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Submission Details

Entry Criteria

Submissions to the Ontario Association of Architects’ (OAA’s) SHIFT2025 Reshaping Communities Challenge should use text, images, and video to clearly identify and address how architectural thinking can advance insight and innovation with respect to reshaping communities at large. Open to teams led by those holding status with the OAA, the call for submissions is now open! The deadline for submissions is January 17, 2025.

The idea should be:

  • relevant;
  • socially innovative;
  • inspirational;
  • promote social change; and
  • empower public well-being.

Submissions will be evaluated for their ability to:

  • capture the public imagination;
  • express innovation and creativity;
  • demonstrate thoughtfulness and inclusiveness;
  • inspire new ways of thinking;
  • address the challenge in a substantial way; and
  • illustrate their capacity to bring the project’s guiding principles to life.

Eligibility

Submissions must be made by a team leader who has status with the Association. This includes:

  • architects;
  • retired architects;
  • intern architects; and
  • student associates.

While submissions by teams of individuals from diverse professional backgrounds are encouraged, the team lead ( i.e. spokesperson) must be an OAA member or hold official status with the Association.

Teams must be headed by an individual of any status with the OAA as leader and spokesperson for the team. Team members may include diverse individuals from the design community and beyond ( e.g. community activists, politicians, subject matter experts, or group or institutional representatives).

The SHIFT Reshaping Communities Challenge is not open to current members of the OAA Council or the Communications Committee.

Submission Requirements

Illustrate the Reshaping Communities concept and application of architectural thinking with text (maximum 5,000 words) and images (maximum of 14 visuals, drawings, and/or photos), as required. Submissions may choose the elements best-suited to present their ideas. Physical models, prototypes, or installations must be photographed.

Innovation

Does the project defy convention and push thinking forward in a creative and original fashion?

Social Responsibility

Does the project promote values of social responsibility, human rights, and sustainability (including Climate Action)?

Inspiration

Does the project spark new ideas and capture the public imagination, taking into consideration the quality of its visual materials and public-facing communication?

Inclusivity

Does the project promote a spirit of inclusiveness, situating members of the architecture profession as master collaborators?

Holistic Approach

Does the project represent a programmatic solution that goes beyond the built form, taking into consideration economic, sociological, and ecological factors as well?

A video (maximum length of three minutes) must be uploaded for all submissions. This is your opportunity to concisely explain directly to the jury the Reshaping Communities concept your submission has identified and how your proposal addresses the issue. Your “elevator pitch” to the jury, this video should provide an overview of the submission, the content, and the thesis of your concept.

Please note: the video will not be evaluated for its production quality, but is an introduction of the idea directly to the jury members. This is not final video content for public viewing.

The online submission site is now open for entries! Click here to submit.

Jury and Judging Criteria

The jury includes a mix of professionals who deeply understand the profession of architecture, the wider design, planning and place-making issues and the impact of the built environment on people. relevant issues, and media and communications.

To learn more about the 2025 jurors and jury facilitator, click here.