Study Architecture 
ProPEL Submission Deadline: May 22, 2019
2019 Concrete Competition
Built2Last Resilience Design Challenge
Competition Overview
The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) is pleased to announce the 2018-2019 Built2Last | Resilience Design Challenge, International Student Concrete Design Competition. Administered by ACSA and sponsored by the Portland Cement Association (PCA), the program is intended to challenge students, working individually or in teams, to investigate an innovative application of portland cement-based materials to achieve resilient design objectives.
Opportunity
This concrete competition offers students the opportunity to design an environmentally responsible Recreation Center that integrates a secondary purpose of post-disaster neighborhood support for community continuity through the inherent attributes of concrete applications.
Concrete
In its simplest form, concrete is a mixture of paste and aggregates. The paste, composed of portland cement and water, coats the surface of the fine and coarse aggregates. Through a chemical reaction called hydration, the paste hardens and gains strength to form the rock-like mass known as concrete.
Within this process lies the key to a remarkable trait of concrete: it’s plastic and malleable when newly mixed, strong and durable when hardened. These qualities explain why one material—concrete—can build high-rise skyscrapers and houses, bridges and basements, sidewalks and superhighways. You can find more information on concrete and portland cement by visiting the Portland Cement Association’s Web site at www.Cement.org.
Resilient Design
The Resilient Design Institute states, “Resilience is the capacity to adapt to changing conditions and to maintain or regain functionality and vitality in the face of stress or disturbance. It is the capacity to bounce back after a disturbance or interruption.
Resilient design is the intentional design of buildings, landscapes, communities, and regions in response to these vulnerabilities. As used by the Resilient Design Institute, resilient design focuses on practical, on-the-ground solutions.”
Innovation
The purpose of this competition is to explore and create innovative ideas and applications utilizing portland cement- based solutions for resilient designs.
Design Focus
The focus of this competition is to craft an investigation, identify a design improvement and create a solution containing concrete or concrete products as key building materials.
Criteria for Judging
Criteria for the judging of submissions will include: concrete as the primary structural material, creative and innovative use of concrete in the design solution, successful response of the design to its surrounding context, the creative and clear approaches to the design, successful response to basic architectural concepts such as human activity needs, structural integrity, and coherence of architectural vocabulary.
Awards
The design jury will convene in Summer 2019 to select winning projects and honorable mentions. Winning students, their faculty sponsors, and schools will receive cash prizes and software totaling nearly $37,000. A total of $10,000 in cash prizes will be distribution in the following manner:
$10,000
in cash prizes
Student/Team | Faculty Sponsor | |
|---|---|---|
First Prize | $3500 | $1100 |
Second Prize | $2500 | $850 |
Third Prize | $1500 | $550 |
In addition, each winning school will receive a complete package of PCA’s StructurePoint software, a retail value of $8,900.
StructurePoint combines concrete design software with an array of structural engineering resources to offer a convenient single point of access for design software, support, product specifications, educational tools, and technical information. The software productivity suite provides programs for the analysis and design of reinforced concrete buildings and structures. More information is available at www.StructurePoint.org.
Winners and their faculty sponsors will be notified of the competition results directly. A list of winning projects will be sent to all participating faculty sponsors, as well as posted on the ACSA website at www.acsa-arch.org. Prize-winning submissions will be exhibited at the ACSA Annual Meeting and the AIA National Convention and posted on the ACSA and Portland Cement Association websites.
Downloads
Sponsors
Edwin Hernández
Programs Coordinator
ehernandez@acsa-arch.org
202.785.2324
Eric W. Ellis
ACSA, Director of Operations and Programs
202-785-2324
eellis@acsa-arch.org
