Submission: June 1, 2022
Registration: April 13, 2022
Language: English
Location: North America
Prizes: Please see details below
Type: Student
The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) is pleased to announce the 22nd Annual Steel Design Student Competition for the 2021-2022 academic year. Administered by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), the program is intended to challenge undergraduate and graduate students, working individually or in teams, to explore a variety of design issues related to the use of steel in design and construction. Steel must be used as the primary structural material and contain at least one space that requires long-span steel structure, with special emphasis placed on innovation in steel design.
Category I: Towards a New Monumentality
21st Century Democratic Public Space
In recent years, imperative discussions over the significance of legacies, memories, and the meaning of public monuments and memorials are taking place throughout the world. While memories can differ, and historical facts can be emphasized (and/or obscured), many institutions, monuments, memorials and public spaces have become much more ‘visible’ than ever before. Politics and the political can evolve — hopefully towards a more just society — and marches, protests and actions against racism, violence and injustice continue to re-affirm that the democratic public space is indeed a space for assertion of political and cultural rights. This category asks students to creatively and critically consider novel approaches towards a new monumentality and the conception and creation of democratic public spaces for the twenty-first century. Students are invited to submit design proposals that will address a plurality of publics and generations, and that, as agents for culture and dialogue, can serve to question, illuminate and encourage new kinds of public engagement, aiming to make the world a better place.
Category II: Open
Steel Design
Offers architecture students the opportunity to select a site and building program using steel as the primary material. This competition category permits the greatest amount of flexibility for any building type.
Students may not enter both categories of the competition.
Awards
Winning students and their faculty sponsors will receive cash prizes totaling $20,000 with distribution as follows:
Category I: Towards a New Monumentality
| Student | Faculty Sponsor | |
| First Place | $4,000 | $1,500 |
| Second Place | $2,000 | $1,000 |
| Third Place | $1,000 | $500 |
Category II: Open
| Student | Faculty Sponsor | |
| First Place | $4,000 | $1,500 |
| Second Place | $2,000 | $1,000 |
| Third Place | $1,000 | $500 |
A limited number of honorable mentions may also be awarded at the jury’s discretion. Prize‑winning submissions will be exhibited at the 2023 ACSA Annual Meeting and the 2023 AIA National Convention as well as published in a competition summary publication.
Eligibility
Because the support of AISC is largely derived from steel companies whose markets are mainly in the U.S., the ACSA/AISC Steel Design Student Competition is open to students and/or student teams from ACSA Full and Candidate Member Schools, as well as ACSA Affiliate Members Schools from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
