Competitions

When I recently found myself flooded, during the ever-expanding shopping frenzy of the so-called Black Friday season, with offers branded as Singles' Day deals, it struck me: singles have become a remarkably powerful force in our societies. The prominence and intensity of Singles' Day—a celebration that began among students at a Chinese university in the early 1990s and has since grown into one of the largest global shopping festivals—underscores that singles are no longer just a demographic statistic, but a transformative presence reshaping cities and economies worldwide. That is why we aim to investigate, with this new issue of MONU entitled "Singles Urbanism", how singles transform cities and to understand the spatial consequences of life lived alone, and the growing prevalence of living outside the traditional structures of coupledom and family, and its urban influence.

One of the last large brownfields in Bratislava has been awaiting its transformation for years. Today, a new phase is beginning for the area known as "Zváračák," located on Račianska Street near the Bratislava's city center.

1. Overview:

THE HOUSE OF RETICENCE
A HOUSE FOR SIGURD LEWERENTZ

The House of Death and Life

The 6TH biennale svizzera del territorio, organised by the Istituto Internazionale d’Architettura in Lugano, is launching a call for action on the theme “handle with care”. The call is open to professionals of all ages and from all over the world.
Building, demolishing, building again... that is easy. But caring for things, making them last, keeping them alive, repairing them. That is a difficult task. You have to observe, listen, pay attention. Study, understand. Recognise what exists, even if it’s fragile, even if it’s not perfect. You need allies. It’s a task for those who know from experience the consequences of destruction, who know the price of maintenance, who know a thing of beauty is a joy forever. If you can handle it, caring is power.
Proposals can be of many kinds, ranging from installations, constructed or transformative interventions, to performances, artistic works, or architectural visions.

The Institute for Public Architecture (IPA) welcomes applications for the 2026 Independent Project Residency based at the historic Block House on Governors Island.

About Competition
A Sports Park will be designed as a sustainable space with courts, pedestrian walkways, and spaces suitable for holding outdoor festivals and concerts. Its prime location could serve as a fan fest for World Cups.

IAAC Advanced Architecture Barcelona launches its 11th Advanced Architecture Contest as part of the official program of Barcelona World Capital of Architecture 2026.

The Arcause Social Internships Program, a one of a kind initiative by Ethos Foundation | Arcause emerges from this understanding that the future of architecture depends on how deeply it listens, learns, and responds to the world it serves. The program seeks to bridge the long-standing gap between design education and the realities of community development, sustainability, and social
impact. Through this initiative, students and early-career professionals will be placed at NGOs, community projects, and social design studios across India. Here, young and budding architects and designers will be encouraged to see beyond plans and elevations while discovering how spaces can become tools for change.

The Kingspan MICROHOME 2026 invites architects and designers to pause and reconsider what is truly essential. In a world of constant expansion — of cities, technologies, and ambitions — this competition asks a simple question: Can less be more?

Buildner’s Unbuilt Award 2026, celebrating its third edition, honors the boundless creativity and visionary spirit of architecture. The competition shines a spotlight on the significance of unrealized designs, celebrating bold ideas and imaginative visions that, even without being built, capture the essence of innovation and exploration. It offers a global stage for architects and designers to showcase their most daring concepts, challenge conventional thinking, and inspire the future of the built environment.

Utilitarian and mass-produced, the portable toilet at the Gropius House unexpectedly echoes Bauhaus values. But it was always meant to be a stop-gap solution that is clearly inelegant and does not meet contemporary accessibility standards. It fails to adequately welcome visitors to this iconic property.

The GAD Academy is a post-graduate certificate program where young architects can get hands-on experience in a professional architecture office while learning computer skills, theory and history.

Concéntrico launches its 2025/2026 season by reinforcing its role as an Urban Innovation Laboratory — a collective space for creation that explores how architecture, design, and art can transform life in the city.

The UIA World Congress of Architects 2026 Barcelona (UIA2026BCN) launches the UIA International Emerging Workshop, the Congress's special format designed for students and young practitioners to engage in a real-time laboratory led by twelve recognised emerging architectural practices.

A Global architectural platform INSPIRELI is organizing an unusal competition – this time for graduate architects instead of students! INSPIRELI in cooperation with Penta Real Estate, one of the major Czech developers (who build Zaha Hadid „Masaryčka" in Prague), has launched an international architecture competition to design a temporary bus terminal at Prague's iconic Florenc station — a project at the heart of the city's evolving transport network.

The Municipality of Elin Pelin has launched this competition with the goal of creating an accessible, safe, and functional city center that encourages an active lifestyle, social interaction, and economic growth.