The Unbuilt Washington Awards bridge the academic and professional
communities by providing a forum for recognizing the contributions
of both younger and established practitioners alike.
Since 2009, AIA|DC has conducted an annual competition that recognizes excellence in both theoretical and unbuilt commissioned projects. Open to registered architects, associate architects, landscape architects, planners, interior designers, and students from the Washington metropolitan region, the competition typically yields unique, innovative, and thought-provoking concepts from around the globe.
The difference between theoretical and unbuilt commissioned projects is simple: theoretical projects refer to exploratory work without a client such as design competitions, hypothetical or research-oriented assignments, and student work; unbuilt commissioned projects refer to unexecuted work or work that is not yet constructed in project types such as buildings, interiors, monuments and memorials, planning, public art, public space, transportation infrastructure, and urban design.