New architecture and design competitions: BuildFest, National Slavery Museum, Bamboo Housing Challenge, and ASA Experimental Design Competition

Bustler's curated picks of new architecture and design competitions this week feature four calls seeking outstanding bamboo housing prototypes, proposals for timber pavilions and multimedia activations set on the grounds of the 1969 Woodstock festival, designs for the upcoming National Slavery Museum in Amsterdam, and architectural concepts that blend human craftsmanship with artificial intelligence.

For the complete directory of newly listed competitions, click here.

The Bamboo Housing Challenge
Registration Deadline: Sunday, March 15, 2026
Submission Deadline: Friday, April 17, 2026

"A collaboration between Bamboo U and the Base Bahay Foundation. Much of today's housing meets budgets but fails people and the planet. We MUST design homes that are accessible, sustainable, and truly livable. Join us to reimagine the future of bamboo housing for all. Invitation to architects, designers, engineers, and creative thinkers worldwide to develop a 10,000 USD house as a prototype to scale across the tropical regions of the world. Most designers spend years creating ideas that never leave the page. This is different. Selected designers will see their work move from concept to construction, supported by world-class experts and build it during an immersive 11-day design-and-build course in Bali."

Call for Proposals: Bethel Woods Art & Architecture Festival (BuildFest) 2026
Registration/Submission Deadline: Monday, March 30, 2026

"BuildFest 2026: Acts of Construction – Act One: Staging invites proposals for timber pavilions and multimedia activations to be installed on the historic grounds of the 1969 Woodstock festival. Act One (2026) examines the overlapping meanings of 'staging.' In theater, staging refers to the arrangement and presentation of a play, show, or other production; in construction, staging refers to the assembly of temporary infrastructure (scaffolding, platforms, and supports) in anticipation of building. Proposals should consider how construction can be intentionally organized to accommodate unknown future uses and/or the planned disassembly and reuse of component parts in subsequent structures."

Call for the international architectural competition for the National Slavery Museum
Registration/Submission Deadline: Wednesday, April 8, 2026

"The City of Amsterdam has launched an international architectural competition for the design of the National Slavery Museum, in partnership with the National Slavery Museum Foundation. Design teams from the Netherlands and around the world are invited to develop a vision for a museum building and park at Kop van Java-eiland, the western tip of an island in a former dockland area of central Amsterdam. [...] The design for the building and park must do justice to the historical significance of slavery, the significance of the site itself, and the role of the museum as a public place for meeting and exchange."

ASA EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN COMPETITION 2026 - Hybridized Wisdoms: Architecture Across Multiple Intelligences
Registration/Submission Deadline: Thursday, April 9, 2026

"As architecture enters an era where human creativity meets non-human intelligences from ecological systems and AI to responsive materials, how do we design through negotiation rather than domination? We invite you to explore architectural proposals where human craftsmanship and cultural memory coexist meaningfully with these emerging agencies, creating spaces that are ethical, adaptive, and imaginatively forward-thinking."

Would you like to contribute competitions, award programs, or calls for submissions that aren't listed on Bustler yet? Send them directly to our team to review. We may include them in our next roundup.