2026 Course Development Prize

Competition Brief

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) has partnered with the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture to call for proposals for teaching curricula titled “2026 Course Development Prize.” The competition accepts submissions of a complete course or a course component that is centered on the main idea of “Architecture, Climate Change, and Society.” Complete submissions must consist of a syllabus (for either the full or component course), a list of readings or resources, and a schedule for the different stages of development and implementation.

Purpose

The goal of the competition is to foster the creation of educational materials that cover the serious global problems, particularly climate change and its social implications, via the teaching of architecture and urbanism. It also looks to bring in schools and teachers to broaden their curriculum by including issues of ecology, environmental justice, and socially responsible design thinking.

Intent

The organizers are looking for proposals that will be in the realm of being innovative, critically and academically engaged, and at the same time able to be implemented in a real academic context. The winning proposals will be those that result in the actual teaching of a course or a module at an architecture school. The final syllabi (whether for full courses or course components) will be made accessible on the ACSA and Buell Center platforms for wider distribution.

Jury

Not made public. In the call, it is mentioned that the evaluation will be conducted by a jury appointed by the Advisory Board of the Buell Center. There are no individual names, affiliations, or professional backgrounds currently mentioned in the public documentation.

Prizes

Fees

Timeline

✦ ArchUp Competition Review

The 2026 Course Development Prize not only seeks educators to develop courses on the subjects of architecture, climate change, and society but also gives priority to teaching interventions capable of changing the situation. The prize is managed by the ACSA together with the Temple Hoyne Buell Center. The competition, while being of serious academic importance, is not completely clear about its expert jury members because their names are not disclosed, and this raises questions about the evaluation biases. $5,000 USD is the prize for each of the selected proposals, which is relatively small considering the time and effort needed to develop courses that can be fully implemented; thus, the competition is seen more as a chance for academic recognition and portfolio building rather than financial gain. However, the no-cost entry and the flexible submission period are two factors that have been overlooked but greatly enhance accessibility and therefore participation of educators of broad varieties. The competition indeed fosters pedagogical innovation with practical consequences but at the same time, the limited jury transparency and the modest financial reward might have an adverse effect on the perceived professional value.

Critical Analysis

Relevance and Scope

The competition, focusing on climate change and social justice, covers an important void in architectural education. It inspires architects and educators to reimagine how architecture curricula can meet the needs of global ecological and societal challenges, thereby possibly influencing practitioners’ awareness and responsibility in the future.

Incentives and Impact

Though the cash prize is merely a positive financial help, the major benefit might be the access to journal publication and academic recognition. The reason is that the competition is open to proposals that are to be executed at the educational institution; thus, it is promoting more practical and realistic teaching intervention rather than theoretical exercises.

Transparency and Jury Disclosure

The public naming of jury members would add to the transparency of the competition, but it is the other way around at present. For a competition with social and ecological implications, having the evaluators’ names, backgrounds, and viewpoints would enable the participants to measure the proposals according to how they might be appraised. Not providing this, the question of evaluation criteria and fairness might be raised.

Practicality and Accessibility

By having no participation fee and a submission format (syllabus or course component) that is easy, and flexible, the competition is open to a variety of educators and institutions. This approach not only lowers the entry barriers but also promotes inclusiveness, even those from financially weak programs can still take part.

Strengths and Limitations

The integration of architectural education with global issues that are urgent and important is where the strength of this competition comes from. Its requirement of implementation and public disclosure of syllabi results in impact and knowledge sharing that relates to the real world. Nevertheless, there continues to be doubt as to the criteria for judging proposals since there is no complete transparency regarding the jury’s makeup and evaluation standards. Moreover, the small cash prize offered might not be a strong enough motivator for the extensive course development efforts in the case of schools that do not have a lot of resources.

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