Study Architecture 
ProPEL Interest Submission Deadline: December 18, 2024
Exhibit Charrette
Communicating Humanitarian Shelter
The Opportunity
Communicating Humanitarian Shelter
The charrette will challenge students to design an exhibit that engages the public’s understanding of the need for humanitarian shelter to support the world’s most vulnerable people. Ten teams of students, with two students per team, will be selected to participate in the charrette. The charrette will take place in-person during the ACSA113 Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA, March 20-22, 2025.
What is Humanitarian Shelter? A safe and dignified place to live for people who have been displaced due to conflict, disasters, or other international emergencies. It’s a shelter that provides protection from the elements and gives access to essential human needs, such as water, sanitation, healthcare.
Students are invited to submit an interest statement that will address how to effectively communicate concepts relating to humanitarian shelter internationally through design and how its impact can make the world a better place in times of displacement crisis.
About the Charrette
The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and with the support of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance is delighted to hold a joint student design charrette. The charrette will challenge students to design an exhibit that engages the public’s understanding of the need for humanitarian shelter to support the world’s most vulnerable people.
Benefit & Prize
Each of the ten student teams (two individuals) will be provided expenses to travel to New Orleans to participate in the Exhibit Charrette. The expenses include: air fare (two flights up to $600 each), hotel accommodations (single room with 2 beds), and registration to the ACSA113 Annual Meeting.
A top prize will be awarded (1), in addition to a selected number of honorable mentions, at the discretion of the jury. A total of $5,000 USD will be distributed to the winning project.
$5,000
in prizes
Interest Submission
Deadline: Dec. 18, 2024
Submissions will be accepted through an online interface in October 2024 and must be received online by December 18, 2024. Each student team must have a faculty advisor to complete the online interest submission.
The submission must contain the following:
- Both Students Full Name, Email, Institution & Academic Year.
- Faculty Advisor Full Name, Email & Institution.
- Travel Acceptance: I acknowledge and understand the charrette will be held in New Orleans, LA, and both members of the student team I am submitting for are willing and able to travel to participate in the in-person charrette.
- Knowledge Acceptance: I acknowledge and understand that the student team must view both Communicating Humanitarian Shelter Webinars to be able to participate in the charrette. These include the essential basic knowledge on Humanitarian Shelter.
- 250-word interest statement on why your team would like to partake in the charrette along with a sample of design work, in a single letter (8 ½” x 11”) in PDF format.
Faculty Responsibility
It is the responsibility of the faculty advisor to complete the online interest submission on behalf of the student team. The faculty advisor will need to log into the ACSA website, with your personal credentials, to complete the online interest submission. Faculty will be included in correspondence but are not required to come to New Orleans. By completing an interest submission for a student team, the faculty advisor certifies that the students can represent the school. No more than one team will be accepted per institution.
Interest Submission Deadline: Dec. 18, 2025 – CLOSED
Timeline
Oct. 9, 2024 | Submission Site Opens |
Oct. 28, 2024 | |
Nov. 26, 2024 | |
Dec. 18, 2024 | Interest Submission Deadline |
Jan., 2025 | Teams Selected |
Mar. 20-22, 2025 | ACSA113 Annual Meeting & In-Person Charrette |
Eligibility
The charrette is open to students from all ACSA member schools worldwide. Students must work in teams of two individuals and only one team will be accepted per institution. Interdisciplinary teams are encouraged, but at least one team member must be in an architecture program. Each team must have a faculty advisor to complete the online interest submission. There will be no fee for eligible students to participate in the charrette.
Exhibit Design
The winning exhibit design team will work with IOM to further develop and build the exhibit for display.
Review Process
A review panel made up of IOM and ACSA leadership, will read and select the ten teams of students.
Jury
Jurors will be invited to attend the ACSA113 Annual Meeting to work with the charrette teams and select the final winner of the charrette on-site.
Image Credits
©Nate Webb / IOM
The Bamboo Treatment Facility in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh increases the lifespan and structural integrity of shelters in the district by preparing and chemically treating the humanitarian response’s primary building material (bamboo) – enhancing material durabilit and reducing environmental degradation by minimizing material usage/replacement… There are strict measures in place to limit the environmental impact on this process, aiming for zero sum accumulation of the chemicals used.
©Eva Samalea
2018 Competition: Group of women preparing grass for thatched roof in Kolom, Abyei, South Sudan.
©Andrea Ruffini / IOM Chad
Internally displaced persons working on shelter construction.
©Olivia Headon, IOM
2018 Competition: A young girl peers into a makeshift shelter on the grounds of a church, which temporarily gave land to thousands of people, who were displaced with little to nothing by fighting between two communities neighbouring each other. West Guji, Ethiopia.
Charrette Organizers & Sponsors
Edwin Hernández-Ventura
Programs Coordinator
ehernandez@acsa-arch.org
202-785-2324
Eric Wayne Ellis
Senior Director of Operations and Programs
eellis@acsa-arch.org
202-785-2324
