Architecture and design competitions serve as dynamic platforms that inspire innovation and creativity within the industry. These contests invite architects and designers to showcase their talents, pushing boundaries and redefining norms. Fostering collaboration and excellence, these competitions not only celebrate outstanding work but also contribute to the evolution of architectural and design landscapes.
Given below is a list of 11 Architecture and Design competitions in India and abroad. These include: Free Architecture Competitions, Architectural Illustration Competition and Interior Design Competitions that are currently accepting registrations.
1. Archmello Competitions- The Urban Insert
Brief: Urban design is the art of crafting and enhancing cities, focusing on neighborhoods, streets, and public spaces. An Urban Insert is an installation or addition, such as a park, pavilion, or gallery, intended to elevate the quality of an existing space. The challenge is to design a meaningful insert at the Gateway of India, Mumbai, within specific size and height constraints, aiming to add value and beauty to the iconic location.
- Last Date to Register: 10th February 2024
- Eligibility: 18+ years of Age, Participation can be individual or team with maximum 3 members.
- Site: Archmello Competitions
2. Saint-Gobain Transparence 18.0 | Architecture Category Architecture
Brief: “Transparence 18.0 promotes responsible architecture, emphasizing designs that respond to climate, community needs, and enhance quality of life. The competition urges participants to address global challenges, inspiring inclusive, accessible, and sustainable structures. Holistic solutions for public, multi-unit, and institutional buildings are encouraged, prioritizing economic, social, and ecological context. Designs should minimize carbon footprint, ideally achieving a carbon-negative impact.”
- Last Date to Register: 7th January 2024.
- Eligibility: B. Arch Students or Recent Graduates of 2023, Participation can be individual or team with maximum 3 members.
- Site: Transparence
3. Saint-Gobain Transparence 18.0 | Architecture Category Interior Design
Brief: The 18th year of Transparence emphasizes Responsible Design, urging participants to create inclusive, accessible, and sustainable spaces. Holistic interior design concepts for public buildings, housing, or institutions are encouraged, with a focus on fostering connections, growth, and harmony. Designers should address climate, context, and community needs while considering material and design considerations.
- Last date to Register: 7th January 2024
- Eligibility: B. Arch Students or Recent Graduates of 2023, Participation can be individual or team with maximum 3 members.
- Site: Transparence
4. The Living Pavilion – Architecture for Community and Learning at India Autism Center
Brief: India Autism Center (IAC) is a unique inclusive community in Sirakole, West Bengal, dedicated to neurodiversity. The Living Pavilion is designed to serve four key purposes in the Masterplan: as an information hub for visitors, a refuge for IAC Staff, an event space with a cafe, and a conscious development reflecting campus ethos. It aims to provide information, interaction, engagement, and an invitation to express gratitude for those supporting IAC’s journey.
- Last Date to Register: 7th January
- Eligibility: All design students; Individual or team participation.
- Site: India Autism Centre
5. Lignano Pinewood
Brief: TerraViva Competitions launches LIGNANO PINEWOOD, an architecture contest to design an Eco-Hotel complex in the Pine Forest of Lignano Sabbiadoro. Despite some protected areas, the pressure of real estate development poses risks. Participants must create a masterplan integrating Lignano Pinewood, pedestrian paths, and the waterfront, emphasizing a new functional urban space at the Commercial Plaza. The design should prioritize preserving nature, especially in the Eco-Hotel complex, ensuring harmony with the environment.
- Last Date to Register: 15th March 2024
- Eligibility: The competition is open to architects, landscape architects, urbanists, designers, engineers, students and anyone interested in the fields of architecture and urban design. Participants can join the competition either individually or with a team.
- Site: TerraViva Competitions
6. Design of Dreams
Brief: The bed, a commonplace yet profoundly significant object, symbolizes intimacy, rest, and affection. Evolving from a space linked to day’s end to a versatile area influenced by modern lifestyles, the bed plays a vital role, constituting a third of our lives. “Design of Dreams,” a competition by Stilfar Italia, encourages designers to create innovative, accessible, and marketable furniture, redefining the bed’s contemporary meaning and highlighting its aesthetic and symbolic value in everyday life.
- Last Date to Register: 7th January 2024
- Eligibility: Each team must include at least one member aged from 18 to 35 years old. Participants can join the competition either individually or with a team.
- Site: YACdesign
7. Archi-hack Panopticon
Brief: Designers are tasked with reimagining the panopticon, an architectural symbol of surveillance, in a well-being context. They must create a single drawing with limitless scale and program possibilities, exploring external or internal design. Concepts can range from practical to dystopian/utopian interpretations, encouraging critical exploration of societal themes.
- Last Date to Register: 29th February 2024
- Eligibility: Open to all.
- Site: non-a
8. VELUX Award
Brief: The International VELUX Award, established in 2004 and held biennially, encourages architecture students to explore sunlight and daylight. The theme, “Light of Tomorrow,” promotes innovation in the built environment without limiting entries to VELUX products. Recognizing excellence in various scales and concepts, the award involves a jury of renowned architects and professionals. Open to worldwide architecture students, submissions require teacher support to acknowledge both students and educators.
- Last Date to Register: 1st April 2024
- Eligibility: The award is open to any registered student of architecture – individual or team – enrolled during the 2023-2024 academic year. Every student or student team must be backed and granted submission by a teacher from a school of architecture.
- Site: Daylight and Architecture
9. Architecture Render Challenge
Brief: Embrace imperfection, as Salvador Dali suggested, in Archiol’s ONE ARCHITECTURAL IMAGE – RENDERING CHALLENGE. Presentation skills are crucial for designers, and rendering is a powerful medium to showcase architectural designs realistically before construction. The competition encourages participants to create a single, comprehensive architectural image, allowing exploration of various rendering styles and techniques, whether digital or hand-drawn. The goal is to unveil the potential of rendering techniques in architectural design.
- Last Date to Register: 10th January 2024
- Eligibility: Open to all, Participation can be individual or team with maximum 3 members.
- Site: Archiol
10. ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN COMPETITION
Brief: Sky Lounge is taking in participants for designs of a High Energy Rooftop. The space consists of 2 levels, it requires an event space, a roof top open sky bar, 1 iconic bar on the lower floor, 1 selfie spot, Hibachi style live kitchen area. The design idea and vision should be clearly communicable, and the overall brand identity of X must be resonated.
- Registration Deadline: 5th January 2024
- Eligibility: Open to All
- Site: QR code mentioned on the poster.
11. EMERGENCY Draw Y-Our Future
Brief: Desall.com announces a graphic design contest with EMERGENCY ONG Onlus, marking the organization’s 30th anniversary. Open to global students and designers, participants are tasked with creating an illustration embodying EMERGENCY’s values and envisioning a future. The winning design will adorn a special edition T-shirt, part of a collection by renowned illustrators, with proceeds supporting EMERGENCY’s humanitarian efforts through the organization’s e-commerce channel.
- Last Date To Register: 29th February 2024
- Eligibility: 18+ years old, use of AI is prohibited.
- Site: Desall
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