Study Architecture 
ProPEL Rules (FAQ)
Awards
The design jury will meet in Summer 2020 to select winning projects and honorable mentions. Winners and their faculty sponsors will be notified of the competition results directly. A list of winning projects will be posted on the ACSA web site at www.acsa‑arch.org and the AISC web site at www.aisc.org.
$14,000
in cash prizes
Category I: URBAN FOOD HUB
Student | Faculty Sponsor | |
First Prize | $2500 | $1000 |
Second Prize | $1500 | $750 |
Third Prize | $750 | $500 |
Category II: OPEN
Student | Faculty Sponsor | |
First Prize | $2500 | $1000 |
Second Prize | $1500 | $750 |
Third Prize | $750 | $500 |
A limited number of honorable mentions may also be awarded at the jury’s discretion. Prize‑winning submissions will be exhibited at the 2021 ACSA Annual Meeting and the 2021 AIA National Convention as well as published in a competition summary publication.
Eligibility
Because the support of AISC is largely derived from steel companies whose markets are mainly in the U.S., the competition is open to students from ACSA Full and Candidate Member Schools from the U.S. and Canada, as well as ACSA Affiliate Members Schools from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico only.
The competition is open to upper level students (third year or above, including graduate students). All student entrants are required to work under the direction of a faculty sponsor. Entries will be accepted for individuals as well as teams. Teams must be limited to a maximum of five students. Submissions should be principally the product of work in a design studio or related class.
Use of Steel
Building Code
Refer to the International Building Code and the local zoning ordinance for information on parking requirements, height restrictions, set backs, 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.
Judging Criteria
Criteria for the judging of submissions will include the following:
- Creative use of structural steel in the design solution
- Successful response of the design to its surrounding context
- Successful response to basic architectural concepts such as human activity needs, structural integrity, and coherence of architectural vocabulary.
Submissions must clearly represent the selected program. In addressing the specific issues of the design challenge, submissions must clearly demonstrate the design solution’s response to the following requirements:
- An elegant expressive understanding of the material–structural steel–deployed with maximum innovative potential with a minimum of one long-span space or one custom-designed steel structure
- A strong conceptual strategy translated into a coherent integrated design proposal
- An articulate mastery of formal concepts and aesthetic values
- A compelling response to the physical and cultural context of the scheme
- A mature awareness of and an innovative approach to sustainability as a convergence of social, economic, and environmental issues
- A thorough appreciation of human needs and social responsibilities
- A thorough understanding of sustainable advantages of structural steel
Registration
A faculty sponsor is required to enroll students online (available at www.acsa-arch.org) by April 1, 2020. 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 1, 2020, but can be changed, edited, and added to until a student starts a final submission; then the registration is no longer editable.
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 2019-2020 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.
Digital Submission Format
Submissions must be presented on four 20” x 20” digital boards, and no more than 20MB each. All boards are required to be uploaded through the ACSA website as JPEG. 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).
Digital Essay or Abstract
A brief essay, 300 words maximum, describing the most important concepts of the design project is required as part of the submission. 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. This essay or abstract is included in the final online submission, uploaded by the student(s) in a simple copy/paste text box.
Program Summary
Required Submission Documents
Submissions must include (but are not limited to) the following required drawings:
- Three-dimensional representations to illustrate the character of the project in the form of axonometrics, perspectives showing the proposal in its context, montages and/or physical model photographs –;
- Site plan showing proposal in the 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;
- 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 ACSA Competition website at www.acsa-arch.org by 11:59 pm, Pacific Time, on June 10, 2020. 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. 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
- Project Title
- Each of the four 20”x20” boards uploaded individually as 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) and the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) has the rights to use your winning submission, images and materials in a summary publication, online and in promotional and exhibition resources. ACSA/AISC 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.
Questions
Edwin Hernández
Programs Coordinator
ehernandez@acsa-arch.org
202.785.2324
Eric W. Ellis
Senior Director of Operations and Programs
202-785-2324
eellis@acsa-arch.org
