This competition is part of a strategic partnership between Buildner and ArchDaily that aims to explore "The Contemporary Home".
Learn moreThe contemporary home
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Introduction
COMPETITION ORGANISERS
As cities expand, vertical and horizontal spaces are continually redefined, adapting to the pressing demands of urban living. Yet, beneath the expanse of our infrastructure lies a matrix of underutilized spaces, often overshadowed by their towering counterparts - the bridges that stitch our cities together. These underbridge spaces, ranging from small niches to vast expanses, remain dormant, echoing the hum of the traffic above, waiting for visionaries to tap into their latent potential.
In our relentless pursuit to address urban housing needs, Buildner is proud to unveil its 20th competition in the Affordable Housing Series, marking another milestone in the exploration of innovative living solutions. This edition also represents the second edition of Underbridge, our housing challenge focused on the overlooked and underexplored spaces beneath bridges around the world. Through this challenge, architects and visionaries are invited to reimagine these environments and unlock their potential — transforming them into dynamic, thriving communities that resonate with the city’s heartbeat.
Beneath city bridges worldwide lies untapped potential, vast spaces brimming with opportunity. Underbridge invites visionaries to transform these areas into thriving communities. Buildner is searching for designs that can cater to a wide array of residents, ensuring a perfect blend of scalability, affordability and eco-consciousness. It is an invitation to revolutionize these overlooked spaces with a fresh, practical perspective.
Participants have the liberty to pinpoint any underbridge site across the globe for their visionary designs. Essential considerations include the site’s accessibility, available amenities, and how the proposed solution harmonizes with the existing community. The designs should showcase adaptability, ensuring they cater to various needs while remaining both cost-effective and sustainable.
With this challenge, the boundaries are set by your own creativity. Buildner urges entrants to think big, think different, and present housing solutions that challenge the norm. The underbridge spaces await your transformative touch. Let your imaginations run wild, and let’s craft a vision where these spaces become the heartbeat of urban communities.
Download the 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.
Brief
The competition brief is available for download at any time in the following language: English, Italian, French and Spanish.
FULL COMPETITION BRIEF [ENG][IT][FR][ES]
Prizes
Prize fund
8,000 €
1ST PLACE
4,000 €
2ND PLACE
2,000 €
3RD PLACE
1,000 €
6 Honorable mentions & certificates
Buildner will acknowledge the outstanding performance of all winners and honourable mentions with Certificates of Achievement.
Publicity campaign
Buildner's publicity campaign offers extensive exposure to the architectural community, ensuring that the results of the competition are seen by a vast audience:
Buildner's two million
The results are published on buildner.com, a leading website in the architecture industry, attracting over one million unique visitors annually. Additionally, the campaign extends to Buildner's social networks, which boast over 800,000 followers combined, and through newsletter campaigns reaching over 200,000 subscribers.
Interview and movie
Winners will have the opportunity to submit a movie and an interview, boosting their recognizability and helping to build their name in the industry.
Extensive media network
Buildner leverages an extensive network of media industry leaders to publish the competition results. This broadens the audience further, ensuring that participants' work is showcased across multiple platforms known for their influence and reach in the architecture and design sectors.
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
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Jury
The jury panel for Underbridge / Edition #2 Architecture Competition has not yet been published. Buildner is committed to selecting the most qualified industry professionals to comprise its jury panels. These panels include architects and experts from related fields to ensure fair and objective evaluation of all entries. All communication regarding the competition should be directed exclusively to Buildner staff. Explore some of the names featured in previous Buildner competition jury panels:
Norman Foster
Norman Foster Foundation
Spain
Philippe Starck
Creator
France
Farshid Moussavi
Farshid Moussavi Architecture (FMA)
United Kingdom
Alison Brooks
Alison Brooks Architects
UK
Lyndon Neri
Neri&Hu Design and Research Office
China
Amanda Levete
Founder, AL_A
Francine Houben
Founding Partner, Mecanoo
Netherlands
Ben Van Berkel
Founder and Principle, UNStudio
Netherlands
Lucy Tilley
Adjaye Associates
UK
Fernanda Canales
Fernanda Canales
Mexico
David Gianotten
OMA -Office for Metropolitan Architecture
Netherlands
Ece Calguner Erzan
Interiors Principal, SOM
USA
David Basulto
Founder, ArchDaily
Germany
Will Plowman
Partner at Foster + Partners
UAE
Patrik Schumacher
Director of Zaha Hadid Architects
UK
Manuela Gatto
Director, Zaha Hadid Architects
UK
Melodie Leung
Director, Zaha Hadid Architects
UK
Elizabeth Whittaker
Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, Merge
United States
Michelle Kaufmann
Google and Michelle Kaufmann Studio
United States
Hilary Sample
GSAPP and MOS
United States
Meryati Blackwell
Marlon Blackwell Architects
United States
Peter Gluck
GLUCK+
United States
Paulo Flores
Director, Zaha Hadid Architects
UK
Charles Walker
Director of Zaha Hadid Architects
UK
Steven Rainville
Olson Kundig
United States
Roberto Bannura
Steven Holl Architects - SHA
China
Andrew Whalley
Grimshaw
United Kingdom
Eli Synnevåg
Snøhetta
Norway
Jette Hopp
Director, Snøhetta
Norway
Julia Murphy
Managing Partner at SOM
USA
Stefan de Koning
Partner at MVRDV
Netherlands
Doriana Fuksas
Studio Fuksas
Italy
Winy Maas
Founder, MVRDV
Netherlands
Flora Lee
Associate Partner, MAD Architects
USA
Martin Voelkle
Partner at BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group
USA
Thomas Christoffersen
BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group
Denmark
Carlo Ratti
Director, MIT Senseable City Lab
USA
Micael Calatrava
Calatrava Grace and Calatrava International
UAE
Christina Seilern
Studio Seilern Architects
UK
Bertrand Schippan
Partner, MVRDV
Netherlands
Beatriz Colomina
Director of Graduate Studies, PhD Program, School of Architecture, Princeton University
United States
Anupama Kundoo
Architect and Professor at TU Berlin
Germany
Moshe Safdie
Safdie Architects
USA
Silvana Ordinas
Founder and Partner, Peter Pichler Architecture
Italy
Vishaan Chakrabarti
Practice for architecture and urbanism: PAU
USA
Deborah Berke
TenBerke Architects
USA
Julien De Smedt
JDS Architects
Denmark
Michael Meredith
Princeton University, MOS
USA
Christele Harrouk
Editor in Chief, ArchDaily
Lebanon
Design assessment
Participants will have the option to request a personalised in-depth design assessment of their project for a fee after the competition results are published.
This feedback highlights the strengths of each submission and identifies areas for refinement, offering participants valuable insights into their work.
The design assessment serves as both a learning tool and a reflection of a project's performance. It helps participants better understand their submission, see how it compares with other entries, and identify opportunities for growth in future projects.
Key dates
Send remindersClosing date for registration
17 September 2026
Competition Q&A deadline
22 September 2026
In order to guarantee equal opportunities to all competition participants.
No new questions will be answered after this deadline.
Closing date for project submission
19 October 2026
23:59 (LONDON TIME)
Announcement of the winners
24 November 2026
Competition Q&A deadline
22 September 2026
In order to guarantee equal opportunities to all competition participants.
No new questions will be answered after this deadline.
Registration fees
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.
X
Architecture competitions newsletter
Absolutely not! You’ll always keep full ownership and authorship of your project. Submitting to a Buildner competition doesn’t mean giving up your rights — it simply gives us permission to share and promote your work as part of the competition. We may feature your project on our website, social media, newsletters, books, or exhibitions — all to celebrate your creativity and inspire others. This permission helps us give your work the visibility it deserves, without needing to ask you each time we publish it.
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.
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.
Yes. If the jury panel selects a Student award's submission for the top 3, it will automatically be awarded both prizes.
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.
The short answer is yes, you may submit a previously 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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