Rome Design Awards 2026 – Season 2
Competition Brief
The Rome Design Awards is an international design award organized and sponsored by International Awards Associate Inc. (IAA), a private awards management company. The award is positioned as a recognition platform celebrating contemporary design across architecture, interior design, furniture, lighting, product design, packaging, and student design. It is inspired by Italy’s design culture but has no institutional affiliation with any Italian organization, city, or design body. The 2026 Season 2 cycle is currently open for submissions and results will be announced on 11 December 2026.
IAA operates an extensive portfolio of over 20 award programs under the same umbrella, including MUSE Design Awards, NY Architectural and Interior Design Awards, London Design Awards, French Design Awards, Tokyo Design Awards, TITAN Property Awards, and others. The Rome Design Awards sits within IAA’s Arte Collection group of awards.
Intent
The award accepts completed projects, works-in-progress, and conceptual designs created after 1 January 2022. Entries are evaluated on five criteria: Creativity and Design Concept, Aesthetic Excellence and Visual Communication, Innovation and Functionality, Execution and Craftsmanship, and Overall Impact and Design Significance. Projects are scored on a scale of 1 to 100 through a blind judging process. Recognition is tiered across four levels: Design of the Year, Platinum, Gold, and Silver.
Purpose
The award functions primarily as a commercial recognition and marketing tool for design professionals and studios. Winners receive certificates, digital badges, press release templates, and varying levels of media exposure depending on their tier. Design of the Year winners receive a physical statuette and are featured on Muse.World, IAA’s media partner. The award does not carry a cash prize, a commission, or a built outcome. For architects and designers interested in design competitions that provide portfolio credentials and international recognition branding, this award is positioned as a low-barrier, fee-based credentialing platform.
Requirements
The award is open to designers, architects, studios, brands, agencies, students, and emerging creative talents worldwide. There are no geographic or qualification restrictions. Submission requirements per entry:
- A written description of approximately 350 words covering concept, objectives, creative approach, and execution
- Supporting visuals under 4MB per image, recommended width 1,200px
- For video or audio-based work, a direct URL via Vimeo, YouTube, or Youku
- A flat administrative fee of $30 per entrant applies in addition to entry fees
The same project may be entered into multiple relevant categories. The first category is charged at the standard rate; additional categories are offered at a reduced rate.
Jury
The 2026 jury panel includes the following named members:
- Ronn Lee (Singapore) – Creative Partner, BEAMY; brand and design expert with over two decades of experience in branding, graphic design, and product innovation
- Mark Turner (United Kingdom) – Founder and Creative Director, Kre8ive Partners; over 30 years of experience in graphic and packaging design
- Florian Seidl (Italy) – Design Manager, Lavazza; oversees corporate design for Lavazza’s product and packaging portfolio
- Shuang Guo (United States) – Fashion Design Director, Fame Fashion House; experience with Anna Sui, Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, and Club Monaco
- Lichen Ding (China) – Founder and Chief Designer, DLCA Architects; experience in architecture, interior space, and art installations
- Aleksandr Volodkovich (Kazakhstan) – UX/UI Product Designer, T-Bank; over 9 years of experience in digital product design
- Tiago Russo (Portugal) – CEO and Founder, Craft Design; luxury product and experience designer with over 130 international design awards
- Bo Zhang (United States) – Founder, RE/CRAFT; artist, designer, and curator focused on sustainable materials and craft
- Jiaru Lin (United States) – Head of Design, Amaffi; experience with Tom Ford, Gucci, Balmain, Louis Vuitton, and Coach
- Christina Kuo (Canada) – Creative Director, KUUO LIVING; specialist in hospitality and residential design
- Xiaobi Pan (United States) – Lead Designer, Amazon; specialist in augmented reality and AI-driven consumer experience design
- Paolo Cappello (Italy) – CEO, Paolo Cappello Design Studio; industrial designer based in Verona, graduate of Politecnico di Milano
- Ilana Seleznev (Israel) – Owner and Industrial Designer, Studio RDD; creator of the “Math of Design” methodology
- Jeremy Smith (New Zealand) – Design Director and Lecturer, Irving Smith Architects; judge in India, Singapore, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Lisbon
- Yafei Zhang (United States) – Associate Principal and BIM Lead, Kohn Pedersen Fox; projects include Meta 50 Hudson Yards and Bund Fosun Center
- Jiayuan Wang (United States) – Design Director, VSDesign; portfolio spans healthcare, education, and technology
- Junru (Jennie) Xu (United States) – Senior User Experience Designer, DIRECTV; eight years of experience in UX/UI design
- Vargov Anton (Russia) – CEO, Vargov Design; specialist in custom lighting and decorative compositions
- Xiyao Wang (United States) – Associate Principal, Kohn Pedersen Fox; specialist in parametric facade design for high-rise buildings; Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard University
- Lola Yiting Zhang (United States) – Concept Artist, Sony Interactive Entertainment; credits include Halo: Infinite
- Shawn Goh Chin Siang (Malaysia) – Co-founder and Creative Director, Shawn Goh Design Lab; recognized across Malaysia, South Korea, Germany, and Italy
- Khaled Elnems (United Arab Emirates) – Q.C. and Industrial Product Designer, PARSONS Infrastructure and Technology Group Inc.
- Moein Jalali (Bulgaria) – Founder, Moein Jalali and Partners; PhD in architecture, focuses on philosophical concepts in architectural design
- Xianlong Deng (United States) – Architectural Designer, Goettsch Partners; experience at AS+GG, Gensler, and SOM
- Xuechen Chen (United States) – Founder and Architecture Designer, X.C Studio; Master of Advanced Architectural Design from the University of Pennsylvania
- Yinzhu Yao (United States) – Designer, Gensler; experience at Sou Fujimoto Atelier and Kengo Kuma and Associates
- Jae Leong (Malaysia) – Judging Committee Chairperson, International Awards Associate (IAA)
- Vasil Velchev (Bulgaria) – Media and Product Life Cycle Manager, Europe, Ideal Standard International; approximately 25 international design awards
- Kourosh Salehi (United Arab Emirates) – Global Design Principal, LWK and Partners; over 25 years of international experience in the UK, Asia, and the Middle East
- Wu Wei (China) – Founder and Creative Director, IN.X Design; specialist in Chinese restaurant and hospitality interior design
- Yingfan Zhang (China) – Co-founder and Chief Architect, Atelier Alter Architects; studied under Raimund Abraham, John Hejduk, and Peter Eisenman at Cooper Union; experience at RMJM North America
- Zhou Yi (China) – Founder and Chief Designer, Dayi Design; specialist in local cultural design language and spatial experience
- Xin Wei (China) – Founder and Design Director, DUDC Design Center; previously at Alibaba Group and DiDi Global
- Yolande Wong (China) – CEO, Beijing Zhijian Culture Communication Co.; specialist in design brand management and media communication
- Tao Chen and Jade Lee (China) – Founders, DesignRe-explore; design competition consultancy and awards platform with over 2,000 international award entries facilitated
- Vonj Tingson (Philippines) – President and Chief Campaigns Officer, PAGEONE; public relations professional
Fees
| Entry Type | Early Bird (12 Jun to 16 Jul 2026) | Regular (17 Jul to 21 Aug 2026) | Final (22 Aug to 30 Sep 2026) | Final Extension (1 Oct to 29 Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Administrative Fee (per entrant) | $30 flat fee, applied once per entrant regardless of number of entries | |||
Rewards
| Award Level | Score Range | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Design of the Year | Highest score per discipline | RDA Statuette, press release, Muse.World feature, newsletter feature, social media recognition, winner certificate, badge, and marketing assets |
| Platinum Winner | 85 to 100 points | Muse.World feature, newsletter feature, social media recognition, winner certificate, badge, and marketing assets |
| Gold Winner | 70 to 84 points | Social media recognition, winner certificate, badge, and marketing assets |
| Silver Winner | 50 to 69 points | Winner certificate, badge, marketing assets, and permission to promote winning status |
| Cash Prize | None | No cash prizes at any level |
Dates
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Early Bird Period | 12 June to 16 July 2026 |
| Regular Period | 17 July to 21 August 2026 |
| Final Period | 22 August to 30 September 2026 |
| Final Extension | 1 October to 29 October 2026 |
| Results Announced | 11 December 2026 |
| Contact | info@romedesignawards.com |
✦ ArchUp Competition Review
The Rome Design Awards is organized by International Awards Associate Inc. (IAA), a private company that operates over 20 award programs simultaneously under different geographic and thematic brand names. The award has no institutional affiliation with Rome, Italy, or any Italian design body, and the name functions primarily as a brand positioning choice. This is a relevant contextual fact for participants who may assume the award carries Italian institutional endorsement. The jury panel for 2026 is fully named and contains 36 listed members from diverse countries and backgrounds. However, the composition skews heavily toward branding, packaging, UX, fashion, and marketing professionals, with only a handful of members having direct relevance to architecture and spatial design, the categories of greatest interest to ArchUp readers. The blind scoring system from 1 to 100, with tiered recognition from Silver to Design of the Year, is a structured evaluation model, but the breadth of the jury relative to the specificity of architectural evaluation remains a structural consideration. There are no cash prizes at any level. The entry fee for professionals starts at $209 plus a mandatory $30 administrative fee, placing the cost of a professional first entry at a minimum of $239, which is relatively high for a recognition-only award with no built outcome, jury of direct architectural standing, or media reach comparable to established awards in the field. For students, the starting fee of $60 is more accessible. The award is best understood as a commercial credentialing platform within IAA’s portfolio rather than a professionally peer-reviewed architecture or design competition. You can browse more substantive international competitions on ArchUp for comparison.
Final Thoughts
The Rome Design Awards operates within a well-established but commercially oriented awards ecosystem. IAA runs a large portfolio of award brands that share jury members, infrastructure, and media channels. Several of the 2026 jury members are listed as serving across multiple IAA award programs simultaneously, which is a structural characteristic worth understanding before investing in an entry.
The name “Rome Design Awards” carries an implied association with Italian design culture that is not backed by any institutional relationship with Rome or Italy. The sole Italian connection in the current jury is Florian Seidl of Lavazza and Paolo Cappello of Verona, both credible professionals but neither representing a nationally authoritative Italian design body.
The tiered award structure, from Silver through to Design of the Year, is designed to maximize the number of recognized entries across a wide scoring range. A Silver award at 50 to 69 points represents a relatively low threshold of recognition, which inflates the apparent prestige of participation across the entry pool.
For design studios and individual professionals seeking international award credentials for portfolio and marketing purposes, the Rome Design Awards delivers a standardized package of certificates, badges, and tiered press release templates. For architects and spatial designers seeking peer evaluation by recognized architectural professionals or jury panels with direct expertise in built environment design, the award’s jury composition and organizational model suggest looking at more specialized alternatives.
You can find a wider range of architecture-specific design and architecture competitions on ArchUp, including those with stronger institutional backing and jury expertise in the built environment.
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