Rome Design Awards 2026 Competition
Competition Brief
The Rome Design Awards 2026 is an international design competition that allows designers, architects, and other professionals to display their works in the fields of architecture, interior design, product design, furniture, lighting, and packaging even among students. The competition through its theme and the very essence of art and design promotes those who are able to submit works of the highest quality in terms of form, function, and concept. The theme of the event that is “The Rise of Modern Design” serves as a link between the past of Renaissance creativity and today’s designs, thus, not only bringing the past but also appreciating modern change-making ideas that dare to explore the creative limits.
The submissions can be comprised of works that are still in the making, finished projects, or just ideas, together with the accentuating on one entry that will best communicate the designer’s message. This approach is meant to bring about the superior quality of the submissions rather than the number of submissions.
Intent
The competition is set to promote new design that not only comes from creative but also from practical execution. It also aims at designers who work in a very thoughtful manner dealing with conceptual discussions and design strategies, capable of attracting the whole design community.
Purpose
The Rome Design Awards’ purpose is to give effective design work not only a global but also a spot-like visibility and to link participants to the professional development opportunities. Awards include exposure and documentation that are meant to support designers’ careers through various means.
Requirements
Submissions must be from the last five years. A brief written synopsis (around 350 words) is to be provided along with the submission. The written part should be accompanied by visual materials such as images and, if appropriate, links to audio or video hosted on recognized platforms. The submitted visuals should be flattened JPEG files in accordance with the recommended resolutions and file size limits.
Jury
The Rome Design Awards 2026 jury is made up of well-respected international design experts from the areas of architecture, product design, interior design, and other related fields. The evaluation procedure is blind, which implies that the names of the participants are not disclosed at the time of their being judged so as to eliminate prejudice. Each juror gives points to the submissions considering their originality, how well they were made, their inventiveness, and total effect.
- Ronn Lee — Creative Partner, BEAMY (China/Global)
- Mark Turner — Creative Director & Founder, Kre8ive Partners (UK)
- Florian Seidl — Design Manager, Lavazza (Italy)
- Vargov Anton — CEO, Vargov Design (Russia)
- Xiyao Wang — Associate Principal, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (USA)
- Lola Yiting Zhang — Concept Artist (USA)
- Shuang Guo — Fashion Design Director (USA)
- Shawn Goh Chin Siang — Co‑Founder & Creative Director (Malaysia)
- Khaled Elnems — Industrial Product Designer (UAE)
- Moein Jalali — Founder, Moein Jalali and Partners (Bulgaria)
- Xianlong Deng — Architectural Designer (USA)
- Xuechen Chen — Founder & Architecture Designer (USA)
- Yinzhu Yao — Designer (USA)
- Jae Leong — Judging Committee Chairperson (Malaysia)
- Vasil Velchev — Media & Product Life Cycle Manager (Bulgaria)
- Kourosh Salehi — Global Design Principal (UAE)
- Wu Wei — Founder & Creative Director (China)
- Yingfan Zhang — Co‑Founder & Chief Architect (China)
- Aleksandr Volodkovich — UX/UI & Product Designer (Kazakhstan)
- Zhou Yi — Senior Designer (China)
- Tiago Russo — CEO & Founder (Portugal)
- Lichen Ding — Founder & Chief Designer (China)
- Bo Zhang — Founder (USA)
- Jiaru Lin — Head of Design (USA)
- Christina Kuo — Creative Director (Canada)
- Xiaobi Pan — Lead Designer (USA)
- Paolo Cappello — CEO (Italy)
Fees
| Entry Type | Early Bird | Regular | Final | Final Extension |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional – 1st Entry | $209 | $219 | $239 | $249 |
| Additional Category | $149 | $159 | $179 | $189 |
| Additional Entry | $209 | $219 | $239 | $249 |
| Student – 1st Entry | $60 | $70 | $80 | $90 |
| Student Additional Category | $50 | $60 | $70 | $80 |
| Student Additional Entry | $60 | $70 | $80 | $90 |
Rewards
| Award Level | Benefits |
|---|---|
| Design of the Year | Statuette, winners page, press release mention, e-newsletter, profile page |
| Platinum Winner | Newsletter mention, profile page, interview |
| Gold Winner | Profile page, interview |
| Silver Winner | Profile page, interview |
Important Dates
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Early Bird Submission | 12 December 2025 |
| Regular Submission | 27 January 2026 |
| Final Submission | 28 February 2026 |
| Final Extension Submission | 31 March 2026 |
| Announcement of Results | 12 June 2026 |
✦ ArchUp Competition Review
The Rome Design Awards 2026, a professional international design platform, is managed by the Rome Design Awards body. The jury list is long and made up of people from all over the world, but the full evaluation criteria are not completely open, which makes it hard to understand the assessment standards. The competition is not promotional but strictly professional, and it is held for both the established and the up-and-coming designers of all the art forms including architecture, graphic design, product design, etc. The entry fees vary from $60 to $249, and the total prize advantages mainly consist of recognition and not of very large money awards, which might not be fully in line with the submission effort. The competition provides the portfolio worth and the exposure, and moreover, the experienced jury offers the broad design perspectives, although scoring still remains subjective.
Conclusion and Final Thoughts
The Rome Design Awards 2026 is a design competition that offers high accessibility and broad creative inclusion to the designers by means of its flat annual fee model and flexible submission types. Additionally, its blind judging process aims to minimize bias, while the varying award benefits provide recognition levels that depend on the scoring criteria. Nevertheless, it is advisable for the participants to carefully analyze the fee structure and the scoring thresholds before they submit their entries.
For reference on global design competitions and best practices, please see our comparative review of UUrban Design & Architecture Design Awards, Architecture International Contest: Emergent Housing, and our coverage of Architecture at Zero. These writings serve to illustrate the varying expectations in the global design evaluation.
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