ARCHITECT magazine 11th Annual R+D Awards

Are you revolutionizing the process and product of architecture? ARCHITECT magazine’s 11th annual R+D Awards program celebrates the research, materials, and technologies that have advanced the profession at every scale—from innovative design strategies and building systems to revolutionary products, software, and fabrication. Winning entries will be published in the print and online versions of ARCHITECT’s July 2017 issue.

ELIGIBILITY

The R+D Awards competition is open to architects, engineers, fabricators, manufacturers, researchers, faculty, and students worldwide. Entries must have been in active development or completed after Jan. 1, 2014 (in-progress work is acceptable). Product submissions must be currently or ultimately available commercially in the United States. To see the range of submissions that the R+D Awards program receives, visit our archive of past winners.

CATEGORIES

Awards will be judged in three categories, reflecting the different stages in the R+D process:

• Prototype: For entries that are in the experimental and testing phase.
• Production: For entries that are currently available for use.
• Application: For entries that demonstrate a novel use of a technology or product.

Entries will be reviewed for their documented originality as well as their potential to advance the aesthetic, environmental, and social value of architecture. Digital technologies, such as software, modeling programs, mobile apps, and workflow and analysis tools are welcomed.

DEADLINES

• Early bird: Friday, April 14, 2017, at midnight, Eastern Time
• Regular: Wed., April 19, 2017, at midnight, Eastern Time

REGISTRATION FEES (all in U.S. Dollars)

First Entry

• Early bird: $175
• Regular deadline: $225
• Academic: $95

Additional Entries

• Early bird / Academic: $95 each
• Regular deadline: $145 each

Registration fees are non-refundable. You must register and pay for your entries online before you can upload submission materials. If you register before the early-bird deadline but do not finalize your submission until the regular deadline, you will be assessed the $50 difference in fee (non-academic entrants only).

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Entering the R+D Awards is a two-step process:

• Part 1: Registration. This form will ask for basic information, including the contact person for the submission; the firm or institution behind the entry; and the entry name. This information is used only to identify your project in the awards database and cannot be edited once submitted.
• Part 2: Submission materials. After completing the registration form, you will be asked for a written abstract and support materials. The abstract (300 words max.) should cover the entry’s R+D objectives, process, and innovation. The support materials can include images, photographs, diagrams, portfolio pages, drawings, screenshots, videos, and other visual collateral, as well as captions and supplementary text. You can save, edit, and return to your submission up until you check out and hit the “Finalize” button. IMPORTANT: Judging will be blind. Do not include your name, firm, institution, and commercial or trademarked name of the product or technology anywhere in Part 2 of the process (the abstract or support materials). Use a generic descriptor as needed; e.g., architect, design studio, lighting manufacturer, software developer.

Upload specifications: A maximum of 20 files totaling no more than 50 MB may be uploaded. Preferred file types are JPG or JPEG images and MP4 videos. We cannot accept PDFs at this time; however, you can convert pages from a PDF document into individual JPG files.

SUBMISSION HINTS

Because the entries range widely, there is no standard submission format. However, upon registering, you will be able to see submission examples from past winners. Remember: This competition celebrates the process of research and development, from learning and discovery to trial and error. Concise documentation of the effort put forth in the project, technology, or product can go a long way in telling the story behind the final result.

CONFIRMATION

ARCHITECT will send an automated email confirmation for each registration, payment, and entry submission to the designated contact person. Due to the volume of entries, ARCHITECT cannot respond to individual inquiries regarding submission status or the competition.

DISQUALIFICATION

The editors of ARCHITECT reserve the right to refuse publication of winning entries that fail to meet the entry criteria.

PUBLISHING RIGHTS

All materials submitted to the 2017 R+D Awards program become the property of Hanley Wood Media, publisher of ARCHITECT. ARCHITECT retains the right to consider all submissions, regardless of their winning status, for future publication.

Go to the organizer’s website