Bustler's Top 10 Architecture Competitions of 2020

As this most peculiar year is finally drawing to a close, we're taking a look back at the highlights of 2020 on Bustler. 

In our last post, we revisited this year's top winning architects, students, and project awards from the news section. Today we're digging into the competitions section: from the hundreds of architecture and design competitions listed here over the past 12 months, we compiled a countdown of the Top 10 Competitions of 2020. Take a look.

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1. MICROHOME 2020 - Small Living, Huge Impact!

"The second annual MICROHOME architecture competition is part of the Bee Breeders Small Scale Architecture Appreciation Movement, which hopes to highlight the fact that bigger isn’t always better. With great design and innovative thinking, small-scale architecture could change how this and the next generation view residential property."

2. WARMING Architecture Competition

"WARMING competition participants are asked to propose new or adapted architecture that addresses issues of global warming. Participants are free to experiment and explore the subject - designs can be of any program, any scale, and on any site."

Check out the competition winners here.

3. San Francisco Affordable Housing Challenge

"The San Francisco Affordable Housing Challenge is the latest in the Bee Breeders Affordable Housing competition series. In partnership with ARCHHIVE BOOKS, this affordable housing challenge is tasking participants with conceiving a solution to the city by the bay’s housing crisis."

4. HOME: Design Your Dream

"The aim of the competition is to manifest into reality the idea of your dreams, and create a house based on it. The competition aims to create a pure and highly imaginative expression of a home that will have a degree of surrealism to it."

5. TREE HOUSE MODULE

"YAC - Young Architects Competitions - and Dartagnans launch TREE HOUSE MODULE, a competition of ideas aiming to design and realize a tree house system to put into the oneiric French castles of Vibrac, Mothe Chandeniers, Ebaupinay."

6. 2021 Skyscraper Competition

"eVolo Magazine is pleased to invite architects, students, engineers, designers, and artists from around the globe to take part in the 2021 Skyscraper Competition. [...] It recognizes outstanding ideas that redefine skyscraper design through the implementation of novel technologies, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organizations; along with studies on globalization, flexibility, adaptability, and the digital revolution."

While the 2021 edition is still open for submissions, take a look at the 2020 winners here.

7. RE-Stock London Housing Competition

"The RE-Stock London Housing architecture competition is the Bartlett School of Architecture initiative in partnership with Bee Breeders Architecture Competition Organisers and ARCHHIVE BOOKS where participants are asked to look at existing iconic council housing and RE-visit, RE-imagine, RE-invigorate and RE-think them."

8. TUBE 8x8x300

"In city Kunming (Capital of Yunnan Province, China), there is an evacuation passageway which is  8m in height 8m in width totally 300m in length, connecting several sunken entrance plazas of a big underground shopping mall. This evacuation passageway, giant in volume, center of this site, should be functioned more than just an 'evacuation tube'. We look forward to innovative ideas which can make this passageway an attractive place, and moreover, part of daily life of the communities nearby and the whole city."

9. Land Art Generator Initiative 2020: Design the Future of Fly Ranch

"Land Art Generator Initiative and Burning Man Project have partnered to launch a multi-disciplinary design challenge—LAGI 2020 Fly Ranch—that will create the foundational infrastructure of Fly Ranch. The project is open to everyone everywhere and seeks creative solutions to systems of energy, water, food, shelter, and regeneration. You are invited to propose your regenerative artwork in this unique and stunning landscape."

10. Architecture at Zero 2020 Competition

"The 2020 Architecture at Zero competition challenge is to create a zero net energy library for the San Benito County Free Library in Hollister, CA. Entrants are encouraged to highlight any energy efficiency strategies or systems shown. In order to demonstrate the building design and its performance, entrants will provide required documentation and may also include supplementary documentation. The preferred solution is an all-electric zero net energy library."

Find the winning proposals here.

To stay up-to-date with the latest design challenges added to Bustler, follow our weekly curated highlights of new, noteworthy competitions.