Over the years, our staff has looked at countless entries for the Unbuilt, Washingtonian and Chapter Awards competitions. We offer the following observations on what makes a winning submission.
The Ten Measures of Design Excellence
This year, AIA|DC is launching a brand new initiative to make our Chapter Design Awards more relevant for solving the problems our city and planet are facing. Our board resolved to ask each of our submitters to address ten measures for design excellence.
When you submit your projects, you’ll want to tell the story of how your design solves problems to serve our communities and build a better world. The measures cover issues like sustainability, equity, ecology, wellness, and energy.
We ask you a question about each measure on our submission site, and you’ll have space to write a few sentences about how your project addresses them. Do not feel like you have to address every measure—just answer the questions that are relevant to your work!
1. Design for Integration: What is the big idea behind this project and how did sustainability inform the design concept?
2. Design for Equitable Communities: How does this project contribute to creating a walkable, human-scaled community inside and outside the property lines?
3. Design for Ecology: In what ways does the design respond to the ecology of its place?
4. Design for Water: How does the project relate to the regional watershed?
5. Design for Economy: How does the project efficiently meet the program and design challenges and provide “more with less”?
6. Design for Energy: Is the project energy-efficient and sustainable while improving building performance, function, comfort, and enjoyment?
7. Design for Wellness: How does the design promote the health of the occupants?
8. Design for Resources: How did the design team optimize the amount and makeup of material used on the project?
9. Design for Change: Is the building resilient, and able to easily accommodate other uses in 50-100 years?
10. Design for Discovery: What lessons for better design have been learned through the process of project design, construction, and occupancy, and how have these been incorporated in subsequent projects?
21st Century Viewing
First, remember that the jury is viewing your submission on a screen. Format your project with this in mind. Look at and read your submission on your computer screen, and consider taking the time to project it onto a larger surface. Are you doing a lot of scrolling? If so, then simplify!
Ten-Second Rule
Consider that the Architecture category in last year’s Chapter Awards had more than 100 submissions. A jury has little time to devote to each entry—probably more than ten seconds, but not a lot more. It’s critical that your entry be clear and well laid-out so that the jury will not disregard it immediately, and will instead flag it to review again in the next round.
Tell a Story
Think about the best way to introduce your design rather than just throwing the pictures together into a pdf. You may want to start your submission with an interesting detail shot, so that the jurors will want to see the rest of the project. If your project is a renovation, do include a “before” photo—and if that “before” shot is really scary, consider leading with that. Make the jury want to see more. Put the pictures in an order that works to your advantage. It can get very old very quickly to see entry after entry with an “information dump” and little organization.
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words…and then some
Good photography is critical to a winning entry. The Chapter has many fine photographers among its members. Larger images are better than small, and more is not always better. Carefully select images that best represent your project, rather than bombarding the jury with every photograph or image you have.
Further, don’t include a lot of drawings just because you are proud of them—make sure they tell the story. A site plan, floor plans and a location map are all you really need. Then supplement these only if a drawing helps convey why your design is extraordinary. We have seen juries discard a project after one poorly chosen image changed their minds about the project.
Your Project Description: Make it Count—Less is More
Although the jury will probably concentrate on images, a clear, concise description of your project can be very compelling. Think carefully about what you want to say and stay lean. Avoid using “Archi-speak”—even another architect doesn’t want to read “the volumetric proportion of this place gives it a transformative quality….”
The 100-word project description is printed for the jury so it is vital that you make it count. Don’t put a lot of text in your uploaded images—remember that it is difficult to read small text on a projection screen.
Follow the Directions!
Before you hit Submit, get out the Call for Entries again and make sure you have addressed each requirement. Make sure you have answered all required questions and omitted restricted information such as firm names and logos. The staff will attempt to contact you if there is a problem with your submission and disqualify if it isn’t changed. You will also be assessed an administrative fee, so be careful—don’t let this happen to you!
Use our Resources
The Chapter’s website includes winning submissions from the past year. It’s always informative to see how other winners have designed their submissions. In addition, our staff can provide some useful advice and help.
Caveat Emptor
These observations are based on past juries, and every jury is different.
Example of a successful submission
Download (pdf)
Questions? Contact Katie Spencer