammu Anitha Muraleedharan, Vidula Dinesh – Politecnico di Milano
Sara Protasoni – Politecnico di Milano

Cle(an/p)sydra: Civic Water Cycles
Mu He and Zhiming (Zenith) Zhang – Harvard Graduate School of Design
Supervisors: Chris Reed &  Laila Seewang – Harvard Graduate School of Design, Stoss

Ecological Firebreak
Aneena Jose – University College London
Supervisor: Günther Galligioni, Christina Geros, Technical Supervisor – Vladimir Guculak;

FRACTURES OF COEXISTENCE
Susmita Dey, Alwin Mathew, Roma Mudhol – Politecnico di Milano
Supervisor : Sara Protasoni Co-Supervisor : Ali Reza Hakim

Harvesting Futures
José Fabián Jiménez Viñas, Yuxiang Huang
Supervisor: Jose Alfredo Ramirez – Architectural Association School of Architecture

Oyster Islands, Living Seas
Qiwen Xiong & Ye Zhang – Beijing Forestry University, Yike Wu – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Yuxuan Cai, Zeyu Cao – University of Chicago;
Advisors: Peng Yag; Ying Luo

RE-CONNECT. Prądnik River Park
Student: Tomasz Jaróg – Cracow University of Technology
Supervisor: Katarzyna Hodor – Cracow University of Technology

The Fold of Différance
Rui Chen -Tianjin University
Supervisor: Weiyang Jia – Tianjin University

The Living Scar
Jaeyong Ahn – University of Toronto
Supervisor: Liat Margolis – University of Toronto

Topography of Aqua-Succession
Angelika Duda – Cracow University of Technology
Supervisor: Katarzyna Łakomy – Cracow University of Technology

University Studio

AI-Enhanced Landscape Engineering – Shanghai JiaoTong University              
Supervisors: Zhu Liqing, Li Yanpeng, Fu Kai – Shanghai JiaoTong University

Becoming Birds: Iceland Coexistence – Agricultural University of Iceland
Supervisors: Ivan Juarez and Helena Guttormsdóttir – Agricultural University of Iceland

Dynamics & Encounters – University of Hong Kong
Supervisors: Francisco Cevallos Barragan, William Shivers, PhD,  Ivan Valin – University of Hong Kong

Metropolitan Areas Landscape Design – Shanghai JiaoTong University
Supervisors: Wang Ling, Zhu Liqing, Lee Parks – Shanghai JiaoTong University

Politics of Conservation – The National University of Singapore
Supervisor: Xiaoxuan Lu

Urban Landscape Futures – CEPT University
Tutors: Mansi Shah and Vaishal Patel – CEPT University
Teaching Assistant: Lopamudra Baruah – CEPT University

Winners will be announced on Tuesday, July 21, 2026.

Shortlist/Finalist Certificates will be issued after the winners are announced.