Category: Competition

EAS-E Home Electrification Prize

Deadline: March 8, 2023 12:00 pm

Source: U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Office

Description: The goal of the EAS-E Prize is to support a suite of design solutions, tools, and/or technology innovations that make electrification more affordable and accessible in existing U.S. homes. The Prize consists of two phases: Phase 1 – Concept Paper (presenting proposed solutions); and Phase 2 – Demonstration (winning competitors from Phase 1 will demonstrate functional prototype solutions). See website for full details.

Award: Phase 1 winners receive $5,000 each and will be eligible to compete in Phase 2. Additionally, Phase 1 winners each receive a $75k voucher to work with DOE national laboratories and/or qualifying “connectors” from the American-Made Network. Up to three prizes will be awarded under Phase 2, with a top prize of $1 million.

Eligibility: Open to individuals; private entities (for-profits & nonprofits); nonfederal government entities such as states, counties, tribes, and municipalities; and academic institutions.

Deadline: Phase 1 submissions due 12 pm PST, March 8, 2023.

Architecture Competition External

2023 Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers

Deadline: February 15, 2023 8:59 pm

Source: Architectural League of New York

Description: Young architects and designers are invited to submit work to the 2023 Architectural League Prize competition. Projects of all types, either theoretical or real, and executed in any medium, are welcome. The 2023 theme is “Uncomfortable.” Entrants are asked to examine the Uncomfortable and demonstrate how they find comfort within the unconventional, discover opportunity within crisis, and use the Uncomfortable as a design tool.

Award: The jury will select work for presentation in lectures, digital media, and an exhibition in June 2023. Winners will receive a cash prize of $2,000.

Eligibility: Open to current full-time residents of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Entrants must be 10 year or less out of a bachelor’s or master’s degree program. Current students are ineligible. Entrants may submit individually or as a group. See website for full eligibility details.

Deadline: 11:59 pm EST, Wed. Feb. 15, 2023

Architecture Building Science Competition External Landscape Architecture Urbanism

2022 SOM Foundation Research Prize

Deadline: December 5, 2022 3:00 pm

Source: SOM Foundation

Description: Intended to cultivate new ideas and meaningful research that addresses the critical issues of our time. Each year, two prizes are awarded to faculty-led interdisciplinary teams based in the United States to conduct original research that contributes to the SOM Foundation’s current topic. This year’s topic is a prompt to investigate the impact that air has in our world, from the unequal way pollution affects communities to the way it shapes spatial conditions and material innovations. How can air be considered while exploring new architectural environments, structural solutions, ecological strategies, and urban policies? See website for more info.

Award: $40,000 (two prizes awarded)

Eligibility: Open to faculty currently teaching at a professionally accredited bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, or PhD program in architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, urban design, or engineering in the United States. The research must be developed in a studio and/or seminar within the academic institution. The lead faculty member(s) will be expected to work in a collaborative manner with faculty from other disciplines, leading professionals, nonprofit organizations, and/or community representatives in addition to students enrolled in the studio and/or seminar. Collaborator(s) can be based worldwide. SOM Foundation affiliated members and SOM employees should not be included as part of the proposals. Faculty from previously awarded proposals are not eligible.

Deadline: 5 pm CST, Dec. 5, 2022

Architecture Competition External

2023 Forge Prize

Deadline: November 30, 2022 12:00 am

Source: The American Institute of Steel Construction

Description: This competition, established by The American Institute of Steel Construction in 2018, recognizes visionary emerging architects for designs that embrace steel as a primary structural component and capitalize on steel’s ability to increase a project’s speed. See website for more info.

Award: Three finalists will each win $5,000 and work with a steel fabricator before presenting their ideas to the judges–streamed live on YouTube. The winner will receive the $10,000 grand prize and an invitation to present at the Architecture in Steel conference, April 12-14, 2023 in Charlotte, NC.

Eligibility: Open to designers based in the U.S. who are either still obtaining licensure or have been licensed for less than ten years.

Deadline: Nov. 30, 2022

All Disciplines Competition External

2023 Buell Center Course Development Prize

Deadline: October 19, 2022 11:59 pm

Source: Temple Hoyne Buell Center; ACSA

Description: Columbia University’s Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture and the ACSA announce the fourth year of a competitive call for course proposals on the theme of “Architecture, Climate Change, and Society.” Successful proposals will include methods and themes that innovate within their institutional setting—asking hard questions of students that are equal in weight to the hard questions being asked of society in the midst of a global pandemic as it continues to grapple with the intertwined causes and effects of climate change. See website for details.

Award: Up to five proposals will be selected by the jury for eight thousand dollars in cash prizes and two thousand dollars in support to present the winning course proposals at the ACSA111 Annual Meeting. To receive the cash prize and support, winners must demonstrate viability for the course at their host institution within two years of the prize’s distribution via a letter from their program’s head administrator.

Eligibility: Open to faculty at all ACSA member schools. Courses previously recognized for the Prize will not be considered. Courses previously submitted but not selected are encouraged to resubmit; please note significant changes to the course proposal.

Deadline: Oct. 19, 2022

Architecture Building Science Competition External Grant Landscape Architecture Urbanism

MIT Solve Climate Ecosystems + Housing Challenge

Deadline: March 31, 2022 12:00 am

Source: MIT Solve

Description: MIT Solve’s 2022 Sustainability Challenges will focus on the following two areas: Protecting Ecosystem Carbon and Decarbonizing Housing. The MIT Solve community is looking for eight technology-based solutions that help communities thrive with either high-carbon ecosystems or good low-carbon homes at scale. To that end, Solve seeks solutions that: support local economies that protect high-carbon ecosystems from destruction, including forests, peatlands, and mangroves; develop new value chains for mass creation of inexpensive and low-carbon housing, including changes to materials, designs, or construction methods; and decarbonize heating and cooking systems in existing homes while improving efficiency. See website for more info.

Award: All selected solutions will receive $10,000. Additional prizes will be granted to solutions fulfilling additional parameters.

Eligibility: Open to all.

Deadline: March 31, 2022

Architecture Competition External

2022 Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers

Deadline: February 13, 2022 8:59 pm

Source: Architectural League of New York

Description: Young architects and designers are invited to submit work to the annual Architectural League Prize Competition. Projects of all types, either theoretical or real, and executed in any medium, are welcome. The 2022 theme is “Grounding.” Searching for grounding is a sticky, precarious, and stubborn pursuit of our time. In an unpredictable and hybrid world, more focus is needed on how architecture can respond to this condition and how young architects can situate themselves within it. See website for more info.

Award: The jury will select work for presentation in lectures, digital media, and an exhibition in June 2022. These events will be either in-person, online, or hybrid, depending on local and national health guidelines this spring. Winners will receive a cash prize of $2,000.

Eligibility: Open only to current, full-time residents (who need not be citizens) of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Entrants must be ten years or less out of a bachelor’s or master’s degree program. Current students are ineligible. Entrants may submit individually or as a group. Entrants must submit work done independently; no work done as an employee of a firm, where the entrant is not a principal or partner, is eligible for submission. No student work completed for any academic program or degree is eligible for submission. Educators may not include work done in their studios or for their teaching. Past League Prize winners are ineligible. See website for full eligibility details.

Deadline: 11:59 pm EST, Feb. 13, 2022

Architecture Competition External Grant

Wheelwright Prize

Deadline: January 30, 2022 12:00 am

Source: Harvard GSD

Description: Harvard GSD’s Wheelwright Prize is an international competition for early-career architects. Winners receive a $100,000 (USD) fellowship to foster intensive, innovative architectural research that is informed by cross-cultural engagement and can make a significant impact on architectural discourse. The winner of the Wheelwright Prize is expected to commence his/her research project within 12 months of winning the prize, and to complete it within two years of commencing research. Winners based in the United States are expected to undertake some amount of research outside the country. Winners are not required to submit a report, but they will be invited to participate in programs at Harvard GSD (lecture series, publications, exhibitions).

Award: $100,000; the Wheelwright Prize is intended for independent study and may not be applied to university tuition. However, the grant may be applied to fees for workshops and conferences.

Eligibility: Open to early-career architects based anywhere in the world. Applicant must have graduated from a professionally accredited architecture degree program in the past 15 years. (For the 2022 cycle: Graduates prior to January 2007 are ineligible.) Holders of multiple degrees may apply, provided they received their professional degrees between January 2007 and January 2022. Applicants need not be registered or licensed. Winners of the Wheelwright Prize may not hold other fellowships concurrently. The Wheelwright Prize is available to individual entrants only; teams or firms will not be considered. For winners based in the United States, some amount of research must be undertaken outside the country.

Deadline: Jan. 30, 2022

Architecture Competition External

The Forge Prize 2022

Deadline: October 31, 2021 12:00 am

Source: The American Institute of Steel Construction

Eligibility: Open to designers based in the U.S. who are either still obtaining licensure or have been licensed for less than 10 years.

Deadline: Oct. 31, 2021

Architecture Competition External Landscape Architecture Urbanism

Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program

Deadline: October 1, 2021 3:00 pm

Source: Walton Family Foundation

Description: The Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program promotes the highest level of design in the development of public buildings and spaces in Arkansas’ Benton and Washington counties. In 2021, the foundation is seeking statements of qualifications from architects, landscape architects, and urban designers. The Design Excellence Program selects professionals and projects based on four key principles: a commitment to strengthening public life; elevating standards of sustainability and resilience; celebrating local cultures and place; and building regional capacity. It is designed to accommodate nationally recognized, multi-disciplinary firms; smaller specialty firms; and young designers who may not yet be discovered. If selected, designers may participate for up to five years, or until they are chosen for a project. The program currently includes nearly fifty architecture and landscape architecture firms from fourteen states, Canada, and Denmark. See website for more info.

Award: Participation in the Design Excellence Program for up to five years or until selection for a project. Selection does not guarantee an interview for a project, nor does it guarantee that a project will ultimately be approved.

Eligibility: Design professionals, including those with experience in architecture, landscape architecture and urban design are encouraged to apply. This year’s application cycle places particular emphasis on firms with experience in inclusive and equitable public engagement, firms that would be interested in innovative neighborhood-scale projects, and firms with experience in mixed-income and missing middle housing.

Deadline: 5 pm CT, Oct. 1, 2021