Competition introduction

Competition organisers

Pavilion Of Humanity: 
First Contact

The Earth is in a chaotic and confusing state right now, with the future of our society not entirely clear. But in a world of global pandemics, climate change, wars and a constant cost of living crisis, now is the time to reflect on the positive aspects of humanity and its many great achievements.

The Pavilion Of Humanity: First Contact architecture ideas competition tasks participants with designing a structure encapsulating the best and brightest of our species in a way that, should we ever be visited by other life forms, would allow them to learn about our achievements in a single space.

In the same way the Pioneer Plaques, placed on board the 1972 Pioneer 10 and 1973 Pioneer 11 spacecrafts, tell a pictorial story of humanity, the Pavilion of Humanity should represent the human race through architecture. The Pioneer Plaques included figures of a man and a woman, the sun and galactic landmarks, a schematic diagram of the Solar System, and a silhouette of the spacecraft. These drawings were designed to give extraterrestrials a basic understanding of humanity and the Earth.


[left] The illustration on the Pioneer plaque
Participants are asked to choose a site of their liking anywhere in the world, and as long as the structure is located on Earth and obeys the basic laws of physics, anything else goes. This is an opportunity for architecture and design enthusiasts to stretch the limits of their imagination and reflect on the greatest and most influential achievements of humanity.



What would you be most proud to show extraterrestrial visitors and how would you want to communicate our greatest accomplishments through architecture?


Download full competition brief for more information!

Competition is open to all. No professional qualification is required. Design proposals can be developed individually or by teams (4 team members maximum). Correspondence with organizers must be conducted in English; All information submitted by participants must be in English. 

Full competition brief

The full competition brief can be downloaded as often as required; no additional information will be provided after registration.

  • - (!) FULL COMPETITION BRIEF
    • Règles de compétition
    • Regolamento del concorso
    • Reglas de la competencia

Prizes

7,000 €
Total Prize Fund
1st PRIZE
3,000 €
Publications
Certificate of Achievement
2nd PRIZE
1,500 €
Publications
Certificate of Achievement
3rd PRIZE
1,000 €
Publications
Certificate of Achievement
BUILDNER STUDENT AWARD (more details)
1,000 €
+ 50 € ARCHHIVE BOOKS Gift Card  
+ 50 Points BUILDNER Architecture University Rankings   
Publications 
Certificate of Achievement
BUILDNER GREEN AWARD (more details)
500 €
Publications
Certificate of Achievement
+ 6 HONOURABLE MENTIONS

 

CERTIFICATE:


Buildner will also acknowledge the outstanding performance of all winners and honourable mentions with Certificates of Achievement.

 

Publicity campaign

The Buildner’s extensive global publicity campaign for the competition winners:

  • "SEEN BY" ONE MILLION Results published on buildner.com - one of the leading websites in the industry and is visited by over one million unique visitors each year.
  • "SEEN BY" 800 000 MORE Publications on Buildner's social networks (over 600,000 followers) and newsletter campaigns (over 200,000 subscribers).
  • INTERVIEW Exclusive interview published with the results and shared on Buildner's social networks.
  • MOVIE The competition winners will be granted and opportunity to submit a movie about themselves. The video will be published on the Buildner's website and social networks.
  • MEDIA PARTNERS The competition results will get international art and design media coverage and will be featured in the world’s leading architecture media outlets.

Jury panel

Jury members shall under no circumstances be contacted by competition participants or their representatives. Participants who attempt to contact jury members, shall be disqualified.

All jury members are involved in the evaluation based on their availability at that time. All communication regarding the competition should only be carried out with Buildner staff. For any questions please contact us on [email protected]  

 

Find the extended list of jury panel biographies here!

Gonca Arik Senior Associate Tabanlıoğlu Architects Turkey
Xuanru Chen architect at ZJJZ Atelier China
Bartosz Haduch Architect, academic teacher, publicist, winner of numerous architecture competitions, awards, and scholarships, NArchitekTURA Poland
Sebastian Letz Partner at Milla & Partner Germany
Astrid Klein founder of Klein Dytham architecture (KDa) Japan
Mark Dytham founder of Klein Dytham architecture (KDa) Japan
Kenrick Wong Orient Occident Atelier Hong Kong
Peter Walker Deorector at Cumulus Studio Australia
David Telerman Founder of studio Atelier David Telerman France

Key dates

Closing date for registration

24 July, 2023

Closing date for project submission

04 September, 2023 (11:59pm London time)

Announcement of the winners

18 October, 2023

Competition Q&A deadline: 30 July, 2023

In order to guarantee equal opportunities to all competition participants,
no new questions will be answered after this deadline!

Registration fees

  • Registration Deadline
    26 May - 24 July
  • Architects / Enthusiasts / Companies
    145 €
    This registration provides a complete set of prizes, including certificates of achievement, monetary rewards, and potential construction benefits.
    110 €
    This registration offers a comprehensive set of prizes, including recognition through publicity, certificates of achievement, and potential construction-related benefits, without any monetary awards.
  • Students
    115 €
    This registration provides a complete set of prizes, including certificates of achievement, monetary rewards, and potential construction benefits.
    80 €
    This registration offers a comprehensive set of prizes, including recognition through publicity, certificates of achievement, and potential construction-related benefits, without any monetary awards.
+4.5% VAT

STUDENT REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS


Contact us to receive special student rates for group registrations (discount applies for 3+ registrations from one university/school) and to receive further information and support for getting your students involved in architecture competitions. Send us request from your university email address along with basic information about yourself and your university/school. Please note that only recognized university staff can apply for the reduced student rate.

 

Competition results in media

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F.A.Q.

Competition related questions

This project has no set budget.
No specific site has been selected for this competition.

General questions

Click on "register now", fill in all the required fields, choose your payment method and submit your information. You will be forwarded to Paypal or CPS secure payment gateway, to cover the competition fee. Once we receive your payment, we'll send you an email with your username and password to upload your submission directly to the website.
You can add/remove/edit team member information as often as you want in the upload panel, up until the submission deadline.
Only one proposal per registration is permitted. Participants are entitled to register multiple times if they wish to participate in the competition with several proposals.
Yes we are in the process of negotiating with multiple international industry-related media representatives. The list of media partners is constantly updated on our website, please check it regularly to find latest updates.
No. Competition entries are evaluated anonymously. The participant registration type is only revealed upon the announcement of the results.
Please contact us – [email protected] and we will address the problem directly.
Yes. If the jury panel selects a Student award's submission for the top 3, it will automatically be awarded both prizes.
Yes. If the jury panel selects a Sustainability award's submission for the top 3, it will automatically be awarded both prizes.
The short answer is yes, you may submit a lpreviously published design concept as long as you are the author. Before re-submitting your project, please carefully read the following clarification points listed here - architecturecompetitions.com/resubmit-your-design
As AI-generated images may be based on pre-existing work or generated using proprietary algorithms, it is best to check the specific terms and conditions of the AI tool used to generate the image to determine its ownership status. It may also be necessary to seek legal advice to fully understand the ownership rights and any restrictions that may apply. In general, it is not recommended to consider AI-generated images as your sole work or intellectual property unless you have obtained explicit permission to do so.
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