Welcome to the Young Architects Studio Competition 2025! Now in its 15th year, the goal of this competition is to engage young architects, emerging design professionals, and students to find new and innovative ways to approach a regional design challenge.
“Bridging Now and Next: Designing a Resilient Urban Anchor for Pittsburgh’s North Shore & Downtown”
Pittsburgh’s North Shore and Downtown are dynamic, culturally rich districts shaped by their industrial heritage, sports culture, and riverside landscapes. These areas host major events, from Steelers and Pirates games to festivals and public gatherings, yet must also serve the day-to-day needs of a diverse, growing urban population.
Considering the goals of the Pittsburgh 2050 Comprehensive Plan emphasizing equity, resilience, livability, and economic opportunity, this competition challenges architects and designers to propose an architectural intervention that bridges short-term event-based use with long-term community relevance.
The Challenge:
How can one architectural intervention serve both the immediate, high-volume demands of large-scale events (e.g. 2026 NFL draft, sporting games, concerts, festivals) and the long-term, inclusive needs of Pittsburgh’s residents, workers, and visitors?
Designers are asked to envision a multi-use, adaptable structure or system located within the North Shore or Downtown Pittsburgh, ideally improving harmony between the two areas while enhancing environmental resilience and social connectivity.
Designs should consider how cities can accommodate population surges without harming existing communities, facilitate navigation during big events without disrupting the daily lives of residents, showcase the cultural identity of the city to visitors, and prioritize accessibility, sustainability, and resilience.
The Site:
Designers are encouraged to select or propose a site within a corridor that connects the North Shore (e.g., near the stadiums or riverfront trails) to Downtown (e.g., near the David L. Lawrence Convention Center or Point State Park), considering multimodal transit connections, riverfront access, and viewsheds.
Short-Term Impact (Event Functionality):
Long-Term Value (Community Relevance):
Resilient Design:
Alignment with Pittsburgh 2050:
1. Pittsburgh 2050 Comprehensive Plan
3. Game Changers: How Athletics Are Shaping New Urban Typologies
4. AIA Framework for Design Excellence
5. AIA Guides for Equitable Practice
Enter the competition as an individual or create a design team!
Entrants are welcome to submit individual entries or design team entries. Individual entries must come from either an architecture graduate, or undergraduate/graduate student.
Architecture Graduates:
Individual architecture graduates, who have been out of school for no more than ten years, are eligible to enter this competition. Entrants may or may not be licensed to practice architecture. AIA membership is not required, however, entrants must be located within AIA Pittsburgh’s 11-county chapter area.
Architecture Students:
Individual architecture undergraduate or graduate students, who are currently enrolled in an architecture program, are eligible to enter this competition. AIAS membership is not required, however, entrants must be currently studying in or have a home address within AIA Pittsburgh’s 11-county chapter area.
Design Teams:
The teams must be led by an architecture graduate and/or student. Teams can include graduates, who have been out of school for no more than ten years, or undergraduates/graduate students in a design industry related field which can include, but is not limited to, engineers, landscape architects, or artists. All team members must be located within AIA Pittsburgh’s 11-county chapter area.
The entry fee for each project is $35, which includes one ticket to the Design Pittsburgh 2025 ceremony. If submitting a group project, tickets for additional group members can be added for $20 per person.
All judging will be completely anonymous.
Judges will consider the following:
The YASC entries will be judged by measuring the architect’s performance against each project’s potential and not in competition with each other. Thus, each project will be assessed based on the designer’s skill in optimizing their unique design opportunity.
The winner (or winning team) will receive a check for $300
All project entries will be submitted via DropBox.
Note: If you do not have a DropBox account, you will be prompted to create one when you receive the invitation.
Deadlines
Monday, October 13th, 2025- 4:00PM: Submission Request Forms must be submitted to the AIA Pittsburgh office by 4PM. Please submit by email to info@aiapgh.org with subject “2025 YASC Submission Request”
Sunday, October 19th, 2025, 11:59PM: Project submissions must be received by AIA Pittsburgh via DropBox by midnight to be eligible for judging.The winner will be announced at the Pittsburgh Design Awards (November 6th, 2025).
For each project entry, please include the following items in your electronic submission folder via DropBox.com:
Design Submission: For Jury Use. There should be no reference to the author’s identity in any of the Design Submission files.
Publication & Print Images: Images used for print, web, and exhibit publication should be the best representation of the designer’s solution to the design challenge. These may be shared with media outlets, shown in an AIA digital gallery, or shown in AIA social media channels.
AIA Pittsburgh assumes no liability for original drawings and other submission materials or loss or damage to any part of the submission. AIA Pittsburgh retains the right to reproduce any of the submission materials in its publications, educational programs, and web site, and guarantees that credit will be given to the designer. Please check all information for correct spelling and accuracy since it will be used for publication. By making a submission, the entrant agrees that the information contained in this form is correct and complete, and that the entrant will hold harmless AIA Pittsburgh for any and all damage arising out of the use of the information contained herein. Any errors or omissions are the complete responsibility of the entrant. The entrant further certifies that permission has been obtained from the owner, developer, and photographer of the project to publish photographs, drawings, and other information included in the submission (and releases and authorizes AIA Pittsburgh to use all such materials).