OMA has shared with us their proposal for the new National Art Museum of China (NAMOC) in Beijing. The Rotterdam-based practice is one of the all-star contenders competing to design the 1.3 million square feet NAMOC that will be built next to the Herzog & de Meuron-designed Bird’s Nest. Even though rumors are flying about a potential winner, the jury won’t announce the final results of the competition until November.

As part of the Quito Biennale, the Social Habitat and Development competition is oriented to identify and promote architectural practices and built projects that demonstrate having a positive and tangible impact in the improvements of the living conditions of low income families and the improvement of a built environment of society. The category is open for built projects or programs of new or renovated social habitat, built in the American continent during the period between 2008-2012 and that have not participated in previous BAQ editions. Emphasis will be given to projects or programs that consider the importance of: neighborhood and public space improvement, revitalization of urban environment, participation and management strategies in design, implementation and maintenance, cultural and aesthetic inputs that reinforce a community’s identity, building safety and climatic comfort. Entries are due no later than October 26. For more information, please visit here.

Foster + Partners is about to break the mold of New York’s static Park Avenue skyline, as they have been announced as winner of the highly publicized competition to replace the aging tower of 425 Park Avenue with a new world-class, sustainable office tower.

Design Museum Boston recently announced the call for entries for Street Seats Design Challenge — an international outdoor furniture design challenge that will culminate in new waterfront seating, an outdoor design exhibition, and a walking tour around the channel. The Fort Point Channel links the waterfronts of downtown and South Boston – the seam between the Financial District and the emerging Boston Innovation District. o=Open to local and international artists, designers, and enthusiasts, Street Seats falls into the stated goals for the Fort Point Channel Watersheet Activation Plan, a 2002 vision to establish the Fort Point Channel as the next great (public) place in the City of Boston. Submissions are due no later than February 1. For more information, please visit here.

Open to everyone, OUTR (Office of Urban Transformations Research), along with RMIT University School of Architecture and Design, just announced the release of Transiting Cities International Open Design Ideas Competition. How can we rethink, regenerate, rebrand, rework, reactivate cities dominated by singular economies for a vibrant and innovative future? Designing Possible Futures for growth and adaptation of rehabilitated mines, associated infrastructures and the townships that are dependent on their futures. Integrated social, economic, environmental and infrastructural design outcomes. Produce intelligent innovative short and long-term transition strategies for an adaptive and vibrant regional center. Submissions are due November 30. More information on the competition after the break.

The Battery Conservancy Americas Design Competition 2012: Draw Up A Chair is a unique open call to design students and design professionals living in the North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Design an iconic, movable outdoor seating element for NYC’s 25-acre historic Battery Park, AKA The Battery. The winning design will be fabricated for use in The Battery, which annually welcomes six million visitors. They are offering an earlybird registration rate for all who register by this Sunday, Sept. 30. All design entries are due October 30. To register and for more information, please visit here.

UP Projects and The Architecture Foundation has announced Duggan Morris Architects as winner of the Open Architecture Challenge to design the next phase of the acclaimed Floating Cinema project. This project has been commissioned by the Legacy List with corporate partner Bloomberg as part of the Bloomberg East series of artist-led programs to animate the waterways in East London working in partnership with the Canal and River Trust.

DawnTown, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting architecture in Miami, is announcing an open call for portfolios for their Design Build competition. Now in its fifth year, Dawntown seeks the talents of a designer or design team to create a low cost, innovative, and temporary installation in Miami. The competition is open to architects, artists, and all creative professionals. Designers can work individually or collaboratively in teams, with the requirement that at least one team member is located in the United States. Dawntown Design Build is made possible by the generous grant of the John S and James L Knight Foundation and The Miami Downtown Development Authority. Don’t miss out on a chance to be a part of this inaugural architectural event for Miami! Entries will be collected from September 17th 2012 to October 31st 2012, with finalists being announced on November 15th 2012. To register and for more details, please visit here.

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Yesterday, we announced that Los Angeles based Neil M. Denari Architects (NMDA), in collaboration with Taiwanese architectural firm Fei and Cheng Associates, have been selected as winner of a highly publicized, international competition for the new Keelung Harbor Service Building in Taiwan’s largest port city. As promised, we now present to you the winning proposal.

The City of York Council recently launched a competition seeking nationally and internationally renowned architects to submit their design proposals which clearly demonstrate potential future uses for York’s historic Guildhall and riverside complex. Registered architects are invited to develop their ideas for the Guildhall, the associated office accommodation, river frontage and boat yard, as part of an ‘Open Ideas’ competition, run by The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Entries will be sought from architects putting forward innovative ideas on how the potential of the Guildhall site and riverside could be maximized for the benefit of the city and its residents. The competition submission deadline is November 6th and the results will be announced early December. For more information, please visit here.

The Research and Documentation Centre in Technology, Architecture and City in Developing Countries (CRD-PVS) at the Politecnico di Torino (Italy) has launched an international Student Design Competition tur(i)ntogreen – Farms in A Town. Sponsored by the UN-HABITAT within the “I’m a City Changer” campaign, participants are invited to apply their creative talents in developing new multidisciplinary solutions for a sustainable and inclusive city reflecting new forms of urban management and regeneration through agro-housing and urban-farming models.

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An international jury has selected Capital Cities Planning Group (CCPG), an Anglo-American team including Gillespies, John Thompson & Partners and Buro Happold, as winners for the design and planning of the new Federal District in Moscow.

The 2012 IIDA Best Interiors of Latin America Competition was created to recognize, honor and celebrate outstanding Interior Design/Architecture projects that represent the highest level of creativity, originality and design excellence in the following countries: Argentina, Aruba, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Falkland Islands, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela. The design project(s) must have been completed between January 1, 2010 and June 31, 2012. The deadline for submission is September 14. For more information, please visit here.

The Chicago Architectural Club, along with its partner, the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects, just announced the 2012 Chicago Prize Competition: Future Prentice. The competition is intended to act as a platform for public debate about the future of one of Chicago’s most architecturally significant Modern buildings, Bertrand Goldberg’s Prentice Women’s Hospital. Located in the downtown Chicago neighborhood of Streeterville, this concrete, clover leaf-shaped structure is considered an iconic piece of architecture for the city by some and an eyesore by others. Today the building is in imminent danger of being torn down by its owner, Northwestern University, but it’s fate ultimately lies in the hands of the city’s administration. The submission deadline is October 15. To register and for more information, please visit here.

With the theme of “Rediscover the Future,” the 2013 Mock Firms International Skyscraper Competition is calling aspiring young design professionals to produce an iconic super-tall for Amman, Jordan (collegiate) and Chicago, IL (high school). The programmatic target is a design solution for a diverse and comprehensive vertical healthcare community. The 5th installment of the Mock Firms Competitions hopes to establish a platform for aspiring young professionals to “re-discover” the ideas, designs and technologies which helped to introduce past communities to their “future” work, leisure and domestic environments. The finalist will share in the unique experience of interacting with leading design professionals as their ideas are evaluated by the same. Registration deadline is March 1. For more information, please visit here.

As previously announced, the Portuguese architects behind “OCO – Ocean & Coastline Observatory” have won Habitat for Humanity’s Open Architecture Challenge: RESTRICTED ACCESS 2011. Over 500 teams from 74 countries submitted innovative solutions for the recovery and reuse of disabled and abandoned military sites. These submissions were filtered down to 13 finalists by a jury of 33 esteemed professionals. The Lisbon-based architects of OCO claimed grand prized with their vision to redevelop a desolate military site, that once defended the coast of Trafaria in Portugal, into a civic space that promotes coastal preservation.

Design Corps, the Social Economic Environmental Design® (SEED) Network, and their 2013 partner, the University of Minnesota College of Design, are pleased to announce the Third Annual SEED Awards for Excellence in Public Interest Design.

The organizers of Trimo Urban Crash, a biannual international competition for students of architecture and industrial design, just launched this year’s summer challenge, which is a relatively simple task. All are being asked, not just students, to present their thoughts on ‘Sustainable urban commuting’. You can send you thoughts/work in either visual form (photography, video, visual art and illustration, poster, etc.) or in textual form (no longer than 150 words); or you can create a combination of both. Submissions are on-line only. The deadline for the Summer Warm-up Challenge is August 20, 2012 and this challenge is only a warm-up for the 4th Trimo Urban Crash Competition which will get started this autumn, October 2012. For more information, please visit here.