Milenija and Darko Marusic Foundation announces competition for second regional residential architecture prize

The Milenija and Darko Marusic Foundation (MDM) has announced a competition for the second regional award for an exceptionally creative work realized in the field of residential architecture, intended for architects and author teams from the former Yugoslavia.

The award is given for the most successful architectural work realized during the last three years, 2024, 2025 and 2026, by the date of submission of the competition, and includes projects from Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina - the area in which Milenija and Darko Marusic did their work.

The competition is intended for projects that, through a research approach and social responsibility, rethink contemporary housing, push the boundaries of existing practice and affirm the humanistic values of architecture. The evaluation criteria are based on the principles that have marked the fifty-year work of Milenija and Darko Marusic - the principle of contextuality, the unity of space (between architecture and urban planning, the interior and the exterior), the environmentalization of space, the evolution of ideas and professional ethics.

Applications are submitted electronically from September 1 to October 15, 2026, by sending the competition material to info@mdmfondacija.org via the WeTransfer link or similar file transfer services.

The award includes a charter and a cash amount, and is financed from the founding funds of the Foundation, created during the five decades of work of Milenija and Darko Marusic.

The submitted works will be examined by a jury whose composition also includes representatives of the award winners from the previous year, which will be officially announced later.

The jury for 2026 consists of Milenija Marusic, founder of the Foundation and president of the jury, Prof. Dr. Vladimir Kulic, an architectural historian from the USA, Prof. Vasa Perovic from Slovenia, Dr. Tatjana Stratimirovic from Serbia, as well as Prof. Aljosa Dekleva and Prof. Bostjan Vuga from Slovenia.

The award ceremony will be held on November 19, when all submitted works will also be presented at a one-day digital exhibition.

Details of the competition and an overview of the entire regulations are available on the Foundation’s website.

Last year, the Foundation’s first regional award was awarded to the author teams Sadar + Vuga Architects, Gregorc/Vrhovec and Studio Kristof for the project “Elipsa Residential Building” in Ljubljana, as well as to the team Dekleva Gregoric Arhitekti for the project “Double Alpine House” in Kranjska Gora.

The Milenija and Darko Marusic Foundation was established with the aim of promoting architecture as an important segment of culture, preserving one of the most significant domestic architectural opuses and supporting future generations of architects who believe in the power of architecture to shape a better society.

MDM

Milenija and Darko Marušić Foundation

Milenija Marušić

Darko Marušić

Vladimir Kulić

Vasa Perović

Tatjana Stratimirović

Aljoša Dekleva

Boštjan Vuga

regional award contest Milenija and Darko Marušić Foundation