Darc BUILD

Most practices have at least one project that never left the drawing board: a competition entry that came second, a client scheme shelved after funding changed, a thesis that still feels like the best thing the team ever drew. Can that work win an architecture award ? Yes, but only in programmes written for it. Many awards judge completed buildings using site photographs and evidence of how the space performs, so a concept entered there starts at a disadvantage. The real task is finding categories that assess ideas, process and design thinking, then presenting your scheme so a jury can read it quickly. What counts as an unbuilt project Juries generally recognise two kinds. Theoretical work has no client: studio projects, research proposals and open ideas competitions. Unbuilt commissioned work had a real client and site but was never constructed, or is still waiting on approvals. Read each brief closely, because some programmes exclude anything already under construction, while others ...