Study Architecture 
ProPEL Submission Deadline: June 7, 2023
2023 Concrete Masonry Competition
Community Commons
Registration
Eligibility
Because the support of NCMA FDN is largely derived from masonry companies whose markets are mainly in the U.S. and Canada, the ACSA/NCMA Student Competition is open to students and/or student teams from ACSA Full and Candidate Member Schools, as well as ACSA Affiliate Members Schools from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico only. All published materials, websites included, associated with the ACSA/NCMA Student Competition will describe eligibility as per above.
An ACSA member school, faculty sponsor is required to enroll students by completing an online registration form prior to submission by April 5, 2023.
Faculty Sponsor Online Registration
One Registration for Each Entry
A faculty sponsor is required to enroll students online (available at www.acsa-arch.org) by April 5, 2023. 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 5, 2023, 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 ACSA website,
- Click the “Register your Students NOW” button,
- Select the 2023 Concrete Masonry Competition from the submission type dropdown menu & Click “Enter”,
- Select “Individual Registration” to add individual student. Click “Save and Continue”. You will need to know each student’s first & last names, email, & institution, which are all required fields for each student,
- Select “Team Registration” if this is a team registration, you may add additional students by clicking “Add Student” 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 “Submit”,
- Repeat steps 3 – 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 2022-2023 academic year.
Each faculty sponsor is expected to develop a system to evaluate the students’ 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.
The intent of this competition is to provide an academically rigorous design challenge suitable for integration into the curriculum of an architectural design studio or course. Curriculum integration is not a requirement of competition guidelines but is strongly encouraged. The administration of the competition at each institution is left to the discretion of the faculty within the guidelines set forth in this document.
Rules
Submission Materials & Requirements
Digital Submission Format
Submissions must be presented on four 20” x 30” digital boards, no more than 20MB each. All boards are required to be uploaded through the ACSA website as JPEG 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, 150 words maximum, diagram/text of spaces and areas is required as part of the submission. All interior and exterior spaces are to be included; total net and gross areas are required. The program summary is included in the final online submission, uploaded by the student(s) in a simple copy/paste text box.
Required Submission Documents
Submissions must include (but are not limited to) the following required drawings:
- Site plan (with north arrow) showing proposal in its context of surrounding buildings and topography, together with details of access/circulation;
- Floor plans, for each unit, to show program elements, spatial adjacencies and navigation strategies;
- Street elevations, building elevations, site sections, and building sections sufficient to show site context and major spatial and program elements;
- Three-dimensional representations – in the form of axonometrics, perspectives showing the proposal in its context, montages and/or physical model photographs – to illustrate the character of the project;
- Large scale drawing(s), either orthographic or three dimensional, illustrating:
- the use and detailing of concrete masonry units;
- 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.
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 ACSA Competition website at www.acsa-arch.org by 11:59 pm, Pacific Time, on June 7, 2023. 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 “save” your submission and return to complete. Please note: The submission is not complete until the “complete this submission” 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”x30” boards uploaded individually as high resolution JPEG files, no more than 20MB each,
- A design essay or abstract (300 words maximum)
- A program summary diagram/text of spaces and areas (150 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 (ACSA) has the rights to use your winning submission, images and materials in a summary publication, online and in promotional and exhibition resources. ACSA 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.
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 (ACSA) have the rights to use your winning submission, images and materials in a summary publication, online and in promotional and exhibition resources. ACSA 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 Hernández
Programs Coordinator
202-785-2324
ehernandez@acsa-arch.org
Eric W. Ellis
Senior Director of Operations and Programs
202-785-2324
eellis@acsa-arch.org
