ArchDaily Student Project Awards 2027: City-Themed Submissions Open

ArchDaily opened submissions for the 2027 edition of the Student Project Awards on 2 November 2026. The second edition of the awards, organized with Dropcity, an architecture and design center in Milan, centers on the theme “Making the City.” The call is open to all students subscribed to ArchDaily Campus; projects must be submitted by 31 January 2027 at 23:59 CET.

From urban challenges to design proposals

The awards call invites students to observe their own urban environments and identify an issue that can be addressed through design. The resulting proposal should turn a broad question about the city into an architectural idea rooted in a specific place. The proposal can be small in scale; what matters is that the idea can be made concrete and tested.

The announcement lists infrastructure, ecology, mobility, resource use, and the experience of shared spaces among possible areas of focus. A design approach could be a permanent intervention or a portable solution; a one-off example or a replicable system. This range indicates that the call focuses less on a specific building type and more on the quality of the response to an urban need.

How should the design process be presented?

The submission should make both the proposal’s spatial qualities and the thinking behind it clear. Alongside drawings and visual communication tools such as plans, sections, and sketches, ArchDaily asks for text explaining the project’s story and design intent. The presentation should show how the idea relates to the “Making the City” theme.

Rather than building the submission around final images alone, it may be useful to create a narrative showing how the design decisions respond to an urban need. Plans and sections can convey the spatial arrangement, while the written explanation can clarify the project’s starting point and goals. For submissions and the latest information, consult the awards’ official website.

Selected projects to be prototyped at Dropcity

Each of the three winning projects will be partially realized at Dropcity. One representative from each winning team will travel to Milan to prepare a prototype; the resulting work will be exhibited publicly during Milan Design Week. Dropcity includes production workshops, prototyping labs, and exhibition spaces.

This stage means the selected projects will have a physical outcome rather than remaining presentation-only concepts. However, the announcement does not provide details about the scope of prototype production, travel expenses, or technical requirements for implementation. Teams considering an application should check the official channel for updates on these points.

Implications for architecture, interior design, and archviz workflows

Students can approach the call by identifying an urban-scale issue in their studio projects and turning it into a testable spatial proposal. For architecture and interior design teams, it is especially important that the drawings and text support the same design idea. In archviz, it is also worth keeping in mind that renders do not replace plans, sections, and sketches that explain the project’s context and function.

Before applying, check the ArchDaily Campus subscription requirement and submission deadline. Since the winning projects are expected to go through a prototyping phase, it may also be useful to show in the submission narrative how the proposal could become a physical experiment. This is a preparation approach that fits the call’s focus on prototyping and public presentation.