Rifat Chadirji Prize 2026 – The Right to Landscape

The Right to Landscape
Reclaiming Land and Sustaining Lives
in Sahl Al Khiam, Lebanon

The Rifat Chadirji Award 2026 invites landscape architects, architects, and urban planners from around the world to propose a landscape-led recovery vision for Sahl Al Khiam in Southern Lebanon. Once an essential agricultural valley and a lifeline for local livelihoods, Sahl Al Khiam has endured occupation, destruction, and recurrent bombardment—yet it remains a rare space of ecological resilience, cultural identity, and community refuge.

This year’s competition positions Sahl Al Khiam as a critical case study for understanding the role of landscape in post-war recovery. Participants are asked to respond to the core design question:

How can a landscape-led recovery vision restore livelihoods, protect ecological systems, and affirm the community’s right to landscape in a valley shaped by conflict?

Submissions should demonstrate how integrated landscape strategies can balance environmental restoration, productive land use, community wellbeing, and long-term ecological resilience. Proposals must articulate clear, sustainable interventions that safeguard the valley’s spatial integrity while supporting economic regeneration and social healing.