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The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Houzz have announced the winners of their Future of Architecture Residential Design Contest and Showcase. Receiving entries from students and emerging architects around the world, the competition highlights prominent approaches to residential architecture in an effort to both recognize the work of young professionals and inform viewers about the worth of “good design.”

The winners emerged within five design categories and were chosen by Houzz’s extensive community of subscribers. To jumpstart their careers, the winners will receive prizes tailored to professional advancement, including participation in an upcoming community revitalization project and expenses-paid attendance to the 2015 AIA National Convention in Atlanta. See all of the winners after the break.

IS ARCH has unveiled the winners of the fifth edition of its ISARCH Awards for architecture students. From a vast pool of submissions, three were selected by the combined evaluations of a jury and public opinion. The international competition promotes the efforts of young designers and encourages dialogue among students and emerging architects by showcasing work undertaken through university curricula. The winners will receive prizes ranging in value from €1,000 to €3,000.

Learn more about the winning projects after the break. 

Berrel Berrel Kräutler has won the World Health Organization's (WHO) two-stage international design competition to expand its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Employing a restrained approach, their design for a cubic office building will replace numerous temporary structures and unify the complex’s permanent infrastructure.

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China-based firm PWD Architecture will soon break ground on Dali Creative Area, a mixed-use development in Dali City, in Yunnan province. The project took home first place in a 2014 design competition, and takes significant direction from the area’s landscape, employing a minimalist stepped-form that celebrates its setting. The development will include a hotel, restaurants, offices, retail and exhibition space. It is slated for completion in 2016.

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Latitude Studio’s entry for the World Health Organization’s (WHO) design competition to expand its Geneva headquarters seeks to embody WHO’s sustainable and collaborative approach to enhancing universal health. Their design consolidates individual offices and open workspaces within one facility, maximizing areas for collaboration and communication, while solar panels and rainwater collection systems improve the building’s sustainability. If chosen, the proposal would become one of three main buildings at the WHO headquarters.

Finnish firm Verstas Architects has been awarded first place in a competition for the expansion of Finland's Lapland central hospital for their design of a functional complex of "healing architecture." Responding to the challenge of Finland's aging population and changes in municipal funding, the winning proposal reflects the "hospital of tomorrow," creating a flexible and functional space in conversation with its urban surrounds.

A team of architects from the Danish design firm Kullegaard have been awarded first place in a competition for the seaport municipality of Holbæk in Denmark. Seeking to form a connection with the surrounding architecture, their proposal for a mixed-use complex, entitled "Holbæk HavneBy," derives its form from the distinction of public and private spaces.

Read more on the $22 million proposal after the break.

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In conjunction with the release of the results of their "Design Competition Survey", the Van Alen Institute have put forward 10 propositions for the improvement of design competitions. Accompanied by a series of vibrant graphics, the propositions can be read after the break.

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180 Creative Camp is back! The 5th edition of the event will take place from July 5-12 in the Portuguese city of Abrantes. One of the leading creative gatherings worldwide, 180 Creative Camp unites some of the world's most inspiring creators from different areas of artistic expression for a week of creative intersections. Developed by Canal180, the camp combines video, music, photography, design, architecture and urban art. For a second consecutive year, and in partnership with the Municipality of Abrantes, 180 Creative Camp is seeking proposals for an Urban Intervention Project to be displayed in Abrantes' historic center, as well as 15 “Stores Art Attack" project interventions. Proposals need to be submitted by May 31. Learn more after the break.

Safdie Architects’ 2015 Research Fellowship will center on the theme of “dense urbanism,” and the ways in which the field of architecture can rethink its approach to vital issues such as materiality, construction, environmental conditions, and the demographic realities of rapidly growing populations. This year, Moshe Safdie and his team invite exceptional individuals to attack the challenges of the contemporary urban landscape head-on by proposing new tools and solutions to create a better functioning and humane city. Accepted candidates will spend one year in residence at Safdie Architects’ Boston office, during which they will receive support from the practice and have access to the firm’s resources and consultants.

Yazdani Studio of Cannon Design, Alajajian Marcoosi Architects, Belzberg Architects Group and Frederick Fisher have been shortlisted to design an Armenian American Museum planned for Glendale, California. Announced on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide this past Friday, the competition aims to "promote understanding and appreciation of America's ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Armenian experience" within a 30,000-square-foot museum that will be dedicated to research and education. Stay tuned for more information.

A consortium of Tampa-based ASD, Rogers Partners Architects+Urban Designers, and Ken Smith Landscape Architect has been announced as winners of the second St. Petersburg Pier redesign competition. Chosen after the city failed to implement Michael Maltzen Architecture’s competition-winning proposal due to strong public opposition, the new winning scheme, "Pier Park" takes a more scaled down (and affordable) approach to redesigning the site's landmark 1970s pier by focusing on public experience rather than architectural intervention.

Read on after the break for more on the $46 million Pier Park proposal.

For years, competitions have powered the stream of architectural output, producing such icons as the Vietnam War Memorial, Sydney Opera House, Central Park, and Ground Zero memorial. One need only look to the buzz surrounding the Guggenheim Helsinki competition and ArchDaily's own amply filled tag to see that competitions are part of the very lifeblood coursing through contemporary architecture. But what do architects really think about design competitions?

With 1414 responses from 65 countries, the Architectural Record/Van Alen Institute Competition survey is one of the most comprehensive investigations of this question to date. Speaking to the Architectural Record in February, Van Alen Institute competitions director Jerome Chou said that the survey hoped to identify the pros and cons of the competitions process, and offer suggestions for its improvement. "[W]e're hoping to advance the dialogue about the future of competitions, develop new models, and reach new audience," Chou said.

Launched in February this year, the survey sought responses from international design professionals who had participated in a competition during their career. 

Read a summary of the survey's key findings after the break.

Surface Magazine has launched its 2015 Avant Guardian photography contest, now in its 15th year. Calling for submissions now through June 1, the competition provides emerging photographers the chance to be featured in Surface's October issue and their upcoming New York exhibition.

25 photographs will be shortlisted by Surface editors; ultimately 10 winners will be selected by a well-respected judging panel that includes architectural photographers Ingmar Kurth and Hélène Binet, as well as Stephen Hilger (Pratt Institute), Roy Schwalbach (Jack Studios), and photographers Youssef Nabil and Delfino Sisto Legnani. For more information or to submit your work, visit surfacemag.com.

The Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) have announced the winners of the 2015 Publication Awards in Chicago, as part of their 68th Annual International Conference Awards ceremony. David Brownlee, Keith Morgan, Pauline Saliga, and Stanley Tigerman were also inducted as Fellows of the Society of Architectural Historians for their "lifelong contributions to the field of architectural history."

Awarded annually, the SAH Publication awards honor excellence in "architectural history, landscape history, and historic preservation scholarship," alongside outstanding architectural exhibition catalogs. Eligible publications must have been published in the two years immediately preceding the award, with nominations for the 2016 Publication Awards opening on June 1.

Learn more about the winning publications after the break.

Now for the first time, Guggenheim has unveiled the six fully developed designs competing to become Guggenheim Helsinki. Selected from 1,715 entries in world's the most popular architectural competition, the remaining finalists have spent the past five months refining their designs after being shortlisted by an independent 11-member jury, of which includes Studio Gang's Jeanne Gang and former Columbia University dean Mark Wigley.

The release foreshadows the April 25 opening of Guggenheim Helsinki Now: Six Finalist Designs Unveiled, a free exhibition that will open the projects up to public critique. A winner will be announced on June 23.

All 6 detailed proposals, after the break.