Memorial to the Sixth Extinction Design Competition 2026
Competition Brief
The Memorial to the Sixth Extinction Design Competition 2026 is an open international architecture and design competition organised by the Australian Urban Design Research Centre (AUDRC) at the University of Western Australia, in partnership with TCL (Taylor Cullity Lethlean), one of Australia’s most recognised landscape architecture practices. The competition invites architects, landscape architects, urban designers, artists, and students worldwide to design a memorial that acknowledges and bears witness to the ongoing mass extinction of species — the Sixth Extinction — driven by human activity. The competition is free to enter and open to individuals and teams internationally.
Intent
The Sixth Extinction is the current ongoing mass extinction event caused by human activity, estimated to be occurring at a rate 1,000 times higher than natural background extinction rates. The competition frames the memorial not as a monument to failure or loss alone, but as a spatial and experiential proposition that engages the public with the scale, urgency, and complexity of biodiversity collapse. The brief asks designers to consider: what does it mean to memorialise something still happening? How can architecture and landscape bear witness to ongoing ecological loss rather than commemorating a discrete past event? The site is not fixed — proposals may be sited anywhere in the world, at any scale, allowing participants to engage with specific local or global extinction narratives.
Purpose
AUDRC has a strong track record of intellectually ambitious open competitions including BAU 2022 and Future Climate Future Home, conducted in partnership with government agencies and leading Australian practices. The TCL partnership brings significant landscape architecture expertise and environmental design credibility to the jury and programme. Selected projects will be exhibited and published through AUDRC’s channels and the University of Western Australia. The competition contributes to a broader research agenda on ecological design, memorialisation, and the role of built space in shaping public environmental consciousness.
Requirements
The competition is open to architects, landscape architects, urban designers, artists, students, and interdisciplinary teams worldwide. No restrictions on nationality or professional status are stated. Site is free — proposals may be located anywhere in the world at any scale. Full submission requirements, panel formats, and eligibility criteria are available in the competition brief downloadable from audrc.org/competitions and the flipbook at heyzine.com/flip-book/8b810b42b2.html.
Jury
The jury composition has not been separately published outside the competition brief flipbook at the time of writing. Based on AUDRC’s previous competition structures, the jury is expected to draw from the University of Western Australia’s architecture and design faculty, TCL’s senior landscape architects, and invited external critics and practitioners. Full jury details are available in the competition brief at audrc.org/competitions.
Registration Fees
| Entry Type | Fee |
|---|---|
| All participants | Free |
Based on AUDRC’s consistent track record of free-entry competitions (BAU 2022, Future Climate Future Home), this competition is free to enter. Confirm at audrc.org/competitions before registering.
Prizes and Rewards
| Award | Prize |
|---|---|
| Winners and shortlisted entries | Publication and exhibition through AUDRC and University of Western Australia channels + recognition from leading Australian academic and landscape architecture institution |
Specific cash prizes and full prize details are published in the competition brief flipbook at heyzine.com/flip-book/8b810b42b2.html and audrc.org/competitions. Confirm full prize structure before entering.
Key Dates
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Competition launched | 2026 (exact date — confirm at audrc.org/competitions) |
| Submission deadline | To be confirmed — see audrc.org/competitions |
| Results announced | To be confirmed — see audrc.org/competitions |
✦ ArchUp Competition Review
The Memorial to the Sixth Extinction is one of the most intellectually significant competition briefs currently open internationally. AUDRC has established a clear track record of ambitious, research-grounded competitions that engage with urgent ecological and urban questions rather than generic design prompts, and the TCL partnership provides significant landscape architecture credibility. The brief question — how does one memorialise an ongoing extinction rather than a discrete past event — is genuinely unresolved in both architectural and cultural discourse, making this a rare competition that could produce work with intellectual consequences beyond the award itself. The free-site strategy allows proposals to engage with specific biomes, species, and localities rather than abstracting the crisis into a universal gesture, which is a productive decision. AUDRC’s institutional base at the University of Western Australia and its government-supported research mandate give the programme a credibility that distinguishes it from commercial competition platforms. The primary limitation of this review is that full competition details including jury, specific prizes, and submission requirements remain inside a flipbook PDF not fully accessible for extraction — participants must download the brief from audrc.org/competitions directly before proceeding.
Final Thoughts
The Memorial to the Sixth Extinction Design Competition 2026 is an institutionally serious, free-entry international competition addressing one of the most urgent ecological and cultural questions of our time, organised by AUDRC at the University of Western Australia in partnership with TCL. Download the full brief and confirm all dates, prizes, and submission requirements at audrc.org/competitions.
Registration Deadline
Brought to you by the ArchUp Editorial Team
Inspiration starts here. Dive deeper into Architecture, Interior Design, Research, Cities, Design, and cutting-edge Projects on ArchUp.
