The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) is pleased to announce the ninth annual steel design student competition for the 2008-2009 academic year. Administered by Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and sponsored by American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), the program is intended to challenge students, working individually or in teams, to explore a variety of design issues related to the use of steel in design and construction.

The ACSA/AISC 2008-2009 Steel Design Student Competition will offer architecture students the opportunity to compete in two separate categories.

Category I - Life Cycle of a School: It will challenge architecture students to design a school for the 21st century that critically examines life cycle and proposes an innovative solution in steel. The problem of urban growth and decay is larger than an individual building. Therefore, architects should consider a total life cycle assessment approach to designing buildings so that they may be adaptable, flexible, and accommodate change. This project will allow students to explore many varied functional and aesthetic uses for steel as a building material. Steel is an ideal material for schools because it offers the a high strength to weight ratio and can be designed systematically as a kit of parts or prefabricated to allow for quicker construction times and less labor, thus reducing the cost of construction. Schools constructed in steel are more flexible and adaptable to allow for diversity of uses over the life of the facility.

Category II - Open: This category has limited restrictions. This open submission design option will permit the greatest amount of flexibility.

Judging Criteria
Criteria for the judging of submissions will include: creative use of structural steel in the design solution, successful response of the design to its surrounding context, and successful response to basic architectural concepts such as human activity needs, structural integrity, and coherence of architectural vocabulary. Category I will specifically be evaluated on the innovative use of steel in proposing a solution to the life cycle challenges of an elementary school. 

Awards
The design jury will meet in May 2009 to select winning projects and honorable mentions. Winners and their faculty sponsors will be notified of the competition results directly. A list of winning projects will be posted on the ACSA web site at www.acsa arch.org and the AISC web site at www.aisc.org.

Winning students and their faculty sponsors will receive cash prizes totaling 14.000 Dollars with distribution as follows:

Category I & Category II
First Prize  
Student: 2.500 Dollars
Faculty Sponsor: 1.000 Dollars

Second Prize
Student: 1.500 Dollars
Faculty Sponsor: 750 Dollars

Third Prize
Student: 750 Dollars
Faculty Sponsor: 500 Dollars

A limited number of honorable mentions may also be awarded at the jury's discretion.

Prize winning submissions will be exhibited at the 2010 ACSA Annual Meeting and at the 2010 AIA National Convention as well as published in a competition summary catalog.

Competition Schedule
05 December 2008: Registration Begins, online (there is no fee for registration)
09 February 2009: Registrations Deadline
06 May 2009: Submission Deadline
May 2009: Prize winners chosen by the design jury
Summer - Fall 2009: Competition Summary Publication