Registration Deadline: April 8, 2026
2026 COTE Competition
AIA COTE庐 Top Ten for Students
Registration & Rules
AIA COTE庐 Top Ten for Students Competition
Registration
Faculty to Complete One Online Registration for Each Entry
A faculty sponsor is required to enroll students online (available at www.acsa-arch.org) by April 8, 2026. Registration can be done for your entire studio or for each individual student or team of students participating. Students or teams wishing to enter the competition on their own must have a faculty sponsor, who should complete the registration. There is no entry or submission fee to participate in the competition. Each registered student and faculty sponsor will receive a confirmation email that will include information on how the student(s) will upload final submissions online. Please add the email address competitions@acsa-arch.org to your address book to ensure that you receive all emails regarding your submission.
During registration the faculty will have the ability to add students, add teams, assign students to teams, and add additional faculty sponsors. Registration is required by April 8, 2026, but can be changed, edited, and added to until a student starts a final submission; then the registration is no longer editable.
Faculty Registration Steps
- Faculty log into the 糖心vlog website,
- Click the “Register your Students” button,
- Select the 2026 COTE Competition (Category I or II) from the submission type dropdown menu & Click 鈥淓nter鈥�,
- Select 鈥淚ndividual Registration鈥� to add individual student. Click 鈥淪ave and Continue鈥�. You will need to know each student鈥檚 first & last names, email, & institution, which are all required fields for each student,
- Select 鈥淭eam Registration鈥� if this is a team registration, you may add additional students by clicking 鈥淎dd Student鈥� to the same submission to this team, teams must be limited to a maximum of three students,
- Once the individual student or team is complete, Click 鈥淪ubmit鈥�,
- Repeat steps 3 鈥� 6 for each individual or team.
Faculty Responsibility
The administration of the competition at each institution is left to the discretion of the faculty within the guidelines set forth in this document. Work should have been completed in a design studio or related class within the 2025-2026 calendar year. Design work completed before Spring 2025 will not be accepted.
Each faculty sponsor may develop an internal system to evaluate the students鈥� work using the criteria set forth in this Competition Program and the Studio Guide. The evaluation process should be an integral part of the design process, encouraging students to scrutinize their work in a manner similar to that of the jury. The final result of the design process will be a submission of two presentation boards and a narrative describing the design solution and approach to each of the ten principles of the Framework for Design Excellence.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and computational design are providing students and architects with new labor-saving tools and transforming many of the tasks associated with project delivery. The proliferation of AI use in practice and academia is raising legitimate questions about how the responsibility and accountability of the architect and students might be altered by this technological wave.
- AI usage in student submissions must ensure the students remain responsibly in control and continue to be accountable for all images and likenesses in their submissions.
- AI is a tool 鈥� it is not a replacement for professional judgment. Regardless of the AI tools used, it remains the architecture student鈥檚 responsibility to provide designs in conformance with academic integrity.
Students choosing to use AI as a tool must attribute this use in their design essay (abstract). Students are accountable for the originality, validity, and integrity of the content and designs of their submissions. In choosing to use AI tools, students are expected to do so responsibly and with a high standard of ethical conduct. This includes reviewing the outputs of any AI tools and confirming content accuracy.
Building Code
Refer to the International Building Code and the local zoning ordinance for information on parking requirements, height restrictions, setbacks, easements, flood, egress and fire containment. All proposals must be designed to meet requirements for accessibility; for guidelines, refer to the Americans with Disabilities Act and the principles of Universal Design.
Submission Requirements
The COTE Top Ten for Students Competition seeks compelling design submissions in both categories that meaningfully address the future impacts of climate change, imagine and illustrate a healthy, sustainable and equitable future. Emphasis shall be placed on achieving zero emissions, design for climate change and resilience, and addressing social equity and ecology.
The Framework for Design Excellence shall serve to inform the design process and guide the required graphics. Students or student teams must submit the following materials online:
1. Graphics: No more than two (2) digital boards at 24鈥漻36鈥� (BMP, GIF, JPEG, JPG, or PNG files, no more than 20MB each), to include the following:
Documentation must adequately convey the project鈥檚 relationship to topography and physical context, formal and programmatic organization, circulation patterns, and experiential qualities. All drawings should be labeled; indicate scale and orientation where necessary. At minimum, include the following:
– Site or context plan
– Floor plans
– Building / site sections
– Perspective or isometric view (digital rendering or model photograph)
Present diagrams or images that best display how the project meets the design criteria by considering the ten principles of the Framework for Design Excellence. Some principles may require a specific graphic or calculation; others are open-ended. Where applicable, provide labels and notes on how calculated metrics are obtained (basis, method, program used, and assumptions). All metrics should include a short description of key assumptions used in the analysis and where the numbers came from and reliability.
2. Abstract/Narrative: (300 words maximum summary). Project/concept statement should include the design approach, project intentions & strategies. *During submission, simply copy/paste this text into the 鈥淎bstract鈥� text field.
3. Program Brief: (300 words maximum) Submissions should include a brief description the building type, gross square footage, project location (city, state, country) & climate zone. *During submission, simply copy/paste this text into the 鈥淧rogram鈥� text field.
Incomplete or undocumented entries will be disqualified. All drawings should be presented at a scale appropriate to the design solution and include a graphic scale and north arrow.
Project authorship must remain anonymous. The names of student participants, their schools, or faculty sponsors, must NOT appear on the boards, narrative/abstract or project title. If authorship is revealed on any submission materials the entry will be disqualified. All metrics should include a short description of key assumptions used in the analysis and where the numbers came from and reliability.
Online Project Submission
After the faculty sponsor completes the online registration, each student will receive a confirmation email, which will include a link to complete the online submission. The student is required to submit the final entries that must be uploaded through the 糖心vlog Competition website at聽www.acsa-arch.org聽by 11:59 pm, Pacific Time, on June 3, 2026. If the submission is from a team of students, all student team members will have the ability to upload the digital files. It is recommended that one team member completes the final submission upload. Faculty have the option to submit the student鈥檚 final boards when needed. The submission is not complete until the 鈥渟ubmit鈥� button has been clicked. Once the final submission is uploaded and submitted, each student will receive a confirmation email notification.
Winning projects will be required to submit high-resolution original files/ images for use in competition publications and exhibit materials. By uploading your files, you agree that the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (糖心vlog) have the rights to use your winning submission, images and materials in a summary publication, online and in promotional and exhibition resources. AIA and 糖心vlog will attribute authorship of the winning design to you, your team, faculty, and institutional affiliation. Additionally, you hereby warrant that the submission is original and that you are the student author(s) of the design submission.
Competition Organizers & Sponsors
Edwin Hern谩ndez-Ventura
Awards and Competitions Manager
ehernandez@acsa-arch.org
202.785.2324
Eric W. Ellis
Senior Director of Operations and Programs
eellis@acsa-arch.org
202-785-2324