Career StagesYoung Architects Forum

In 2011, the AIA Young Architects Forum (YAF) and the AIA Committee on Design (COD) invited architects, students, and allied design professionals to submit sketches to the international 2011 YAF/COD Ideas Competition.

In this unique sketch competition, submitters were asked to explore the concept of Universal Design as well as the overlap with values of social and environmental sustainability. View the 2011 YAF/COD Ideas Competition Call for Entries.

2011 YAF/COD Ideas Competition Winners

1st Place: Project Via Aequalitas
Team members: Tim Bertschinger, Megan Shiley, Alex Taylor, and Tom Zych, all with WDG Architecture.

Honorary Mention: Warp & Weft: Constructing Tokyo’s Olympic Selvedge Project
Team members: Nicole Marshall, Assoc. AIA, Jose Alvarez, Assoc. AIA, Marty Mcelveen, Amanda Rivera, AIA, Cristina Ungurea, Tracy Lea, AIA, Scott Simon, Assoc. AIA, and Michael Keller all with Eskew+ Dumez+ Ripple.

Honorary Mention: Urban Village Project
Stephen Zuber, Erik Maso and Suttiruck Wongsawan all of KGD Architecture.

TOTO Prize for the Best Universally Designed Bathroom: Tokyo Trusswork
Team members: Roberto Pasini, Andrea Ranieri, Alice Ranieri, and Matteo Lucc, of the design firm AUS in Forli, Italy.

2011 YAF/COD Ideas Competition Booklet

2011 YAF/COD Ideas Competition Jury

Hansy L. Better Barraza AIA, LEED AP
Rhode Island School of Design
Boston

Karen L. Braitmayer, FAIA
Studio Pacifica, Ltd.
Seattle

Michael Graves, FAIA
Michael Graves & Associates
Princeton, N.J.

Walter J. Hood, Jr., ASLA
Hood Design
Oakland

The Design Problem

Over the past decade, the planning and operation of the Olympic and Paralympic Games has been fundamentally re-defined, guided by an emphasis on inclusion, as well as social and environmental sustainability.

In 2009, the City of Tokyo, Japan was one of several cities selected as a finalist to become the Host City for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic games. The International Olympic and Paralympic committees ultimately awarded the Games to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – but Tokyo again is in the process of compiling a bid for the 2020 Games.

Inspired by the recent trajectory of thought and action exhibited by the IOC and IPC, the American Institute of Architects invites designers to participate in a design competition intended to build upon the efforts of the past decade by proposing a vision for Tokyo’s bid for the 2020 Games that is guided not only by socially- and environmentally-sustainable principles, but also by the concept of Universal Design.

Universal Design has been defined as “the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.” This definition was developed by the architect Ron Mace, FAIA, an architect and the founder of the Center for Universal Design at N.C. State University. In recent years, architects and designers in the US and abroad have come to recognize significant and growing overlaps between Universal Design principles and emerging values of social and environmental sustainability.

This year’s design problem, to create a master plan for the Olympic Village and a design for a representative mixed-use building that includes athlete housing, will provide entrants with the opportunity to explore these overlaps. Successful solutions will demonstrate a commitment to Universal Design, as well as social and environmental sustainability, throughout the Village during its Olympic, Paralympic, and Legacy modes by creating designs that will allow the Village to play a vital role in the ongoing development of the City of Tokyo – not only for the short-term as athletes’ housing during the Games, but also for the long-term as a catalyst for infrastructural revitalization once the Games have closed.

Submission Details

All submissions should contain original content only. All entries must be submitted without identifying marks, including logos, text, insignia, or images on the display surface that could be used to identify the submission’s authors.

The AIA will have the right to use all information submitted to display in exhibitions and publications to publicize the Competition, including but not limited to the following:

• A gallery display at the AIA 2011 National Convention and Design Exposition in New Orleans, Louisiana;
• Various web sites, including the AIA YAF & COD pages;
• The 2011 COD & AIA Japan Northwest and Pacific Regional (NWPR) Design Conference;
• All entries will be published in an Awards book;
• Other industry magazines and print publications.

Entrants will be expected to complete and return copyright release forms. In addition, each entrant will be required to sign a declaration that neither the entrant individually nor any firm of which the entrant is an owner or manager employs unpaid interns, including working students.

2011 Competition Timeline

*The submission deadline is strictly observed; no exceptions will be made.

Thank You To Our Sponsor!

Do you have comments or questions? Send an email to yaf@aia.org.

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