The Office of the Chief City Architect of the Capital City Podgorica has announced a competition for the conceptual design of the revitalization and landscaping of the Zlatica Forest Park in Podgorica.
The primary goal of the competition is to establish a vision for revitalizing and transforming the area into a natural oasis with zones for relaxation, recreation, and cultural/educational activities, promoting increased time spent in nature. This project is intended to serve as a model for future revitalization of urban spaces and preservation of existing forests in Podgorica and throughout the country. The project brief defines the area as a multifunctional recreational park space, including facilities for sports and recreation, outdoor leisure, children’s play, and culture/education.
Competition Announcer:
Capital City Podgorica
Njegoševa Street 13, Podgorica
Montenegro
www.podgorica.me
Competition Deadlines:
The submission deadline was November 10th, 2025, at 09:00 (local time in Montenegro). A total of 18 competition entries were received within the specified deadline.
First Prize
The first prize was awarded to entry code 101708 by the authors from Entropía Arquitectura Adaptativa S.A.S., Colombia
(Jose Alejandro Vargas, Francisca Mihovilovic, Roger Julián Escalante, Laura María Gómez, David Mesa Arbelaez, Juan David Hoyos Taborda, Diego Martín de Torres, Laura Iglesias, and Sofía Velez Castaño).
Jury Composition:
Željka Čurović, landscape architect
Alen Žunić, architect
Nemanja Zimonjić, architect
Nikola Novaković, architect
Duška Mačić, Chief City Architect of the Capital City Podgorica
They unanimously selected the first-prize entry and described it as follows:
The proposal recognizes the importance of Zlatica as one of the key areas in Podgorica’s blue-green corridor and its broader surroundings. It offers a foundational infrastructure for the coexistence of three key spatial strategies: ecological, programmatic, and social.
Functionally, the park is divided into passive, active, and cultural zones, which, although conceived separately, allow fluid transitions from one to another. A strong connective infrastructure weaves these microclimates and activities together, forming a basis for a distinctive use of the park, offering diversity and transitions. The proposal includes the formation of three park entrances leading to activity zones with corresponding amenities. The clearly articulated concept of three different access routes, and the way they connect sports and open spaces, was assessed as highly valuable.
A strong, memorable pedestrian axis groups the main programs around it, encouraging intensive use and celebrating social encounters. A 3 km running trail explores the wider surroundings and quieter areas, offering a more dedicated “journey,” with potential for further development in later phases. Spontaneous forest paths invite visitors to step into the forest and explore its ecological richness, representing a much-needed contemporary and temporary approach to spatial design. In a new way, the coexistence and changing aspects of visible human and non-human activities can be read as overlapping narratives unfolding simultaneously in the same place. It is up to the user to interpret them. Essentially, the backbone of the proposal is grounded entirely in landscape-driven design tools.
Finally, the park invites users—city authorities, investors, and local residents—to act collectively, clearly illustrating their shared influence on the space, which the jury recognized as a necessary and desirable strategy for the future.
Second Prize
Entry code 45012, authors from Turkey
(Selçuk Kişmir, Meltem Çelik Kişmir, Damla Turan)
Third Prize
Entry code FNS11BAR25, authors from the Netherlands
(Federica Zatta, Nafsika Efklidou, Susan Isawi)
Honorable Mentions:
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Entry code 15545, authors from Argentina
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Entry code 21578, authors from Turkey
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Entry code JCVN6, authors from Vietnam
Prize Fund:
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First Prize: 25,000 €
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Second Prize: 12,000 €
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Third Prize: 6,000 €
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Three Honorable Mentions: 2,000 € each
The Office of the Chief City Architect extends its gratitude to the professional jury and all participants, expressing great satisfaction with the submitted works and the successful completion of the competition.
More information is available at the following link
