Showcase your idea. Seen or unseen. Submit.

Prize

100,000 €

This competition, is part of a strategic partnership between Buildner and ArchDaily.

Learn more
Buildner's Unbuilt Award 2025 celebrates architectural creativity and innovation by recognizing the significance of unrealized designs. This competition highlights the value of the creative process—showcasing ideas and visions that, even without being constructed, reflect the spirit of exploration and ingenuity in architecture. It provides a platform for architects and designers to share concepts that challenge boundaries and inspire future possibilities.

Where creativity meets recognition

Concepts, completed or in progress, seen or unseen

Participants are invited to submit their work, offering unrestricted freedom to highlight their creativity and vision. Whether it's designs still on paper, detailed plans awaiting realization, or conceptual ideas seeking acknowledgment, all forms of unbuilt projects are welcome.
Submissions are categorized as small, medium, or large, so every project gets the recognition it deserves. Buildner aims to showcase the incredible potential of these unbuilt designs, applauding the imagination and commitment of architects and designers striving for innovation and excellence.

Small, medium large?
Submit!

Your creativity, rewarded.
Join now.

The Buildner Unbuilt Award 2025 offers life-changing prizes, including a €100,000 prize fund shared across three categories, a dedicated chapter in the annual Unbuilt Book, and the prestigious Continuum Trophy, designed by renowned designer Germans Ermičs. Additionally, one winner will receive an exclusive internship with ArchDaily, gaining invaluable industry experience. Register today and showcase your creativity on a global stage.
Unbuilt Award 2024 winners

Categories

Select one of three categories based on project size: Small scale up to 100 sqm, medium scale from 101 to 999 sqm, and large scale over 1,000 sqm.

Small Wonders

up to 100 sqm

Medium Marvels

from 101 to 999 sqm

Large Visions

over 1.000 sqm

Brief

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

Full Competition Brief

Download brief

Meet your jury

Extended list of jury biographies

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


Please note that this is not a final jury panel, as new jury members can be added up until the registration deadline. All jury members will be involved in the evaluation process based on their availability at that time.

All communication regarding the competition should be conducted exclusively with Buildner staff. For any questions or concerns, please contact us at [email protected].

Amale Andraos

Co-Founder, WORKac; Columbia GSAPP

United States

David Basulto

Founder, ArchDaily

Germany

Manuela Gatto

Director, Zaha Hadid Architects

UK

Christele Harrouk

Editor in Chief, ArchDaily

Lebanon

Melodie Leung

Director, Zaha Hadid Architects

UK

Amanda Levete

Founder, AL_A

 

Michael Meredith

Princeton University, MOS

USA

Lyndon Neri

Neri&Hu Design and Research Office

China

Will Plowman

Partner at Foster + Partners

UAE

Carlo Ratti

Director, MIT Senseable City Lab

USA

Prizes

Buildner Unbuilt Award 2025 offers life-changing prizes, including a €100,000 prize fund, a feature in the annual Unbuilt Book, the prestigious Continuum Trophy designed by Germans Ermičs, and an exclusive ArchDaily internship. 
See the full list below.

Prize Fund

100,000 €

The Buildner Unbuilt Award winners

Small scale category winner

20,000 €

Medium scale category winner

20,000 €

Large scale category winner

20,000 €

Honourable mentions

Five small scale
category honourable mentions

1,000 € x 5

Five medium scale
category honourable mentions

1,000 € x 5

Five large scale
category honourable mentions

1,000 € x 5

Student prize winners

Small scale category winner

5,000 €

Medium scale category winner

5,000 €

Large scale category winner

5,000 €

The best presentation award

All categories compete for one prize

10,000 €

Continuum trophy

The winner of each of the three categories will receive a special trophy designed by renowned designer Germans Ermičs, recognized for his innovative approach to materiality and color
in contemporary design.

Continuum embodies the fleeting purity of an idea—unformed yet perfect, balanced between presence and absence, weight and weightlessness, reality and imagination. Like a drop in still water, an idea creates waves—some fade, some endure, but all leave an imprint. This piece captures the quiet persistence of thought, the fluid nature of creativity, and the endless cycle of ideas in motion. Much like the Ouroboros, an ancient symbol of renewal and continuity, it serves as a reminder that no idea is ever truly lost—only transformed.
Germans Ermičs
Trophy design author
About Germans Ermičs

Germans Ermičs is a designer known for his distinctive approach to materials, color, and space. With a background in graphic design and a degree from the Design Academy Eindhoven, he brings a spatial and architectural sensibility to his work.

His glass pieces were celebrated for their innovative use of color, blurring the boundaries between objects and their surroundings and giving form to the intangible.

Since founding his studio in Amsterdam in 2014, Ermičs has created furniture and immersive installations that challenge conventional perceptions of materials, space, and light—offering new ways to experience the built environment.

Publicity campaign

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

Reach over 2,000,000 viewers

Publications on Buildner's social networks (over 600,000 followers) and newsletter campaigns (over 250,000 subscribers).

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.

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.

Publicity

ArchDaily feature

As part of the collaboration between Buildner and ArchDaily, the competition winners will be showcased on ArchDaily, a leading architecture news platform.

This feature will greatly boost the winners' visibility to millions of architecture professionals and enthusiasts worldwide, increasing their chances for new opportunities, attracting new clients, and establishing their reputation in the industry.

Read more about Buildner and ArchDaily partnership
&

Feature in the book

Buildner will publish winners, honorable mentions, and select participants in a book, celebrating their architectural creativity and vision.

Buildner’s bookstore

Key dates

Send reminders
Closing date for registration
30 October 2025
Competition Q&A deadline
5 November 2025

In order to guarantee equal opportunities to all competition participants.

No new questions will be answered after this deadline.

Closing date for project submission
20 November 2025
23:59 (LONDON TIME)
Announcement of the winners
17 December 2025
Competition Q&A deadline
5 November 2025

In order to guarantee equal opportunities to all competition participants.

No new questions will be answered after this deadline.

Registration fees

I'm
I will pay in
EARLY BIRD

31 Oct - 06 Mar

120 €

90 €

Register now
ADVANCED

07 Mar - 11 Sep

140 €

110 €

LAST MINUTE

12 Sep - 30 Oct

160 €

120 €

EARLY BIRD

31 Oct - 06 Mar

120 €

90 €

Register now
ADVANCED

07 Mar - 11 Sep

140 €

110 €

LAST MINUTE

12 Sep - 30 Oct

160 €

120 €

EARLY BIRD

31 Oct - 06 Mar

120 €

90 €

Register now
ADVANCED

07 Mar - 11 Sep

140 €

110 €

LAST MINUTE

12 Sep - 30 Oct

160 €

120 €

+4.5% VAT

FAQ

Contact us for more questions
When deciding on the project size category for your submission, consider the primary focus of your architectural design. For example, if your project includes a 30 sqm house within a larger architectural ensemble that exceeds 100 sqm, you need to determine whether the small house or the overall architectural concept is the main highlight of your design. If the 30 sqm house is the focal point, submit it under the small-scale category. Conversely, if the broader architectural ensemble is the central element, choose the large-scale category. Base your category selection on the aspect of the design you wish to emphasize.
For the ‘Unbuilt Competition’, you need to submit only one panel. If your project from the previous competition included four panels, you will need to consolidate and rearrange the information to fit into a single panel presentation for this submission.
When calculating the area and choosing the category, think about what you want to present and focus on that. If it's a small building in the park and the park isn't a central feature, you don't need to include the entire park area. However, if the small building is connected to the park and the park is an inseparable part of the architectural solution, then include the park area. There are no specific requirements or boundaries for calculating the area, so consider what is important to you and focus on your design's main vision.
Yes, you can submit your university project even if you are no longer a student. When registering, select the category that best describes your current status. If you want to enter as a student, you must be enrolled in a university at the time of registration. Otherwise, choose the appropriate category such as architecture designer, enthusiast, or licensed architect.
The Buildner's Unbuilt Award Competition is open to both architectural and interior design projects. This competition welcomes submissions of small architectural forms, including furniture designs, indicating that interior designers can also submit their projects.
To register, simply click on "Register Now," fill out all necessary fields, select your preferred payment method, and submit your details. You will be redirected to PayPal or a card payment gateway to settle the competition fee. Upon confirmation of your payment, we will send you an email containing your Unique Identification Code (UIC). You must then log in to your Buildner account using your architecture.info credentials and validate your UIC to complete the process. Learn more here - https://architecturecompetitions.com/how-to-enter-a-competition
You can add/remove/edit team member information as often as you want in the upload panel, up until the submission deadline. Learn more here - https://architecturecompetitions.com/how-to-add-team-members-after-april-2023
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 you can submit previously published project for The Buildner's Unbuilt Award.
Celebrate your idea. Register today!
Register now