Twenty cities from across the U.S. are competing for nine million dollars in grant money that could fund their innovative solution to some of the major urban challenges that face our communities today. These Top 20 finalists were selected from 305 teams, formed by mayors, architects and local professionals, representing a city of 30,000 or more residents that responded to Mayor Bloomberg’s Mayors Challenge with a bold idea that could potentially make our government more efficient, solve a serious problem, or improve city life.

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In April, Mayor Villaraigosa and City Council Member Huizar announced an international design competition to redesign the historic, 80-year-old Sixth Street Bridge in Los Angeles. The decision to launch the competition came after engineers warned that the bridge was at risk of failing during a major earthquake due to a degenerative structural problem known as “concrete cancer”. After careful consideration and entertaining the idea of constructing a replica of the 1932 icon, the city committed to moving forward with a major redesign. In mid-October, the national infrastructure firm HNTB, along with team members Michael Maltzan Architecture and AC Martin Partners, were announced as winners of the international competition.

Winners of the 2012 Land Art Generator Initiative Competition for Freshkills Park in Staten Island, NYC are out. With 4 placed winners and a long list of shortlisted projects, the range of ideas shows how designers are exploring many different options for sustainable energy infrastructure.

In partnership with Karuna Cambodia, Habitat for Humanity & the Cambodian Society of Architects (CSA), Building Trust International is looking for designs for the Cambodian Sustainable Housing competition. Proposals should be able to provide a sustainable future for housing in the South-east Asian country. Any proposal will have to stick to a very low budget and deal with the yearly flooding of Tonle Sap, which the majority of Cambodia’s 16 million inhabitants live in close proximity to. The final date for registration, which has been extended, is December 22nd at midnight (11:59 pm.GMT). Proposals are then due to be submitted on January 15th. For more information, please visit here.

RIBA Competitions recently announced their two-stage design ideas competition for the Great Fen Visitor Centre in Cambridgeshire. Great Fen is an internationally acclaimed vision, one of sweeping scale and ambition. Over the next 50-100 years, more than 3,000ha of largely arable land will be transformed into a mosaic of habitat: open water, lakes, ponds and ditches; reedbed; fen, bog and marsh; wet grassland; dry grassland; woodland and scrub. The competition seeks to to create around and between a restored fenland landscape which provides a living landscape for wildlife and people. Registrations will close on December 19. The deadline for Stage 1 design submissions is 2pm on January 10. To register, and for more information, please visit here.

Focused on ‘Cambodian Sustainable Housing’, the new Building Trust International Open International Design Competition looks into designing affordable, flood resistant housing in the South-east Asian country. In partnership with Karuna Cambodia, Habitat for Humanity & the Cambodian Society of Architects (CSA), proposals will have to keep below a budget of $2000 and deal with the yearly flooding that effects most residential areas. The winning design will be built by Habitat for Humanity Cambodia and will influence the way they build housing in the region. This competition is a real chance to make a difference to a large group of working Cambodians lives. Submissions are due January 15. To register, and for more information, please visit here.

Sou Fujimoto Architects have shared with us their first place proposal for the Beton Hala Waterfront Centre in Belgrade, Serbia. Contrasting the medieval fabric of the capital city, Sou Fujimoto’s “floating cloud” intertwines an array of social and transportation programs into an organized tangle of suspended ramps that emerge from the static platform of the Beton Hala. It was lauded by the jury to be a “brave proposal” that holds the “highest emblematic potential among all of Beton Hala entries”.

Michael Van Valkenburg Associates (MVVA) and Thomas Phifer & Partners have been announced as winners of an international competition set to transform 15 blocks of the neglected Waller Creek in downtown Austin, Texas, into a vibrant local attraction. Co-sponsored by the nonprofit Waller Creek Conservancy and the City of Austin, the ambitious project intends to spearhead redevelopment within the city’s central business district with the 1.5 mile urban scheme that represents approximately 11 percent of Austin’s downtown.

Named in tribute to Ken Roberts, a Dallas-based architect, the annual Ken Roberts Memorial Delineation Competition has grown from an event that recognized hand-drawn renderings of local area architects to a competition that encompasses architectural delineation made in a variety of media by students and professionals the world over. Organized by AIA Dallas, “KRob” is the longest-running architectural drawing competition anywhere. New to this year’s competition is a category dedicated to travel sketches, open to all students and professionals. Prize winners in all categories will receive a generous assortment of hardware from Doghouse and Wacom as well as software provided by Corel.

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.