Student Competitions
About
Since 2015, the Chicago Architecture Biennial has hosted competitions to encourage middle and high school students to explore their ideas about how design can play a role in creating shared spaces and improving communities. Competitions invite submissions that address architecture and the built environment from a wide range of disciplines including design but also the humanities, visual and performing arts, and STEM fields. Through six competitions, the CAB has engaged more than 2,000 students.
Past Competitions
Fall 2021The Fall 2021 bp Student Ideas Competition invited young people to respond to one of the following prompts:
Design a collective space for exchanges / exchanging
Design a collective space for plants / planting
Design a collective space for commons / commoning
Winners were determined by our panel of distinguished jurors:
Paula Acevedo | Co-Director, El Paseo Community Garden
Joseph Altshuler | Cofounder, Could Be Architecture and Assistant Professor, UIC School of Architecture
David Brown | 2021 Artistic Director, Chicago Architecture Biennial
Susan Friel | Arts Education & Engagement, Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events (DCASE)
Abigail Motsch | bp America
Craig Stevenson | Designer, Open Architecture Chicago
View the virtual Awards Ceremony here.
The competition was sponsored by bp America.
Winners
Connor Blandford
Honorable Mention
The Spring 2021 Student Ideas Competition invited young people to respond to the following question:
How can existing urban spaces be reimagined to better reflect the needs and interests of local residents?
Winners were determined by our panel of distinguished jurors:
Kimberly Dowdell | Principal, HOK
Melissa Mister | Chief Program Officer, After School Matters
Caroline O'Boyle | Director of Programs and Partnerships, Trust for Public Land
Walmer Saavedra | Executive Director, Human Scale
Taylor Staten | Founder, TnS Studio
Tricia Van Eck | Founder and Artistic Director, 6018North
Gibran Villalobos | Assistant Curator, Performance and Public Practice, MCA
Tanner Woodford | Executive Director, Design Museum of Chicago
Winners
Honorable Mention
Mia Fritsch-Anderson and Nina L.
The Fall 2019 bp Student Ideas Competition invited young people to respond to the following challenge:
Design a safe community space where young people can share ideas and take action on a local or global issue. Your space can be a physical place, an object, or an event.
Winners were determined by our panel of distinguished jurors:
Catherine Baker | Principal, Landon Bone Baker Architects
Juan Jimenez | Head of Control, Compliance, Financial Risk & Functions, bp America
Karen Rigg | Project Architect, Partners by Design, Inc.
Lydia Ross | Director of Public Art, City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events
Carrie Shepherd | Reporter, WBEZ
Helen Slade | Executive Director, Territory
RaMona Westbrook | President, Brook Architecture, Inc.
Asif Wilson | Associate Dean, Harold Washington College
View photos of the Awards Ceremony here.
The competition was sponsored by bp America and presented in partnership with the Chicago Architecture Center.
Winners
Honorable Mention
The Spring 2019 bp Student Ideas Competition invited young people to respond to the following question:
How would you transform a vacant or underused space in your community?
Winners were determined by our panel of distinguished jurors:
Geoffrey Baer | Television Personality, Host, and Producer, WTTW Chicago
Lisa M. Daugherty | President & CEO, Lake Area United Way
Roark Frankel | Director of Planning of Construction, Obama Foundation
Vivian Garcia | Manager of The 606, Chicago Park District
Mejay Gula | Lecturer and Gallery Curator, Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Luis Ramirez | Graffiti Artist and Muralist
Ian Spula | Program Operations Specialist, Chicago Architecture Center
Anthony Wells | Chief of Staff, bp America
View photos of the Awards Ceremony here.
The competition was sponsored by bp America.
Winners
Honorable Mention
The 2017 bp Student Design Competition invited young people to respond to challenges in the following two categories:
Architecture: Design a new Chicago Public Library branch.
Graphic Design: Design a Chicago neighborhood bus shelter advertisement.
Winners were determined by our panel of distinguished jurors:
Jeremy Dunn | Director, Teen Services, Chicago Public Library
Eleanor Gorski | Deputy Commissioner, City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development
Kevin Hall | Director of Planning, Design and Engineering, Chicago Housing Authority
Elizabeth "Lee" Kelley | Public Art Administrator, Chicago Transit Authority
Kerl Lajeune | Senior Designer, Public Building Commission of Chicago
Jason Lesniewicz | Director, Cultural Tourism, Choose ChicagoRashaan Meador | Senior Program Coordinator, Chicago Public Schools
Derk Wehner | Head of Operations, bp America
The competition was sponsored by bp America and presented in partnership with the Chicago Architecture Center.
Winners
Honorable Mention
The Fall 2015 bp Design Competition invited young people to respond to the following challenge:
Design a pocket park less than a half-acre in size and within a 10-minute walk of every home in the Dunning, Chicago Lawn, or Roseland community areas of Chicago.
Winners were determined by our panel of distinguished jurors:
Richard C. Bumstead | University of Chicago
Khatija Hasmy | Chicago Park District
Sarah Herda | Graham Foundation
Rashaan Meador | Chicago Public Schools
Michael J. O'Brien | bp America
The competition was sponsored by bp America and presented in partnership with the Chicago Architecture Center.
Winners
Honorable Mention
