Santiago-based studio UMWELT (Arturo Schiedegger & Ignacio Garcia Partarrieu) has been named as winner of the 2013 Young Architect’s Program (YAP) in Chile. Their winning proposal, ‘AMBIENT 35 60’, which is scheduled for completion in March 2014, will occupy a 20 x 27 meter site in Santiago’s Parque Araucano with a network of 35, climatically responsive spatial frames that will provide a ‘container for artwork and events.’ 

The Holcim Awards is one of the most significant competitions in its field in terms of reputation and international scope. The fourth cycle of the competition offering a total of USD 2 million in prize money is now open for entries. The competition seeks leading projects from industry professionals and bold ideas from the “Next Generation” that contribute to sustainability within architecture, building, civil engineering, landscape and urban design, as well as construction materials and technologies. Entries must be submitted online at www.holcimawards.org by March 24, 2014.

The traumatizing terror attacks of July 22, 2011 in Norway - including the bombing in Oslo and the massacre on Utøya Island - resulted in 158 persons injured and 77 dead. Those behind the re-design of Utøya Island decided (somewhat controversially) that the island should, in order to "reduce the impact of the massacre," remain a vibrant summer camp rather than become a memorial.

Shortly after confirming the demise of Bertrand Goldberg’s beloved Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago, Northwestern has released a shortlist of three firms competing to design the school’s new biomedical research facility. This comes with the support of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and despite strong backlash from architects and preservationists worldwide.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced an all-star shortlist of twelve renowned architects - including 2013 Pritzker Prize laureate Toyo Ito and international powerhouse OMA - competing to design their new headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. Located on 24,000 square meter site on the banks of Lake Geneva, the 18,000 square meter headquarters will provide an “Olympic campus” of administrative buildings and service for 450 employees.

YAC just launched their latest competition, titled 'Post-Quake Visions,' which aims to find out innovative ways to overcome the effects of a seismic catastrophe over a medieval Mediterranean town. Participants are encouraged to rethink and redesign the quake-inflicted gaps left inside ancient urban tissues. This endeavour hopes to revamp such scarred ecosystem under cultural and economical keys, with the goal of finding out urban perspectives and social possibilities once undisclosed or unconceivable. 'Early bird' registration ends September 1, and the deadline for submissions is November 11. More information after the break.

Open to all architects and designers nation-wide, Constructed Realities is a biennial awards program established at the behest of the Small Firms Committee of AIA San Francisco. Recognizing exemplary performance in a broad range of architectural work, the program aims to inform the public of the diversity, value, and the social power of architecture. Entrants need not be AIASF members, and firms of all sizes are encouraged to enter with projects of varied scale and scope. The deadline for submissions is July 18. For more information, please visit here.

Starting this Saturday, the public will finally be able to admire the winner of this year's Young Architects Program - Party Wall - at the MoMA PS1 courtyard in Long Island City. Every Saturday this summer through September 7, Party Wall will be the multi-functional backdrop (at once wall, water feature, shading and seating storage device) for Warm Up 2013, an outdoor music series.

Canterbury Cathedral is delighted to announce a design competition to find an outstanding team to revitalise the landscape immediately in front of the main Cathedral entrance. The competition is an opportunity for designers to reconsider the way visitors first encounter England’s leading Cathedral and Mother Church.

The Department of State’s Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) has shortlisted six design teams for the new U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. The project is part of OBO’s Excellence in Diplomatic Facilities initiative in which seeks to provide safe and functional facilities that represent the best in American architecture.

For the second time, the Berlin Senate Department of Urban Development and the Environment is opening a Europe-wide call for projects for the Urban Intervention Award Berlin. For the first time, this prize is being offered in collaboration with Deutsche Wohnen AG and will for this reason be expanded to include the new Urban Living Award. Deutsche Wohnen AG will award prize money in the amount of €3,000 to the winners of the two categories in the Urban Intervention Award Berlin, ‘Build’ and ‘Temporary’, as well as the winner of the Urban Living Award. Interested architects can submit their work by August 24. For more information, please visit here.

The Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia and HP just announced the 5th Advanced Architecture Contest, on the theme of 'Self-Sufficient Habitat'. Open to architects, engineers, planners and designers, the intent is to promote discussion and research through which to generate insights and visions, ideas and proposals that help us envisage what the city and the habitat of the 21st century will be like. Participants are encouraged to develop a proposal capable of responding to emerging challenges in areas such as ecology, information technology, architecture, and urban planning. The deadline for submissions is September 30, and registration is free. For more information, please visit here.

Winners of the Architect’s Eye 2013 Competition have been announced! In an effort to encourage photography by architects, the biennial competition asked entrants to submit photography in two categories: Architecture and Place focusing on the aesthetics of a building and how it shapes the location and Architecture and People focusing on the interaction of people in relation to architecture.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA), Make It Right, St. Bernard Project and Architecture for Humanity has formed a strategic partnership to launch “Designing Recovery,” an ideas competition created to aid in the rebuild of sustainable and resilient communities.

Inside 2013 invites students and young professionals of all design disciplines to submit a collection of their “inside” work comprised of up to three digital images. By submitting your work, you are invited to share your voice with the collective intelligence of a community of visual thinkers. Inside2013 poses the following questions: What are the aspirations by which we evaluate design today? In an increasingly networked culture, what makes a project capable of cutting through the virtual noise, and starting a new conversation? How do evolving forms of media affect the way in which your message reaches its destination? What is your message?

The competition challenges you to confront the world with your work. By sending it out into the field you will test yourself and your projects. You are the designer, the curator and the critic. Submissions are due June 30. For more information, please visit here.

Change—both collectively as a profession and individually as architects—is essential in three critical areas: culture, community, and commitment. Architects have the power to influence a broader societal culture that appreciates architecture and understands the value of an architect. Reflecting the Institute’s repositioning to serve the needs of our diverse membership, education content is to be relevant and emphasize practical application to support the needs of all members of the profession, particularly our emerging professionals and small firm owners in the areas of leadership, management, project delivery, and technology.

With that being said, the AIA is inviting articulate subject matter experts who can engage and connect with the design community in support of the Institute’s repositioning to submit a proposal for an educational program at the AIA National Convention in Chicago. The convention will take place June 26-28, 2014 in Chicago. The Call for Submissions are due July 1. For more information, please visit here.

The d3 Natural Systems competition invites architects, designers, engineers, and students to collectively explore the potential of analyzing, documenting, and deploying nature-based influences in architecture, urbanism, interiors, and designed objects. This year's competition seeks innovative proposals that advance sustainable thought and performance through the study of intrinsic environmental geometries, behaviors, and flows. By identifying, examining, and applying their structural order on form and function - bottom-up, performance-based solutions for limitless building typologies, functional programs, and material conditions may be realized. The deadline to register is July 1, and submissions are due July 15. For more information, please visit here.