Submission Criteria, Rules, Ethics & Regulations

Participation in the International Aesthetic Design Competition (IADC) constitutes acceptance of the competition requirements, ethical principles, submission procedures, jury process, intellectual-property provisions, and regulations presented below.

The IADC is conducted as an international, single-stage, anonymous design competition. All eligible projects are evaluated according to the same published criteria. The competition seeks to ensure fairness, transparency, academic and professional integrity, respect for intellectual property, and equal treatment of all participants.

 

» 1. Submission Requirements

 

Each project submission must include the following 3 files:

1.1 Project Description (Microsoft Word (.doc/.docx)

Participants must submit a concise project description in English.

The description should clearly explain the central idea of the project and how the proposal responds to the objectives and aesthetic dimensions of the IADC.

 

1.2 Project Poster (PDF)

Each project may be represented by a maximum of one poster.

 

1.3 Registration and Payment Receipt

Each submitted project requires one separate registration, regardless of whether the project is submitted by an individual participant or by a team of up to four members.

Only one registration fee is required per project, irrespective of the number of authors or team members associated with that project.

After completing the registration payment, participants must obtain and retain the official payment receipt. The payment receipt must then be uploaded as the third compulsory submission file during the online project submission process.

Accordingly, each complete IADC submission must include the following three mandatory components:

1.     Project Description — in English, maximum 200 words, submitted in Microsoft Word format.

2.     Project Poster — maximum one A2 horizontal poster in .pdf format, not exceeding 20 MB.

3.     Payment Receipt — proof of successful registration payment for the submitted project.

A submission will not be considered complete unless all three required files have been successfully uploaded through the official International Aesthetic Design Competition online submission system.

Participants submitting more than one project must complete a separate registration, payment, and submission process for each project.

 

 

Important Poster Requirements

1.     Project Content: Participants may organize drawings, diagrams, photographs, visualizations, plans, sections, elevations, analytical graphics, explanatory text, and other relevant design materials according to the specific needs of their project.

2.     Project Title: The project title must appear clearly at the top of the poster. Participants may choose its exact position within the upper section of the poster.

3.     Registration Number Area: The designated registration/project number area at the bottom-right of the official template must remain unchanged and empty. This section will be completed by the IADC administration where required.

 

Important Anonymity Requirement

THE NAME, AFFILIATION, UNIVERSITY, COMPANY, LOGO, PHOTOGRAPH, EMAIL ADDRESS, SOCIAL-MEDIA ACCOUNT, OR ANY OTHER INFORMATION THAT COULD IDENTIFY THE PARTICIPANT OR TEAM MUST NOT APPEAR ANYWHERE ON THE COMPETITION POSTER.

Violation of the anonymity requirement may result in disqualification before jury evaluation.

 

» 2. Poster Content and Presentation

Participants have creative freedom in presenting their projects, provided that all mandatory requirements are respected.

The poster may contain:

• Architectural or urban plans, sections, elevations, diagrams, mappings, visualizations, photographs, renderings, conceptual diagrams, material studies, environmental analyses, and explanatory graphics;
• Short explanatory texts necessary to communicate the project;
• Appropriate scales selected by the participant;
• Existing-condition and proposed-condition information when relevant;
• Digital, hand-drawn, physical-model, photographic, or hybrid representation techniques.

The visual presentation should communicate the project clearly without requiring additional material beyond the submitted poster and project description.

 

» 3. Submission Process

All submissions to the IADC must be completed through the official online submission system. Projects submitted by email, social media, file-transfer services, or other unofficial methods will not be accepted.

Before completing the submission, participants must confirm the following:

 

Participants should carefully verify all uploaded files before completing the submission.

 

Multiple Uploads

Participants should not upload the same project more than once. Duplicate submissions may create administrative uncertainty. Where duplicate versions are detected, the IADC administration may retain only the most recent valid submission received before the deadline.

 

Finality of Submission

Once the final submission deadline has passed, participants may not replace, modify, supplement, or otherwise revise submitted materials unless specifically requested by the IADC administration for administrative or technical reasons.

 

» 4. Registration and Submission Relationship

Registration and project submission form a single participation process.

Each project requires one separate registration, irrespective of whether the project is submitted by an individual or a team.

The competition fee must be paid before the final project submission, and the payment receipt must be attached through the online submission platform.

Submitting multiple projects requires a separate registration and payment for each project.

Payment of the registration fee does not guarantee selection, nomination, special mention, or an award.

 

» 5. Eligibility Criteria

The IADC welcomes international participation in architecture, urban design, interior architecture, and closely related built-environment disciplines.

Participants must comply with the following conditions:

• Submissions may be made individually or by teams of up to four members.
• At least one member of the submitting team must be currently studying or hold a degree in Architecture, Urban Design, Interior Architecture, or a closely related discipline.
• Participation is international, and submissions are welcome from all countries and geographical regions.
• There is no age restriction.
• Students may participate as members of professionally or academically supervised teams in accordance with the category requirements of the current IADC edition.
• Each participant must provide accurate registration information.
• All listed team members must have made a genuine contribution to the submitted project.
• An individual may participate in more than one project provided that each project is separately registered and independently submitted.

 

» 6. Submission Classifications

Every participant must select one of the two official IADC classifications:

A) ARCHITECTURE

For architectural, interior architectural, adaptive-reuse, renovation, regeneration, façade, building-envelope, conceptual, constructed, and other building-scale design projects.

 

B) URBAN DESIGN

For urban design, neighbourhood, public-space, streetscape, waterfront, regeneration, urban landscape, placemaking, district-scale, and other urban-scale interventions.

Projects should be entered in the classification that best represents their primary scale, purpose, and design contribution.

The IADC administration may recommend reassignment of a clearly misclassified project where necessary to ensure fair evaluation.

 

» 7. Building and Project Categories

Any building or project typology is permissible.

Eligible projects may include, among others, residential, cultural, educational, commercial, hospitality, healthcare, public, institutional, mixed-use, recreational, landscape-integrated, transportation-related, adaptive-reuse, public-space, neighbourhood, and urban-regeneration proposals.

This list is illustrative rather than restrictive.

 

» 8. Project Status

Both conceptual/unbuilt projects and existing/built projects are eligible.

Eligible submissions may therefore include:

• Conceptual projects;
• Competition proposals;
• Academic or research-based design projects;
• Professionally developed proposals;
• Built projects;
• Adaptive-reuse projects;
• Renovation and regeneration projects;
• Experimental design ideas.

Where a submitted project has already been built or publicly presented, participants must possess the necessary rights and permissions to submit and reproduce the materials used to represent it.

 

» 9. Site and Scale

Projects may be situated anywhere in the world.

There is no mandatory geographical location, minimum site area, maximum site area, construction area, building height, project scale, or urban scale unless otherwise announced for a particular edition of the IADC.

Participants are responsible for selecting a context appropriate to their design concept.

The site may be:

• Real;
• Existing;
• Hypothetical;
• Speculative;
• Urban;
• Rural;
• Natural;
• Historical;
• Regenerated; or
• Newly conceived.

Where a real location is used, participants should represent its characteristics accurately and ethically.

 

» 10. Evaluation Criteria

The jury will evaluate submissions primarily on the quality of the design itself, rather than the professional status, nationality, institution, reputation, or identity of the participant.

A recommended IADC evaluation framework is:

The jury may consider the particular nature and scale of each project when interpreting these criteria.

A conceptual project will not be disadvantaged merely because it is unbuilt, provided that its design intentions are convincing and appropriately communicated.

 

» Jury Independence and Fair Evaluation

The jury shall assess eligible projects independently and according to the published evaluation criteria.

To protect the integrity of the process:

• Jury members must evaluate projects impartially;
• Jury deliberations must remain confidential;
• Jurors should disclose relevant conflicts of interest;
• A juror with a material conflict involving a particular submission should not evaluate that project;
• Participants must not attempt to contact jurors regarding their submission before the official announcement of results;
• Participants must not disclose their project identity to jurors during the evaluation process;
• Gifts, payments, inducements, lobbying, or attempts to influence jury members are strictly prohibited.

UIA competition guidance specifically provides for jury confidentiality, objective judging, declarations of conflicts, withdrawal where a juror has prior involvement with an entry, and exclusion of submissions that violate anonymity or mandatory requirements.

 

» Originality and Authorship

Every submission must represent original creative work for which the participant or registered team possesses the necessary rights.

Participants declare that:

• They are the authors or legitimate rights holders of the submitted design;
• The project does not unlawfully reproduce another designer's work;
• They have permission to use third-party photographs, illustrations, maps, drawings, datasets, textures, models, or other protected material where required;
• Appropriate attribution is provided where third-party material is legitimately incorporated;
• All registered team members have consented to the submission;
• The authorship information supplied during registration is accurate.

Architecture, drawings, photographs, maps, and technical drawings may be protected by copyright, and copyright generally gives creators both economic and moral interests in their work.

Plagiarism, unauthorized reproduction, false authorship, or deliberate misrepresentation may result in immediate disqualification.

 

» Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Tools

The IADC recognizes that contemporary architectural and urban design processes may involve computational tools, generative systems, artificial intelligence, image-generation software, parametric design, and other emerging technologies.

The use of such tools is permitted provided that human authorship and design responsibility remain clear.

Participants using generative AI in a substantial way should disclose:

the tool used, its purpose, the stage at which it was used, and which submitted materials contain AI-assisted content.

Participants remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, legality, and ethical appropriateness of all AI-assisted material.

AI-generated imagery must not be used to misrepresent an unbuilt project as an actual constructed building, falsify environmental conditions, fabricate evidence of performance, or conceal the absence of a genuine design proposal.

A professional architecture-competition AI policy similarly emphasizes disclosure, responsible authorship, and the principle that AI-assisted imagery cannot replace architectural judgment or a coherent project.

 

» Research, Data and Representation Ethics

Any quantitative information, environmental analysis, historical information, maps, statistics, photographs, surveys, or external research incorporated into a submission should be presented responsibly.

Participants must not knowingly:

• Fabricate data;
• Manipulate evidence in a misleading way;
• Misrepresent the environmental performance of a project;
• Present hypothetical simulations as verified measurements;
• Misrepresent conceptual work as constructed work;
• Present another person's design contribution as their own;
• Conceal material information that fundamentally changes the interpretation of the project.

 

» Images, Photography and Third-Party Materials

Participants are responsible for ensuring that submitted photographs, renderings, drawings, maps, fonts, illustrations, or other materials can legally be used for competition, publication, exhibition, and promotional purposes.

Where photographs or visualizations are produced by another person, appropriate permission and attribution must be obtained where required.

The participant bears responsibility for third-party copyright claims resulting from material included in the submission.

 

» Intellectual Property Rights

Copyright and authorship of each submitted design remain with its creator(s).

Participation in the IADC does not transfer ownership of the design or copyright to the competition organizer.

This approach is consistent with established competition practice emphasizing protection of competitors' copyright and with international copyright principles recognizing architecture and technical drawings as protected creative works.

By submitting a project, however, participants grant the IADC a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to reproduce, publish, display, archive, communicate, and promote the submitted materials solely for purposes connected with:

• The competition;
• Competition results;
• The official IADC website;
• Social-media communication;
• Exhibitions;
• Academic presentations;
• Publicity;
• News and media communication;
• Competition catalogues;
• The official competition book;
• Archival documentation; and
• Future promotion of the IADC.

This license does not transfer ownership of the project.

Where practicable, the authors will be appropriately credited once anonymity is no longer required.

The IADC should not materially modify the underlying design without authorization. Reasonable cropping, resizing, formatting, graphic layout, captioning, or reproduction adjustments necessary for publication or exhibition may be made.

 

» Participant Privacy and Public Identification

Personal information collected during registration will be used for competition administration, communication, verification, certificates, publication, exhibition, and related organizational purposes in accordance with applicable data-protection requirements.

Participant identities will remain separated from anonymously evaluated posters during the jury process.

Following completion of the jury process, the names and affiliations of winners, shortlisted projects, special mentions, and other published participants may be publicly associated with their projects.

 

» Conflict of Interest

Participants must disclose any circumstance that could reasonably create a significant conflict of interest involving a jury member or competition organizer.

A participant should not seek privileged information, confidential guidance, or preferential treatment from jury members or organizers.

Where a legitimate conflict arises, the IADC may implement appropriate measures to preserve impartial evaluation.

Conflict-of-interest declarations and recusal are recognized elements of professional international selection processes.

 

» Communication With the Jury

Participants must not communicate directly with members of the jury concerning their projects from the announcement of the competition until the publication of the official results.

Questions concerning eligibility, technical requirements, registration, submission, or competition regulations must be directed solely to the IADC administration through the official communication channel.

Any official clarification that materially affects competition requirements should be made available equally to all participants.

 

» Equality, Respect and Professional Conduct

The IADC is committed to a professional competition environment based on fairness, respect, equal treatment, and non-discrimination.

Submissions containing unlawful discriminatory, threatening, defamatory, or deliberately abusive material may be rejected.

No participant will receive preferential consideration on the basis of nationality, institution, professional status, reputation, age, gender, or personal relationship.

Transparency, equal treatment, and non-discrimination are among the central principles identified by the UIA/UNESCO framework for international architecture competitions.

 

» Grounds for Disqualification

A project may be excluded or disqualified if it:

1.     Is received after the official submission deadline;

2.     Violates anonymity requirements;

3.     Contains the participant's name, institution, company, logo, or other identifying information on the jury poster;

4.     Does not meet mandatory file-format or poster requirements;

5.     Is substantially incomplete;

6.     Contains plagiarized or unlawfully reproduced material;

7.     Provides false authorship information;

8.     Contains falsified documentation or payment information;

9.     Infringes third-party intellectual-property rights;

10. Attempts to improperly influence a jury member;

11. Violates conflict-of-interest requirements;

12. Substantially violates the competition brief or mandatory regulations;

13. Contains deliberately fraudulent or materially misleading representations;

14. Is submitted without the required registration/payment procedure; or

15. Otherwise seriously violates IADC ethical or competition requirements.

Professional competition guidance similarly recognizes late submission, breaches of anonymity, incomplete entries, and failure to comply with mandatory requirements as legitimate grounds for exclusion.

 

» Multiple Projects

Participants may submit more than one project.

However:

Each project must be registered, paid for, identified, and submitted separately.

A separate project registration must therefore be completed for every competition entry.

The same poster or substantially identical design should not be submitted multiple times under different identities.

 

» Team Responsibility

For team submissions:

• All listed members must consent to participation;
• The submitting representative acts on behalf of the entire team;
• Team-member names must be finalized through the official registration information;
• Any internal dispute concerning authorship, contribution, prize distribution, or ownership remains primarily the responsibility of the team;
• False inclusion or exclusion of contributors may constitute an authorship violation.

Where a project receives a monetary prize, payment will be administered according to the official IADC award regulations.

 

» Built Projects

For built or previously commissioned projects, the submitting participant must possess the legal and professional authority necessary to enter the project.

Where applicable, participants are responsible for obtaining permissions from:

• Collaborating designers;
• Architectural practices;
• Clients;
• Photographers;
• Consultants;
• Copyright owners; and
• Other relevant rights holders.

Participation must not breach an existing professional, employment, contractual, or confidentiality obligation.

 

» Jury Decisions

The jury's evaluation of design quality, ranking, awards, nominations, and special mentions is final.

An appeal may not be made merely because a participant disagrees with the jury's aesthetic or professional judgment.

However, the IADC may examine documented concerns involving:

• Eligibility;
• Plagiarism;
• Authorship;
• Intellectual-property infringement;
• Conflict of interest;
• Procedural irregularity; or
• Serious violation of competition regulations.

 

» Post-Result Intellectual-Property Claims

Following publication of the competition results, a one-month period may be provided for substantiated third-party claims concerning originality or intellectual-property ownership.

Where a credible claim is received:

1.     The IADC may request evidence from the complainant;

2.     The relevant participant will be given an opportunity to respond;

3.     The matter may be referred to appropriate jury members or advisers;

4.     The award may be temporarily suspended while the matter is examined;

5.     If a serious violation is confirmed, the project may be disqualified.

Where disqualification occurs after an award has been announced, the IADC may withdraw the award, certificate, publication status, and associated prize.

 

» Publication and Exhibition

Submitted projects may be considered for inclusion in:

• The official IADC Competition Book;
• Online galleries;
• Competition archives;
• Exhibitions;
• Award announcements;
• Academic presentations;
• Promotional publications;
• Social-media communication; and
• Other activities directly associated with the IADC.

Publication or exhibition does not transfer ownership of the project from the participant to the IADC.

 

» Competition Book

Eligible projects may be included in the official IADC Competition Book with ISBN, subject to publication requirements, technical quality, eligibility, and the final publication policy.

The competition organizers reserve the right to make reasonable editorial adjustments necessary for page layout, typography, image sizing, captions, and publication consistency without changing the fundamental substance of a participant's design.

 

» Amendments and Official Announcements

The IADC reserves the right, where reasonably necessary, to modify:

• Administrative procedures;
• Submission deadlines;
• Jury schedules;
• Announcement dates;
• Exhibition dates;
• Publication schedules; or
• Other organizational arrangements.

Material changes should be announced through the official IADC competition platform.

Participants are responsible for checking the official website periodically for updates.

No informal communication should supersede information officially published by the IADC.

 

» Competition Cancellation or Exceptional Circumstances

The IADC reserves the right to postpone, suspend, modify, or cancel the competition where circumstances beyond reasonable organizational control make continuation impossible or inappropriate.

If cancellation occurs before evaluation and publication, submitted designs will not be used beyond administrative purposes except where legally required.

Any registration-fee consequences arising from cancellation will be governed by the published registration and refund policy.

 

» Participant Responsibility

It is the participant's responsibility to:

• Read the complete competition regulations;
• Verify eligibility before payment;
• Submit files in the correct format;
• Complete registration and payment before submission;
• Maintain anonymity;
• Respect deadlines;
• Ensure originality;
• Secure third-party permissions;
• Provide accurate personal and project information;
• Review files before final submission; and
• Monitor the official IADC website for announcements.

Failure to read the regulations does not exempt a participant from compliance.

 

» Acceptance of the Regulations

By registering for and submitting a project to the IADC, every participant confirms that they:

have read, understood, and accepted the complete competition brief, submission requirements, registration conditions, ethical principles, intellectual-property provisions, jury procedures, award regulations, and decisions made in accordance with these rules.

Participation in the IADC therefore constitutes formal acceptance of these regulations.

 

» Final Submission Checklist

Before clicking Submit, every participant should confirm:

 

Failure to comply with mandatory requirements—particularly anonymity, originality, registration, payment, deadline, and file-format requirements—may result in exclusion from the jury process.