NASA and the National Additive Manufacturing Institute (America Makes) have launched the 3D Printed Habitat Challenge, an inaugural design competition offering $2.25 million in prizes. Part of NASA's Centennial Challenges program, the competition challenges entrants to design and build a 3D printed habitat for deep space exploration. "The future possibilities for 3D printing are inspiring, and the technology is extremely important to deep space exploration," said Sam Ortega, Centennial Challenges program manager. "This challenge definitely raises the bar from what we are currently capable of, and we are excited to see what the maker community does with it."

Six teams have been shortlisted for a chance to design the new Canadian Canoe Museum, as part of its relocation to the Parks Canada Peterborough Lift Lock National Historic Site on the Trent-Severn Waterway in southern Ontario. Selected from 90 international submissions, the competing teams are now expected to refine their ideas before presenting them to the public. A winner will be announced in the Fall.

A team from Bristol-based firm PLACE By Design has been selected as the winner of Building Trust International’s Cool School Design Competition, beating out 475 other entrants. Located in Khovd, Mongolia, the project presents an innovative educational space that integrates existing facilities and is capable of withstanding the region’s extreme weather patterns.

The US World War I Centennial Commission has launched a design competition for the National World War I Memorial in Washington DC. The competition will be a two-stage design competition, and is open internationally to any professionals, university-level students, and all other interested participants. "The objective is to transform Pershing Park from a park that happens to contain a memorial to a site that is primarily a national World War I memorial, within a revitalized urban park setting with a distinct sense of place that complements the memorial purpose while attracting visitors, workers, and residents of the District of Columbia," says the Commission.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Houzz have announced the winners of their Future of Architecture Residential Design Contest and Showcase. Receiving entries from students and emerging architects around the world, the competition highlights prominent approaches to residential architecture in an effort to both recognize the work of young professionals and inform viewers about the worth of “good design.”

IS ARCH has unveiled the winners of the fifth edition of its ISARCH Awards for architecture students. From a vast pool of submissions, three were selected by the combined evaluations of a jury and public opinion. The international competition promotes the efforts of young designers and encourages dialogue among students and emerging architects by showcasing work undertaken through university curricula. The winners will receive prizes ranging in value from €1,000 to €3,000.

Five finalists have emerged in the Atlanta Bridgescape Competition. The urban design challenge, which was launched earlier this year, sought creative ideas to enhance two existing freeway overpasses in the city's Midtown and Downtown districts. Now in the competition's final phase, the finalists have refined their ideas, taking in consideration a budget of up to $3 million for each project. The proposals are now undergoing public review and you are invited to vote for your favorite design as part of the People’s Choice Award. Read on to review each proposal and find out how to vote.

Blank Space has launched "Dear Architecture" - an open competition that explores one of the most important communication tools of all time ­ the simple letter. Designers and architects worldwide are invited to address architecture, as a concept, as a social practice, and as a community, in no more than 500 words, and with an illustration as an auxiliary tool to convey the message.

Berrel Berrel Kräutler has won the World Health Organization's (WHO) two-stage international design competition to expand its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Employing a restrained approach, their design for a cubic office building will replace numerous temporary structures and unify the complex’s permanent infrastructure.

The Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation (PCCF) is sponsoring a two-stage, national design competition to select an artistically exceptional design concept for a permanent commemorative work in the heart of Washington DC. This competition will provide designers from all across the United States an opportunity to create a compelling work of public art that will be bold and inspirational. The design should focus on and express American ideals and values that are the essence of the Peace Corps and Peace Corps service. It should be about America and our aspirations as a people, and about the Peace Corps as a manifestation of those aspirations. Submissions are due June 12, 2015. More information can be found here.

The 2015 Architecture at Zero Competition has launched, challenging students and designers to develop 'family-style residential units' for the Mission Bay Campus of the University of California San Francisco. Now in its fifth year, the competition calls for designs that produce "at least as much energy as [they] use over a year," excluding the embodied energy of building materials and transportation of people and materials to and from the site. Entrants must be able to demonstrate that their designs can be reasonably expected to meet a zero net energy goal over a prolonged period of time. The competition is open to student and professional individuals and teams, with up to $25,000 in prize money to be won. Interested parties have until August 28 to register and submissions are due September 25 at 1PM PST. Read more about the competition at Architecture at Zero's website and check out the winners from last year here.

The Think Space program serves as a platform for spatial experimentation and conceptual thinking. In 2015, THINK SPACE is conducting an international, public, anonymous, single stage, conceptual architectural – urbanistic idea design Competition under the topic THINK public SPACE. The focus of this Special Edition of Think Space will be directed on urban public space. Within the project Zagreb for Me, the Think Space Competition will strive to seek out solutions for present-day public spaces on conceptual and theoretical levels with the potential of realization of the selected competition projects in the public spaces of Zagreb, Croatia. Read on to learn more.

The Kaliningrad Region Government, in collaboration with the Kaliningrad City Administration and the Non-Profit Partnership ”Urban Planning Bureau 'Heart of the City'” has launched an open international design competition for an architectural design of the Governmental historic and cultural complex on the grounds of the former order castle Königsberg in Kaliningrad (“Post-castle,” 4,5 ha). The competition aims to find a contemporary architectural image of Kaliningrad's historic center, while accommodate for new functions, such as a concert hall, museum of archaeology, and history museum of the King's castle.

In order to effectively guide and improve the development and construction of the low-carbon pilot zone and to strength its international influence, Shenzhen Public Art Center, under the request from the Planning and Construction Management Office of Shenzhen International Low-carbon City and Shenzhen SEZ Construction and Development Co., Ltd., has organized an international competition for the PINGDI Pilot Zone – the urban design for the zone’s one square kilometer and the architectural design for its 0.1 square kilometer. The number in PINGDI 1.1 is the numerical sum of one and 0.1 square kilometers, and also represents the improvement and exploration of the low-carbon development method.

In conjunction with the release of the results of their "Design Competition Survey", the Van Alen Institute have put forward 10 propositions for the improvement of design competitions. Accompanied by a series of vibrant graphics, the propositions can be read after the break.

The Singapore Building and Construction Authority (BCA), together with Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA) and Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) are jointly organizing the International Tropical Architecture Design Competition 2015 for Institutes of Higher Learning (ITAD Competition) for the fifth run this year. Themed “Urban Smart Green Office,” this year’s competition seeks for innovative and sustainable design entries that demonstrates the essentials and key constituents of a Smart Green Office Building in an urban city of participant's choice. The competition is open to tertiary students worldwide. Read on to learn more.

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180 Creative Camp is back! The 5th edition of the event will take place from July 5-12 in the Portuguese city of Abrantes. One of the leading creative gatherings worldwide, 180 Creative Camp unites some of the world's most inspiring creators from different areas of artistic expression for a week of creative intersections. Developed by Canal180, the camp combines video, music, photography, design, architecture and urban art. For a second consecutive year, and in partnership with the Municipality of Abrantes, 180 Creative Camp is seeking proposals for an Urban Intervention Project to be displayed in Abrantes' historic center, as well as 15 “Stores Art Attack" project interventions. Proposals need to be submitted by May 31. Learn more after the break.

Safdie Architects’ 2015 Research Fellowship will center on the theme of “dense urbanism,” and the ways in which the field of architecture can rethink its approach to vital issues such as materiality, construction, environmental conditions, and the demographic realities of rapidly growing populations. This year, Moshe Safdie and his team invite exceptional individuals to attack the challenges of the contemporary urban landscape head-on by proposing new tools and solutions to create a better functioning and humane city. Accepted candidates will spend one year in residence at Safdie Architects’ Boston office, during which they will receive support from the practice and have access to the firm’s resources and consultants.