The College of Environmental Design Undergraduate Advising Blog

The Brief Shelter is pleased to invite architects, planners, students, engineers, designers, thinkers, NGOs and organizations from all over the world to take part in the third annual Dencity Competition.  Rapid world growth and urbanization is not allowing cities to adapt and provide for their inhabitants. Towns are quickly growing into cities, and some of the densest places in the world are comprised of makeshift homes, otherwise referred to as slums. There are currently over 1 billion slum dwellers in the world. This number is expected to reach 2 billion by the year 2030. The intent of this competition is twofold: to foster new ideas on how to better handle the growing density of unplanned cities and to spread awareness of this massive problem. Contestants should consider how design can empower communities and allow for a self sufficient future. For this years competition, the focus will be on improving living conditions in urban settings. There are no restrictions i...

Each year, for hundreds of women in the United Republic of Tanzania, a positive diagnosis for cervical or breast cancer is followed by an impossible decision: travel to a far-away hospital for treatment and face the possibility of unsafe or unaffordable lodging, or stay at home and succumb to cancer. To ease this burden, Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon®, a global partnership fighting women’s cancers, the American Cancer Society (ACS), the George W. Bush Institute, HKS, Inc., Southern Methodist University (SMU), and T-MARC Tanzania have launched an international competition to solicit designs for two “home-away-from-homes” for these women in Tanzania. To learn more about the competition and see a short video, visit http://pinkribbonredribbon.org/competition/ . The deadline for submissions is July 18, 2016, at 11:59 p.m., EST. Please write to info@pinkribbonredribbon.org if you have questions.

3rd Earth Architecture Competition Deadline: October 30, 2015 Nka Foundation is issuing a challenge to designers, architects and builders to use their creativity to come up with innovative designs for modest, affordable houses that can be built locally to replace the rural mud house type. The challenge is to design a mud house type of about 2400 sq feet that sleeps 8 to 10 persons to be built on a plot size of 80 x 100 feet. The construction site will be Abetenim Arts Village, near Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The building should be designed for use by either musicians, theatre artists, potters, sculptors, painters, textile artists, designers, writers, or media arts practitioners. Total costs of constructing the design entry must not exceed $7,000 (USD) for materials and labor; land value is excluded from this price point. COMPETITION PRIZES: 1st: $ 1.500; 2nd: $ 1.000; 3rd: $ 500. REGISTRATION: https://eventbrite.com/event/16829232688 SEE MORE: http://nkaprojects...

Breakwater Chicago -- an entertainment island built on a passenger vessel on Lake Michigan. This is a unique design challenge and the award is $5,000.  For more information, you can visit http://www.breakwaterchicago.com/ The deadline for this competition is October 25th, 2015. And, Breakwater Chicago may be implementing the winning design. Participating in this competition is free, and students can sign up at http://www.arcbazar.com

The Lemelson-MIT Program is soliciting referrals of potential undergraduate and graduate student applicants for the 2016 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize. The Lemelson-MIT Student Prize honors promising collegiate inventors around the country. The student prize is open to teams of undergraduate students and individual graduate students who have inventions in categories that represent significant sectors of the economy. Inventions can address opportunities in both developed and developing economies. Student applicants must be a full-time, matriculated, degree-seeking student in the Spring semester of 2016 at a U.S. college or university. Postdocs, audit students, and alumni are not eligible. Applicants should also be a named inventor on all inventions entered into the competition and should consider environmental sustainability as an important factor in their inventive work. Patents are encouraged but not required. The winning graduate student in each of the prize categories will receive $15,...

This international one-stage architecture competition invites all architecture students and young professionals to develop and submit compelling ideas for the design of Lake Baths located in Serra da Estrela, Portugal. The Lake Baths are located within a serene and remarkable landscape. The Lake Baths aims to promote a unique experience for the visitors and create a special setting in direct contact with nature. A quiet place to be experienced by single day visitors, trekkers and guests staying at the Lodge. SITE LAKE BATHS _ Serra da Estrela, Portugal Early Registration: June 24 - September 18, 2015 Regular Registration: September 19 - September 30, 2015 Submission Deadline: October 03, 2015 Participation fee: 60 / 90 Euros Open to: Architecture Students and Young Professionals (≤ 40 years old) Website: www.arkxsite.com

ARCHmedium competitions aim to be a learning experience to complement their formal education which enables students to enrich their learning experience and gain confidence by becoming acquainted with the modus operandi of this kind of competitions inside the professional architectural world, giving them the opportunity to see their projects published in prestigious international magazines and exhibited at architecture schools from around the world. Entry registration is now open to international undergraduate students and young architects who will be awarded separately from students prizes. More information can be found here

This competition challenges participants to visualize a systemic food, energy, or water infrastructure problem and its consequences, as well as realistic opportunities for intervention, including a prototype of one or more of their strategies that could be realized within the next 12 months. AECOM will make available $25,000 of cash and in-kind staff time to support the implementation of the prototype. Three short-listed teams will be invited to present their proposals before an interdisciplinary panel at the A+D Museum in Los Angeles in October 2015. Urban SOS: All Systems Go jurors will award $15,000 in prizes, which may be divided among one or more teams. The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students at all levels of higher education around the world. Entrants must be enrolled in a certified program during the 2015 academic year at Bachelors, Masters, or Ph.D. levels. For more information, visit: All Systems Go

This year’s LAUNCH is more than a competition, it’s an accelerator propelling top UC-affiliated startups to fundable. Fifteen teams ranging from SmartBod (smart vibrator) to Blowfish Health (asthma management device) have undergone a rigorous four-month curriculum to refine their customer segments, develop sales plans and define their metrics that matter. Join us for the finals to: · Meet and engage with all 15 teams at the pre-finals demo showcase · See the Finalist teams pitch and receive feedback from top Silicon Valley VCs · Watch them compete for $50,000 in prizes, including People’s Choice · Network with past LAUNCH participants and entrepreneurs from UC Berkeley and beyond · Get inspired by some of the Bay Area’s hottest startups REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/launch-17th-annual-uc-berkeley-startup-competition-registration-16212201130

SfunCube Friday, April 17, 2015 at 6:30 PM - Saturday, April 18, 2015 at 9:00 PM (PDT) Oakland, CA Student designers and architects of the University of California, Berkeley Environmental Design school are welcome to come participate in the third annual SfunCube Solar Hackathon . The solar Hackathon brings together the Bay Area's most hardcore creative designers, developers, and brilliant solar business minds together to create innovative solutions to accelerate solar adoption in US and around the world. There are $10,000 in cash prizes and a chance to build your own solar start up.

This international one-stage architecture competition invites all architecture students and young professionals to develop and submit compelling ideas for the design of a contemporary Art Center located within the Fortress of Cresmina, in Cascais, Portugal. The Art Center aims to create a cultural destination and focus on the protection of the cultural heritage. The Art Center will provide a space to display Contemporary Art and gather the community together for performances, lectures and social events, while providing a quiet space for invited visiting artists. Site Art Center _ Cascais, Portugal Registration Deadline: May 25, 2015 Submission Deadline: May 30, 2015 Participation fee: 60 / 90 Euros Open to: Architecture Students and Young Professionals  Website: www.arkxsite.com

  WEGE Competition - a team based design competition for US-based undergraduates, which this year will focus on the following challenge - How can we create a circular economy? Our very own Colin Webster was a judge on last year’s panel (the first year of the competition) and has been involved in helping to align this year’s challenge around the circular economy. Competitors enter in teams of five with cash prizes as follows: First Place - $15,000 divided among the 5 team members. Second Place - $10,000 divided among the 5 team members. Third Place - $5,000 divided among the 5 team members The deadline for registration is 11 January 2015 Also see promotional video

 We thought you might like to know that we have now opened registration for the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2015 Race to Zero Student Design Competition.  The goal of this exciting and unique competition is to engage college students across the United States and Canada to become part of a new leadership movement to achieve truly sustainable homes. This competition will also help to provide the next generation of architects, engineers, construction managers, and entrepreneurs with skills and experience to start careers in clean energy and generate creative solutions to real-world problems. Please visit our Race to Zero Student Design Competition web site for more details about this year’s competition. Also, feel free to email racetozero@ee.doe.gov if you have any questions that we can answer.

 TCE recently announced Breaking New Ground, a competition to create sustainable and low-income housing in the Eastern Coachella Valley. The goal is to produce an implementable proposal for a housing community that can be built and realized. Individuals, firms, or teams from around the world comprised of architects and professionals from allied fields are eligible. Teams are required to submit highly-developed, holistic architectural proposals consisting of a descriptive narrative, a financial model, regulatory framework, social services framework, and a conceptual architectural design. Registration opens September 29 and closes October 21, and teams will have 8 weeks to complete their submissions, which are due December 19, 2014. Winners of Round 1 will be announced in January 2015, and will proceed to Round 2. Round 2 entries will be due February 28, 2015 and winners will be announced on March 31, 2015. The winner of the competition will play an active part in the final pro...

2014-2015 Big Ideas@Berkeley Competition now open! Up to $300,000 in prizes available to students with innovative ideas to improve society. Big Ideas@Berkeley provides funding, support, and encouragement to interdisciplinary teams of undergraduate and graduate students who have 'Big Ideas.' Since its founding in 2006, it has inspired innovative and high-impact student projects aimed at solving the world's most pressing problem. Big Ideas applicants have access to the following resources to help them develop their projects: Up to $15,000 in funding. Extensive feedback from judges. Proposal writing and budgeting workshops. Access to advisors and practitioners in residence. Extended, 8-week, mentorship period. Networking opportunities. Opportunities to publicize and pitch your Big Idea. Information Session on 11/9, 6:30pm, B100 Blum Hall To learn more visit the Big Ideas website: http://bigideas.berkeley.edu/ Pre-proposals are due by November 13, 2014

DawnTown Miami has launched its architecture ideas competition for the 2014 season entitled Alternative Mobilities.  Increasing fuel prices and tightening infrastructure budgets are leading many commuters to seek alternative modes of transportation. Alternative Mobilities explores a different type of transportation hub, oriented towards providing personal and pedestrian transport, without the large public budgets necessary to produce mass transit networks of the tradition bus and rail super projects. Providing low-cost, low-fuel, high efficiency private transit without interfering with existing transport modes, Alternative Mobilities seeks a new form of urban transportation network: personal, inexpensive, fast, mobile, efficient and available on demand  Attached in this email is our competition poster. Please consider distributing it through your social media outlets and also among your fellow faculty, students, alumni, and colleagues.  Early Bird reg...

What is your vision for the living cities of the 21st century? We invite you to enter the inaugural Living Cities: Residential Towers for the 21st Century Design Competition co-produced by Metropolis, the Steel Institute of New York, and the Ornamental Metal Institute of New York. Original entries must use a steel structural system with curtain wall enclosure and consider the needs of New York City's growing and diverse urban population along with the role that building characteristics play in overall constructability, sustainability, and creature comforts. The proposed site must be within the city's five boroughs. The winner will be awarded $10,000 and invited to present their proposal at the Institutes' conference in New York City. The winner and runners-up will also be publicized globally, across our media channels. Submissions due January 3, 2014 at 11:59PM EST . For more information and to register, go to: metropolismag.com/living-cities  

Enter the Workplace of the Future design competition! Co-produced by Metropolis and Business Interiors by Staples. Submit your vision for how we will work in 2020. Extended deadline is August 7, 2013! The winner will be awarded $7,500. A runner-up prize of $2,500 will also be awarded. Winning submissions will be publicized globally. For more information and to register: http://www.metropolismag.com/Workplace-Of-The-Future/ . Contact us: workplaceofthefuture@metropolismag.com

Enter the Workplace of the Future design competition! Co-produced by Metropolis and Business Interiors by Staples. Submit your vision for how we will work in 2020. Deadline is July 31, 2013! The winner will be awarded $7,500. A runner-up prize of $2,500 will also be awarded. Winning submissions will be publicized globally. For more information and to register: http://www.metropolismag.com/Workplace-Of-The-Future/ . Contact us: workplaceofthefuture@metropolismag.com

Architizer puts together a myriad of competitions, which we would love for Berkeley to be a part of. A direct link to one of the favorite ongoing competitions, which offers a prize of 10k. We pride ourselves on excellent competitions and would love to include as many students as possible. http://www.architizer.com/en_us/competitions/#.UbnZFPaDQXx Good Luck & GO BEARS!