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The AIA Akron Design Awards program honors the exceptional commitment of its member architects who continually serve, shape, discover, and imagine contemporary solutions to the evolving needs of our living and working environments. The biannual AIA Akron Design Awards event celebrates design and recognizes the architects who shape our local, regional, and national communities. Design Award submissions are juried by a team of industry thought-leaders that evaluate design achievement, regardless of project category, type, or budget.

All submissions regardless of category or submission type are to be submitted to AIA Akron through this online registration portal. If you wish to enter a Design Awards project into multiple categories, separate submissions must be purchased. The jury reserves the right to move projects between categories. Awards may not be given in each category listed. AIA Akron will be utilizing an outside jury to judge all submissions for potential awards. Each entry will be judged for the success with which it meets the individual project program, intent, and requirements. All entries will be weighed individually for their merits, not in competition with each other. All evaluations will be based solely on the information contained within the submissions. The decisions of the jury will be final.

Submissions must have been completed in the last 6 years (completion since January 2019).

Release Waiver: By submitting an entry, entrants take full responsibility for the accuracy of all information submitted and warrant that all necessary permissions have been obtained from others who may have rights to the work. Entrants further acknowledge that no royalty or compensation is due to anyone, hold AIA Akron, its sponsors, staff, consultants and members harmless from all liability and grant to AIA Akron the non-exclusive right to publish, reproduce and distribute copies of the original entry.

All projects, regardless of submission type or category, will follow the same schedule:

  • June 2, 2025: Submission Portal Opens
  • August 1, 2025: Submissions Due
  • August 15-31, 2025: Jury Review
  • Friday, October 24, 2025: Design Awards Celebration + Winners Announced

Winners will not be notified before the Design Awards Celebration (but do not need to be present to win).

All questions should be directed to AIA Akron's Executive Director, Jillian Tipton through email: jtipton@aiaakron.org.

For more information, please read our Call for Entries packet. 

Design Awards Submissions

The AIA stands for universal respect for human dignity, and the unbiased treatment of all persons in employment, civic, and business transactions regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical abilities, or religious practices. Your submission affirms that you uphold this value in all of your business practices. The Rules of Conduct of the AIA Code of Ethics are mandatory for all AIA members and enforceable by the National Ethics Council. Click here to review the AIA Code of Ethics in its entirety,

Eligibility:

  • The submitting organization must employ a member of AIA Akron (except student work).
  • The primary design must originate from a local AIA Akron member. Joint ventures must credit each firm's or individual's role.
  • Submissions are open to the design architect or architect of record, with no location restrictions.
  • Submissions must have been completed in the last 6 years (completion since January 2019). Projects submitted in any of the built submission categories can only be submitted to the awards three times in a row (a re-submission made subsequent to the previous design awards). All submission fees apply to the second submission. A project submitted a third time will not be given award consideration. If a project has won an AIA Akron Design Award previously, please refrain from resubmitting.

Submission Requirements:

  • Each submission must recognize all firms and individuals involved in the design process.
  • All submissions must have drawings that are clear with scale shown and nothing that identifies the firm in any way.
  • Please view our Call for Entries packet for more in-depth information.

Submission Categories:
Submissions will be reviewed based on the following descriptors (view our Call for Entries packet for more in-depth information):

  • Newly Completed Buildings, Additions + Remodelings
  • Interior Project
  • Landscape Architecture + Planning
  • Unbuilt Project
  • Historic Preservation + Adaptive Reuse
  • Small Project
  • Student Work 

Submission Fees:

  • AIA Akron members: $150.00 per project
  • Students: Free (use coupon code FREESTUDENT at checkout)

Emerging Professional Submissions

In order to encourage leadership, engagement and design excellence, The AIA Akron Board of Directors has established the AIA Akron Emerging Professional Award. Through this award, AIA Akron seeks to recognize those individuals who, in the early stages of their career, have continuously demonstrated an innovative approach to design, have created a unique architectural voice, have shown exceptional leadership or who have made significant contributions to the architecture profession.

Eligibility:

Assigned Associate or Architect members of AIA Akron who graduated from an accredited school of architecture no more than 15 years prior to the current year are eligible.

Submission Requirements:

Evaluative Criteria:
Candidates will be evaluated on his or her contributions to the profession in one or more of the following categories:

  • Advancement of design and/or design discourse.
  • Advancement of the profession, including service to the AIA through local, state, or national components.
  • Advancement of architectural education.
  • Service to community.
  • Service to the profession.
  • Advancement of social justice, equity, diversity, or inclusion.

Submission Fee:

  • Free

Architectural Photography Submissions

Regional architects, allied-discipline professionals, designers, artists, students (university and secondary), and photographers (professionals and enthusiasts) are requested to submit photographic works for award consideration and exhibition. Photographic works submitted should be original photographic interpretations of the designed environment centering on the Akron/Canton region.

Eligibility:

  • Open to all for submission. Entrants must be at least 14 years old or in 9th grade. Those under 18 must provide written parental consent.
  • The photographer must be the creator/originator of the submitted photograph. Professionally commissioned photographs are ineligible.
  • Subject matter must include an architectural work or subject matter associated with built environments located within Northeast Ohio.
  • Please view our Call for Entries packet for more in-depth information.

Submission Requirements:

  • JPG/JPEG files only; any orientation.
  • Image should be approximately 2000 pixels (about 20 inches) on the longest side, 96 ppi resolution. Maximum file size 5MB.
  • No more than 4 image submissions per participant.
  • Please view our Call for Entries packet for more in-depth information.

Submission Fee:

  • Up to four (4) photos for $40.00
  • Students: Free (use coupon code FREESTUDENT at checkout)

Maker Submissions

Architects and allied designers develop and utilize the skills of representation, modeling, and making in their daily practice - tied mostly to the design of buildings and environments. However, many architects and designers also employ these same skills in the creation of art objects, product design, furniture, the design and fabrication of fixtures (such as lighting, casework, door handles, hardware), or the extensive restoration or customization of historic artifacts (such as automobiles).

Eligibility:

  • Open to all for submission.
  • Submissions must have been completed in the last 6 years (completion since January 2019).
  • Photography and digital design work (2D or 3D) are eligible for consideration in this category. Should photographic works be of an architectural subject, then these works would be eligible for the “Architectural Photography” category.
  • Please view our Call for Entries packet for more in-depth information.

Submission Requirements:

  • Submissions must include a project narrative, providing a description of the basic program and design objectives, and a summary of how the project addresses those objectives in 200 words or less.
  • Submissions may have up to 10 slides/images to best represent the overall design. Images should/may include explanatory diagrams,, process drawings/models, images that highlight specific details, and images that present work in its specific context.
  • Please view our Call for Entries packet for more in-depth information.

Submission Fees:

  • $50.00 per project
  • Students: Free (use coupon code FREESTUDENT at checkout)

Experiential Graphics Submissions

Architects and allied designers are increasingly using placemaking, branding, wayfinding, and visual communication in the built environment. This category celebrates excellence in wayfinding graphics, public art, and experiential graphics that enhance our region.

Eligibility:

  • Open to all for submission. Submissions commonly originate from architects and non-member allied design professionals (e.g., Communication Designers, Experiential Graphic Designers, and Artists).
  • Submissions must have been completed in the last 6 years (completion since January 2019).
  • Eligible work includes: Murals, wall graphics, or supergraphics that enhance placemaking and/or wayfinding; Communication design and place branding strategies; Interactive Graphics; and public art that defines a place. Should work be primarily photographic and of an architectural subject, then these works would be eligible for the “Architectural Photography” category. If work is better defined as an affixed wall fabrication or an innovative sculptural or digitally-fabricated wall, then these works would be better suited for the “Makers” category.
  • Please view our Call for Entries packet for more in-depth information.

Submission Requirements:

  • Submissions must include a project narrative, providing a description of the basic program and design objectives, and a summary of how the project addresses those objectives in 200 words or less.
  • Submissions may have up to 10 slides/images to best represent the overall design. Images should/may include explanatory diagrams,, process drawings/models, images that highlight specific details, and images that present work in its specific context.
  • Please view our Call for Entries packet for more in-depth information.

Submission Fees:

  • $50.00 per project
  • Students: Free (use coupon code FREESTUDENT at checkout)

    BEGIN YOUR SUBMISSION HERE    

Completing the Submission Form: If you are a first-time visitor to the site, you will need to register.  If you are returning to the site, you will have to enter your email and password. If you have previously submitted for AIA Ohio Design Awards and checked the box "remember me", you will be directed to the next screen. 

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