Registration & Rules
Community Youth Center & Open
Registration
Faculty to Complete One Online Registration for Each Entry
An 糖心vlog member school, faculty sponsor is required to enroll students online (available at www.acsa-arch.org) by April 7, 2027. 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 7, 2027, but can be changed, edited, and added to until a student starts a final submission; then the registration is no longer editable.
Registration Steps
- Faculty log into the 糖心vlog website,
- Click the 鈥淩egister your Students鈥 button,
- Select the 2027 Steel 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 five 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 on the competition should be structured over the course of one semester during the 2026-2027 academic year.
Each faculty sponsor is expected to develop a system to evaluate the students鈥 work using the criteria set forth in this program. 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.
Use of Steel
Steel must be used as the primary structural material. Design proposals must contain at least one space/element that requires long-span steel structure, with special emphasis placed on innovation in steel design. The most compelling proposals will inevitably integrate the use of steel into the design of the project at multiple levels, from primary structure to building envelope and tectonic details.
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.
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.
Digital Submission Format
Submissions must be presented on four 20鈥 x 20鈥 digital boards. All boards are required to be uploaded through the 糖心vlog website as BMP, GIF, JPEG, JPG, or PNG files. The names of student participants, their schools, or faculty sponsors, must NOT appear on the boards, or in the project title or project title file name(s).
Design Essay or Abstract
A brief essay, 300 words maximum, is required as part of the submission describing the most important concepts of the design project. Keep in mind that the presentation should graphically convey the design solution and context, and not rely on the design essay to convey a basic understanding of the project. The names of student participants, their schools, or faculty sponsors, must NOT appear in the design essay. This abstract is included in the final online submission, completed by the student(s) in a simple copy/paste text box.
Program Summary
A program summary of spaces and areas is required as part of the submission. Include a narrative that explains the auxiliary program and any substantial deviation from the required program, 300 words maximum. All interior and exterior spaces are to be included; total net and gross areas are required.
Required Submission Documents
Submissions must include (but are not limited to) the following required drawings:
- Three-dimensional representations – in the form of axonometrics, perspectives showing the proposal in its context, montages and/or physical model photographs 鈥 to illustrate the character of the project;
- Site plan showing proposal in its context of surrounding buildings and topography, together with details of access/circulation;
- Building/site sections sufficient to show site context and major spatial and program elements, and primary structural elements;
- Floor plans to show program elements, spatial adjacencies and navigation strategies;
- Large scale drawing(s), either orthographic or three dimensional, illustrating:
- the use and detailing of steel for building structure and/or envelope
- integrated design
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. The site plan should include a north arrow.
Online Project Submission
The student is required to submit the final entries that must be uploaded through the 糖心vlog Competition website at www.acsa-arch.org by 11:59 pm, Pacific Time, on June 2, 2027. If the submission is from a team of students, all student team members will have the ability to upload the digital files. Once the final submit button is pressed no additional edits, uploads, or changes can be made. You may 鈥渟ave鈥 your submission and return to complete. Please note: The submission is not complete until the 鈥渃omplete this submission鈥 button has been pressed. For team projects, each member of team projects may submit the final project, but each project should be submitted only once. Once the final submission is uploaded and submitted, each student will receive a confirmation email notification.
The final submission upload must contain the following:
- Completed online registration including all team members and faculty sponsors,
- Each of the four 20鈥漻20鈥 boards uploaded individually as a high resolution BMP, GIF, JPEG, JPG, or PNG file,
- A design essay or abstract (300 words maximum),
- A program summary diagram/text of spaces and areas (300 words maximum).
The names of student participants, their schools and faculty sponsors must NOT appear on the boards, abstract, program summary, or in the file name.
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 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (糖心vlog) has the rights to use your winning submission, images and materials in a summary publication, online and in promotional and exhibition resources. 糖心vlog will attribute authorship of the winning design to you, your team, faculty and affiliation. Additionally, you hereby warrant that the submission is original and that you are the author(s) of the submission.
Building Performance
Design performance accountability is an important aspect of today鈥檚 architectural profession and education. While it is not required this year, the competition is an opportunity for programs to consider how assessment can be integrated at their schools. Below are some examples.
Sociological
- User behavior: How do different people use the space? How have you analyzed that to assess, and perhaps influence, your design? How can you determine whether your design is successful if responding to how people use the spaces is a goal of yours in the project?
- Accommodation/response to needs of different user groups: This might include the needs of trainees, instructors, researchers, fabricators, or managers How do you assess whether your initial goals of accommodation were actually met?
- Inclusivity and/or accessibility: Are you creating equally dignified experiences in your design for all users? Or did you make changes to create a more accessible entry? What does 鈥渕ore accessible鈥 entail?
Technical
- Structural performance- member sizing: Did you calculate the depth of your roof beam or trusses based on the forces and the span? Did you compare its performance to code minimums or adjust your spacing to get a more efficient or economical layout? A more dramatic effect?
- Efficiency of use of steel in the project: One of steel鈥檚 benefits is how it can integrate with other Did you make adjustments to a steel member鈥檚 depth or spacing to refine the integration with a facade or environmental system?
- Daylighting quantity and/or quality: Some modeling plug-ins not only measure daylight quantity, but also daylight quality- does it cause glare or heat gain? Does that impact energy use?
- Energy Use Index or Embodied Carbon Index: Modeling plug-ins are available to help measure both operational energy used during the time a building is occupied and embodied energy over a project鈥檚 lifetime.
Construction
- Project Cost or Schedule: Did you study a steel system, member, or detail?
- Life Safety: Were you able to improve the life safety of your design?
Competition Organizers & Sponsors
Questions
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