With the support of Habitat for Humanity and the YMCA, Building Trust International seeks to find well designed homes for the elderly or homeless within some of the World’s richest countries though their ‘HOME’ competition. The growing rate in single occupancy households has led to increased numbers of young and elderly people affected by poverty being forced to live in substandard living conditions and in the worst cases sleeping rough. They are asking designers, engineers, architects and house builders to provide a solution to the housing crisis by offering sustainable, affordable small homes that give those that are alienated or marginalized within society a safe place to live. ask contestants to site their proposals in an urban area of a developed country, develop single occupant designs that are sensitive to the local context and keep to a budget of £20,000 ($30,000). Proposals are due no later than July 31. For more details on the competition and how to register, please visit here.

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72 Hour Urban Action, the world’s first real-time architecture competition, gives selected teams only three days & three nights to design and build interventions in public space in response to local needs. The competition will be the kick-off of a series of major urban interventions around Stuttgart 21, site of the largest urban redevelopment in Europe and the center of a heated 30-year-old public debate. The competition is defined by an extreme deadline, a tight budget and limited space and will challenge participants to rapidly leave a lasting impact on the city’s urban fabric.

The ten finalists competing in the final phase of the National Mall Design Competition are dreaming big. Proposals to restore the National Mall include flourishing lakeside gardens, contemporary cafés hovering over water, grassy new amphitheaters and underground pavilions exposed at the foot of the Washington Monument. Since the announcement of the finalists, the teams have been refining there proposals behind closed doors.

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Memory Cloud is the winning commission awarded to RE:site (Norman Lee and Shane Allbritton, Artists website: www.resitestudio.com) and METALAB (Andrew Vrana, Joe Meppelink and Michael Gonzales, Architecture + Fabrication) by Texas A&M University for the new Memorial Student Center 12th Man Hall. Through a competition and short-list interview process the team demonstrated the ability to harness the potential of programmable LEDs, remote sensing, parametric design and digital fabrication to create an open ended narrative of the story of the University through animated silhouette imagery of past and real-time present student life on the campus.

The Skanska: Bridging Prague International Design Competition, announced by reSITE Festival, ARCHIP (Architectural Institute in Prague) and Skanska, seeks to find new conceptions and proposals for the River Vltava, in Prague, Czech Republic. The scope of the competition is the Vltava riverbank and its immediate context from Libensky Most (Bridge) to the north to Zeleznicni most (Railway Bridge) to the south. This section of the river has really various character and quality on both riverbanks, which gives competitors a chance to select and work on a wide scope of places and areas. The proposals should use existing potential of the Vltava river, define its connection with the city – and lead to creation of attractive public spaces of adequate scale, living by a variety of activities. More information on the competition after the break.

EME3 is currently seeking projects for their 7th edition of eme3 Festival that will be held in Barcelona from June 28th to July 1st 2012 in COAC (Official Catalan Chamber of Architects) while the exposition will remain open until July 15th. The theme starts from an exploratory analysis of the application of the concept “BOTTOM-UP” in architecture and its relationship with society. In a changing environment like the current, where the foundations of our system are constantly questioned and challenged, a series of actions, which to date had a fairly minor implementation in developed societies, emerge now strongly, relying on creativity and innovation to fight this moment of crisis and uncertainty. The deadline for submissions is April 15th. More information on the competition after the break.

TEX-FAB Digital Fabrication Alliance is seeking research proposals that actively connect academia, the profession and the fabrication industry in the Continuing Research category and in the Speculative Proposal category new start-up projects. As this is a “design to fabricate” competition, TEX-FAB will match the network of fabricators and consultants with the projects that best manifest research through computational fabrication and apply it toward more intelligent integers of materiality and construction. Submissions are due no later than June 2nd. More information on the competition can be found here.

On behalf of the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture (MoIC), representing the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and supported by the Government of the U.S. and the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, S.E.E. | office for architecture and design is pleased to announce and promote the International Architectural Ideas Competition (IAIC_NMA) for the new National Museum of Afghanistan.

The Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) has shortlisted nine design teams for the New Embassy Compound in Mexico City. The design/bid/build project, scheduled for construction in fiscal year 2015, is the first solicited under OBO’s new Design Excellence program. This holistic approach to project development and delivery seeks to utilize the best methods, technologies, and staff abilities to produce facilities that are outstanding in all respects. The overall strategy focuses on the integration of purpose, function, flexibility, art, safety, security, sustainability, and maintainability.

Singapore Airlines invites interested private sector companies and/or entities to participate in the Pre-Qualification Exercise to demonstrate their capabilities for the Proposed Development of a New Design Concept for the Silver Kris Lounges.

[AC-CA] recently announced their competition, New Contemporary Art Museum, with the aim of a design for a new art museum in the heart of the city. As the capital of Argentina and located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, the city is an important economic center. Its architecture is a combination of different styles which gives it a unique architectural beauty. The deadline for submissions is July 5th. More information on the competition after the break.

BOFFO is currently accepting submissions through March 26th for art & design furniture, products and more to arrange at their Show House open May 1 – 24, 2012. The BOFFO Show House exhibition will bridge art and design through installation showcasing designers and artists in a residential setting with the goal of creating a profound and relevant experience representing modern living at a visually enticing Manhattan destination. For more information, please visit here.

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ArchDaily announced the winning proposal for the Young Architects Program (YAP) MAXXI 2012 in late February. In order to bring you full coverage of the annual competition, we are featuring the other four creative designs that competed against UNIRE/UNITE. NAMI, which means “wave” in Japanese, is a project that reflects contemporaneity, aims to send a message about the importance of harmony, and to create a bridge between people and cultures. This proposal, designed by VeryVery Architecture Office, is very simple and essential: an airy space provided with shadow, movable sitting benches, and a space that can accommodate different types of events and activities. Imbued with an experimental spirit and a strong attention to sustainability, NAMI offers a chance to express the social and cultural values requested by the Young Architecture Program.

The people of Aberdeen, Scotland have voted in favor of the £140m Aberdeen City Garden redevelopment proposal designed by the New York-based practice Diller, Scofidio & Renfro (DS+R), in collaboration with local architects Keppie Design and Philadelphia landscape architects OLIN.

The program promoting and supporting young architecture organized by MAXXI Architettura together with MoMA/MoMA PS1 in New York and CONSTRUCTO of Santiago in Chile has announced UNIRE/UNITE by Urban Movement Design as winner of the 2012 Young Architects Program (YAP) MAXXI in Rome. Following MAXXI’s first successful summer installation named WHATAMI by stARTT, Urban Movement Design now has the opportunity to reinvent the MAXXI piazza with an interactive installation featuring a long and sinuous band of wood and grass that encourages a playful bond between the building and its users. This proposal was selected over four other shortlisted contestants who where chosen by an Italian jury.

CityVision magazine recently announced their CityVision New York competition, which invites architects, designers, students, artists and creatives to develop urban and visionary proposals with the aim of stimulating new ideas for the contemporary city. Globalization, environmental concerns, new economic and cultural politics, adaptability to the existing context combined with the use of vibrant ideas, original technologies and new softwares for representation are some of the key elements that should be taken into account to formulate the most original project proposal. The submission deadline is June 11. For more information, please visit here.

Tent London is holding a competition to offer 4 free feature spaces in their show, ‘Design Feature at Tent London’, to architects and designers who have a design or concept they would like to present to their 20,000 visitors. Their intent is to punctuate the halls with engaging installations that are also three-dimensional environments which clearly demonstrate the chosen concept; whether it be colour, material, light, human interaction, diversity etc. Concepts can be complex or simple, but must be clearly evident in the installation. The deadline for applications is March 16. For more information, please visit their website here.

The Museum of Architecture and Design is proud to announce the international Call for Entries for the 23rd Biennial of Design – the international exhibition and BIO Design Awards competition. Through its selection of well-designed works and emphasis on quality, originality, and innovation, the exhibit presents current trends in contemporary design. The exhibited works are eligible to receive the Biennial’s awards for the best designs of the past two years.