Competitions

The Invisible Skyline /// Skylines are symbols for the cities above which they hover. Yet, the majority of buildings in cities lie well below the pinnacles of skyscrapers. Are skylines appropriate billboards for cities when most of population lives, works, and shops in the bottom few stories? What if a skyline, while still physically there, was invisible above ten stories? How does the function of a skyline change when it can no longer be seen? What might be the functional or political purpose of hiding a skyline? How might architecture, technology, or natural phenomena hide such a large mass of buildings? What happens when a skyline becomes invisible? Participants are as…

Augmented reality provides us with new research field of architecture. Now you do not need architectural models. We can see the building as it is with all the details. At the same time, it remains virtual model. These properties are augmented reality give us new opportunities. For example, we can compare the buildings from different regions of the world, from different eras in the same scale. We can make collections of buildings, unimaginable compositions. These new aspects give the researcher of the architecture an unexpected tools and fundamentally unattainable points of perception. Perhaps we will be able to explore the flow of time in the evolutionary series of buildi…

Ideasforward wants to give young creative people from around the world the opportunity to express their views on the future of societies through their innovative and visionary proposals. We are an experimental platform seeking progressive ideas that reflect on emerging themes. The eco design, sustainable architecture, new materials, concepts and technologies are compelling issues in the societies of the future and the involvement of the whole community is imperative. In an era of globalization where communication was dominated by the technological revolution, there is the need to rethink the cities and how Man relates in a global World as well as rethink the economic, …

ARCHITECT magazine is now accepting entries for its 10th Annual R+D Awards! We would be grateful if you could share our competition details with your students and faculty. And, for the very first time, full-time students and academic faculty are eligible for a reduced registration fee! Are you revolutionizing the process and product of architecture? ARCHITECT magazine wants to celebrate the groundbreaking research, materials, and technologies that are advancing the building industry at every scale—from design strategies and building systems to products, software, and fabrication methods. Entries will be judged for their documented innovation in fabrication, installation, …

The Wheelwright Prize is a $100,000 travel-based research grant awarded annually by Harvard University GSD to early-career architects who have demonstrated exceptional design talent, produced work of scholarly and professional merit, and who show promise for continued creative work. With the prize, Harvard GSD hopes encourage new forms of architectural research informed by cross-cultural engagement. We seek individual applicants who are accomplished but emerging, who are resourceful and risk-taking, and who can make the most of this extraordinary opportunity to construct a research project that will have an impact on his or her own professional development, and potenti…

Creative thinking inspires ideas. Ideas inspire change. Picasso transcended realism with cubic forms. Steve Jobs democratised the computer. Einstein’s theory of relativity changed the fundamentals of physics. Any idea no matter how big or small has power. What’s yours? It’s time to show the world. Enter our competition, show us your idea and your work could be published on TiP, Balmond Studio’s influential online ideas lab. The winner will also receive a £100 iTunes voucher and enjoy a private call with Cecil Balmond himself, one of the world’s leading thinkers on space, form and structure. The runner up will receive a £50 iTunes voucher and have their work featured on T…

The Architecture at Zero competition challenge is to create a zero net energy bayside community education and visitor’s center, in support of the mission of the Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies (RTC). This facility is San Francisco State University’s center for estuary and ocean science located on 53 acres of bayside property in Tiburon, California. The competition has two components. First, entrants will create an overall site plan to accommodate the program. Entrants are encouraged to highlight any energy efficiency strategies or systems shown. Second, entrants will design two buildings in detail, to indicate zero net energy (ZNE) performance. In orde…

The Inverted Corner /// A corner defines the convergence of non-parallel forms. Within every corner there are two distinct and often opposing conditions. A corner's interior tends to unify space, while a corner's exterior can divide space along its edge. What if the inside and outside of a corner suddenly switched roles, trading characteristics and functions? What stimuli might trigger a corner to dynamically invert on itself? How is the spatial relationship around a corner affected by this inversion? What mechanism might enable an interior corner to flip to the exterior and vice versa? How does this concept apply to different types of junctures? That happens when a cor…

Concept: The light emphasizes: objects, environments, interior design. It is an exhibition dedicated to the planning of natural and artificial light for the environments and interiors. A special section is dedicated to the light systems and to scenography. Register by: 05-27-2016 / Submit by: 05-27-2016 View the full article

See competition website for complete details. Register by: 03-04-2016 / Submit by: 03-04-2016 View the full article

Ideasforward wants to give young creative people from around the world the opportunity to express their views on the future of societies through their innovative and visionary proposals. We are an experimental platform seeking progressive ideas that reflect on emerging themes. The eco design, sustainable architecture, new materials, concepts and technologies are compelling issues in the societies of the future and the involvement of the whole community is imperative. In an era of globalization where communication was dominated by the technological revolution, there is the need to rethink the cities and how Man relates in a global World as well as rethink the economic, soc…

ArtHouse Artistic Director Theaster Gates and project leadership seek qualifications from artists and designers interested in creating temporary, original, site-responsive public artwork(s) for ArtHouse, an underutilized 15,000 square foot facility undergoing renovations in downtown Gary, Indiana. The re-imagined space will be ushered by two public art commissions, Illumination and Surface, each appealing to the catalytic power of art. Applicants may submit their qualifications as early as December 1, 2015 and as late as January 11, 2016 on Slideroom at uchicago.slideroom.com. There will be two information sessions on the RFQ process. Remote video will be available …

Three winning teams will be selected in the WARMING HUTS COMPETITION from submissions of designs for a warming hut or art installation to be located on the Red River Mutual River Trail located on the Assiniboine and Red Rivers in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The jury will be selecting the winning designs based on their creativity in use of materials, providing shelter, poetics of assembly and form, integration with the landscape, and ease of construction. Register by: 10-05-2015 / Submit by: 10-05-2015 View the full article

What is Distribute hack ? Time Inc, NBBJ, and PowerToFly have partnered to host a global hackathon in Seattle, New York, and London. Teams will compete to invent the future of the distributed workplace; building products to encourage collaboration, connection, and culture flow. Prizes will include in-kind tech donation and an installation of the winning work. Three Challenges: 1. Create virtual water-cooler technology that allows distributed teams to connect in meaningful ways. 2. Design experiences that allow culture to flow across locations by creating globally accessible collaborative environments. 3. Provide a personal connection to remote workers by giving them a s…

Dear students, The international competition for students in architecture, Archi-World® Academy III 2015-2017, is back on track. The topic this year is “Responsible Future Architecture”, and again students can win a traineeship in one of the 12 prestigious offices managed by our jury members. Be part of this extraordinary opportunity : register to Archi-World® Academy and send us your best student projects and write with Archi-World® Academy the first pages of your professional life ! The deadline for presenting projects is 30 September 2016. Winners will be invited to attend the awarding ceremony taking place on 18 January 2017 in Munich during the International exhi…

Winners will receive a custom copper plaque featuring an etching of their award-winning project at the 2019 awards ceremony in New York City. Following the reception, projects will be featured on the Copper Development Association’s website and promoted in various publications. Description: Architects, designers and sheet metal contractors are invited to submit their copper building projects for the 2019 North American Copper in Architecture (NACIA) awards program. The program recognizes and promotes architectural copper and copper alloy structures in North America. Eligible projects must feature a significant application of architectural copper, be located in the North A…

CLUE is an international lighting competition open to all lighting applications and spaces named Community Lighting for the Urban Environment – CLUE. It is therefore with great pleasure and enthusiasm that I am sending you the details of our Edition 02 of CLUE competition under the theme: LIGHTIUS LOCI - SPIRIT OF LIGHT. OUR MISSION CLUE - Community Lighting for the Urban Environment has set itself the goal of encouraging and challenging young designers such as students (University & Colleges) and emerging Professionals (<5 years in their profession) to develop innovative lighting concepts for interior and exterior spaces, stimulate challenging ideas and recognize…

The IIDA Student Design Competition celebrates original design and rewards individuals and/or teams whose projects demonstrate innovative, functional design solutions that have a positive environmental and human impact, while allowing emerging professionals the opportunity to showcase their work and fresh design ideas to professionals working in the field. Register by: 02-01-2016 / Submit by: 02-01-2016 View the full article

UN-Habitat in collaboration with Ministry of Land, Housing & Urban Development: Urban Development Department, Kenya, is looking for creative planning and design ideas for sustainable urban development in Kenya. Students from around the world are below invited to participate in a student design competition for Kenya’s towns. Register by: 02-01-2016 / Submit by: 04-11-2016 View the full article

OPENGAP organizes the fifth edition of this open ideas competition seeking for innovative, cutting-edge, contemporary, proposals, committed to a strategy of implementing architecture in a natural environment. Approaches should point to find synergies between nature and the building itself. Each participant or team can propose the location of their Project. This competition is open to all architects, designers, architecture students and to people around the world interested in the topic. Competitors could subscribe individually or as a team of maximum of 5 people. The proposal submission consists of two digital panels in .jpg format, not bigger than 5MB each. Register…

Introduction Cities around the world are growing at an unprecedented rate, and for the first time in recent history represent the preferred place for people to live. Urbanization has historically aided millions to escape hardship through increased employment opportunities, better education and healthcare, large scale public investments, and access to improved infrastructure and services. The city has been the ideal for heightened livability for people worldwide. These extraordinary opportunities have also propagated unanticipated pressure on the livability of cities that remains pervasive today. US cities are faced with new 21st century challenges aimed at corroding thre…

Port Royal and the Eastern Town sit within the Devon seaside town of Sidmouth with a population of 12,569. The competition site encompasses an area that has been much contested locally, with several local community groups having been involved with, or producing schemes for, alternative visions for this part of the town. The proposed site includes a variety of stakeholders, and land in multiple ownership, including but not limited to Devon County Council, East Devon District Council, South West Water, and individual local landowners. The future of this strategic local asset is unclear, and during the last decade the site has become somewhat maligned. This competition ai…

INTRODUCTION Moscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia with 12.2 million residents within the city and 16.8 within its urban area. It is a major political, economic, cultural, and scientific centre in Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as the largest city in the entire European continent. Moscow is the northernmost and coldest mega-city and metropolis in the world. By its territorial expansion in 2012 southwest into the Moscow Oblast, the area of the capital more than doubled; from 1,091 square kilometres up to 2,511 square kilometres (970 sq mi), and gained an additional population of 233,000. Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal Dist…

AIA National Photography Competition is now open to all AIA members, actively registered architects in the US and members of student chapters of AIA. The subject of the photo must be architecture. Top fourteens images will be exhibited at 2016 AIA National convention in Philadelphia, be featured in AIArchitect and be made into notecards that will be sold in outlets. Entries may be submitted in one of two ways: Images may be submitted online with application,payment and submissions online at www.aia-stlouis.org Images may be submitted via images burned on CD ROM and mailed to AIA St. Louis with payment and application. Register by: 04-01-2016 / Submit by: 04-01-201…

AWARD: Triumph Architectural Beach Hut Award (TABA) 2015 AIM: The aim of this international competition is to recognise and explore the possibility of more architectural design principles to be applied in the design of an outstanding contemporary beach hut. This competition investigates, explores and emphasises the importance of sustainable concept in beach hut design and the possibilities for experimentation with material and form in beach hut design as the world changes rapidly around us. The goal is to provide a contemporary architectural solution and re-think of the traditional Beach Hut design that is functional, feasible, repeatable, elegant and reflects the …