Chicken Coop Competition 2026

Competition Brief

The Chicken Coop Competition 2026, which is being held by Outsider Magazine, puts an emphasis on the design of a chicken coop that is not only a shelter for the chickens or a simple building but also an architectural work that is beyond the traditional form and function. The competition advocates for contemporary design proposals that examine the interaction of humans, animals, the landscape, natural materials, and daily rituals in a very broad way instead of just conventional shelter logic.

Intent

The competition aims to test the participants’ creativity and expand their capacity to see the chicken coop as an architectural space with environmental awareness, material exploration, and daily life as its shadow rather than a simple structure for housing chickens.

Purpose

Through a project that is simple yet conceptually and aesthetically profound, it is the intention of the competition to draw the human-nature relationship using modern architecture and at the same time to break the design routine of small animal housing construction.

Requirements

• This opportunity is open to designers, architects, artists, and students who are interested in architectural design.
• Designs must be contemporary interpretations of a chicken coop reflecting understanding of nature, materials, and daily life.
• There are no professional prerequisites; individual or team participation is allowed.
• Registration, which is free, is mandatory.
• Participating registrants will be given a six-character PIN to access complete competition documentation that comprises briefs and 3D models.

Jury

1. Magnus Wåge – Mestres Wåge Architects
2. Iva Smrke – Herzog & de Meuron
3. Klara Zalokar – Studio Moste
4. Gašper Fabijan – Architect
5. Matevž Granda – Executive Editor, Outsider Magazine

Fees Table

Rewards Table

Winners also receive media coverage and publication in Outsider Magazine.

Dates Table

✦ ArchUp Competition Review

Outsider Magazine is the one to organize the Chicken Coop Competition 2026, which will be characterized by moderate transparency concerning the jury, whose members’ professional backgrounds will be revealed but the detailed evaluation criteria will not be made public. The competition will be predominantly professional/educational confrontation and will allow an invitation to architects, designers, artists, and students to familiarize themselves with different conceptual and material approaches to a simple programmatic structure. Prizes of 500 € to 1,500 € are given out, which, in comparison to the analytical and design effort involved, are modest and thus the main advantage is considered to be portfolio development and design experimentation rather than implementation of designs in a guaranteed way. The jury’s architectural skills ensure a fair and equal judging of every aspect, the different inventiveness, the various materials, and the conceptual maturity.

Crucial Conclusion

The Chicken Coop Competition very cleverly tackles a topic that at first seems straightforward but nevertheless is capable of bringing out the artists’ and architects’ skill of turning a traditional idea into a project with cultural and design meaning. The jury’s strong architectural backgrounds not only boost the competition’s credibility but also the difficulty the participants are facing in that the jury’s limited criterion for evaluation might obscure the expectation of the contestants. The Chicken Coop Competition does not shy away from discussing the subjects of broader impacts by simply putting in the background the very single project of a chicken coop, but on the other hand, it does very well in offering the exploration of the basics of design plus the use of basic materials as an equivalent to the exploration of broader impacts.

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