Architectural international competitions have gained worldwide recognition over the years for the exposure and freedom to exercise one’s ideas with proposals for a surrounding that may not be possible to explore physically for an individual.
It has opened the platforms for several countries to bring their local and crucial issues on a global scale as well as for the participants to be empathetic towards the cause and working accordingly.
With time, the scope of architecture to be a part of the problem-solving process has gained recognition and therefore these competitions have been listed with varied causes and the medium of representation of the response.
1. Re-think Dupont Circle | International competitions
(dupontunderground.org/rethink-dupont)
Registration opens: August 20, 2020
Submissions deadline: December 4, 2020
Dupont Circle is a park and neighborhood in Washington D.C. The Dupont Underground is launching this competition to receive proposals rethinking Dupont Circle into a social, human-centered, and public space.
The competition is to be approached on a macro and micro scale where one has to design the public space that facilitates an active social life along with designing a space near the main entry stair into a landmark. This can be an opportunity to exercise design principles from a multi-scalar viewpoint having different cultural and social backdrop.
2. Goleto Museum Park
(https://startforhistory.net)
Registration: December 28, 2020
Submission: December 28, 2020
The Abbey of San Guglielmo al Goleto is a Benedictine monastery in Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi, province of Avellino, region of Campania Italy. This monastery had its share of glory and negligence from the 12th Century till today.
The competition aims to reconfigure the exterior of the monastery through an architecture capable of giving continuity to the story. The museum and park will be for the historical context as well as give a new identity.
3. Design Milan Factory | International competitions
(https://archicontest.net)
Registration: December 14, 2020
Submission: December 14, 2020
Milan is a city where fashion and design sectors coexist to make it the main business center of Italy.
The Ticino district, near Navigli, a place known for social life, is the site chosen to imagine a building that best interprets the neighborhood’s lifestyle. The Design Factory will attract new cultural thrusts by promoting training events for artists and designers.
The project is to design a cultural center with urban workshops and teaching rooms, at the service of the community in honor of the interactions within the liveliest neighborhood of a city.
4. International Design Competition for Gyeongsangbuk-do Human Resource Development Institute Relocation Project
(http://www.iacg.kr/en)
Registration: September 25, 2020
Submission: September 25, 2020
Gyeongbuk Provincial Government, previously located in Buk-gu, Daegu Metropolitan City, was moved to the new provincial city of Andong and Yecheon in 2016.
Accordingly, to promote the efficiency of the work and to vitalize the new city early, the transfer of related institutions and organizations of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Government has been promoted.
The basic construction principles of the new Gyeongsangbuk-do Human Resource Development Institute are to fully respond to the increasing demand for education for local officials, to create a suitable infrastructure with a pleasant educational environment, and eventually construct a facility that can fundamentally improve the quantitative and qualitative values of education.
5. Development Concept for Gorky Central Park in Krasnoyarsk, Russia | International competitions
(https://krasnoyarskpark.ru)
Registration: September 24, 2020
Submission: December 1, 2020
Krasnoyarsk is famous as one of the leading cultural, educational, economic, and industrial cities of Siberia and the Gorky Central Park of this city is one of the most significant parks of Siberia.
The competition revolves around the transformation of a landmark that can undergo development concerning the entire city.
The competition is open to Russian and foreign professional organizations in the field of the integrated development of territories and urban planning, architecture, design, elaboration of concepts for the development of public spaces, and master planning, provided that they operate in Russia.
6. Aarhus School of Architecture’s Drawing of the Year 2020
(https://aarch.dk)
Announcement of competition: September 1, 2020
Submission deadline: November 1, 2020
For the past 7 years, Aarhus School of Architecture has been organizing drawing competitions. This year’s theme is “Hand Me A Drawing”.
This year, the participants need to submit handmade drawings celebrating the traditional methods of representation. The drawing can either be an initial sketch (dream), a project drawing (process), or a definitive drawing (reality). This provides a platform to showcase the mastering of hand drawing as a relevant medium to communicate.
7. Reviving Mines: Shandong Park
(https://www.nonarchitecture.eu)
The city district of Zibo, of Shandong province, has been a key stone mining location till recent years. The excavation activities particularly focused on the Zichuan subdistrict, marked the rural areas of the province with invasive interventions and disruptions of the local ecosystem.
The local government and investors aim to develop a strategic vision that would reinforce local communities and bring new life to the site by turning the area into a cultural and creative park.
The participants are expected to propose models that are beyond the standards and are informative to the local community regarding the approach to the project by bringing together the ecological and spatial aspects under one roof.
8. Busan Architecture and Urban Photo Competition 2020 | International competitions
Submission deadline: 25 September 2020
This year’s theme for the urban photo competition is “Senses and Materials”. The theme aims to enhance the importance of material beyond the visual sense towards the other senses of a human being.
This competition is aimed at showing architecture and cities that are reproduced concerning the materials and the senses of human beings.
9. Gaudi Architecture Prize
(©https://www.silkmatters.com)
Registration: 10 July 2020 to 20 October 2020
Submission: 20 October 2020
It is the first annual international design award to celebrate the unbuilt projects of students and graduates.
This competition provides a platform to showcase the projects that have immense potential but do not reach the point of execution due to various circumstances. Nevertheless, these projects are important as they lay a foundation for further ideas that can be built in the future.
It has several categories including interior design, urban design, furniture design, and product design.
10. Senegal Elementary School | International competitions
(©https://www.archstorming.com)
Early Registration Begins: August 5, 2020
Late Registration Begins: October 29, 2020
Submission Deadline: November 25, 2020
Archstorming and an NGO, Let’s Build My School, a UK charity which was founded in 2016 came together to build schools in developing countries with a particular focus on remote areas that lack educational facilities.
The competition is a call for a proposal of an elementary school in Marsassoum, Senegal that will involve innovative and low-cost construction techniques along with integrated rainwater collecting systems and climatic considerations to replace the temporary school with built structures.
Along with the prize money, the top entries will have a possibility for a volunteer trip to build the school with the winning proposal getting built.
