This year, World Architecture Day will fall on 7 October. The day is traditionally celebrated globally on the first Monday in October to coincide with the United Nations’ World Habitat Day.

The day’s theme for 2019, as selected by the International Union of Architects (UIA), is “Architecture… housing for all”. It will focus on how architects can contribute to the realisation of affordable housing for all; the implementation of the New Urban Agenda (endorsed by the UN General Assembly in 2016); and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically Goal 11, “to make cities and human settlements safe, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable”.

The UIA, being the only global organisation representing the world’s 3.2 million architects, is again running a poster-design competition for World Architecture Day. The winner of the global competition will become the unifying visual identity for the programs and activities organised around the world on 7 October 2019.

The competition is open to anyone (individuals or teams, architects or non-architects), and the winning submission will be awarded a prize of 1,000 EUR (to be split between team members in the case of non-individual submissions).

In 2018, third prize went to Davide Folador (Italy) for project ‘No. 527’ (left). An honourable mention went to a designer from Hong Kong who registered under the name Reena L. (right)

The submission deadline is Friday 21 June 2019 (at 18:00 Paris time), but questions about the brief must be received by 31 May. The results will be announced on 31 July.

The 2019 jury consists of Dana Whabira (a Zimbabwean artist, architect and cultural facilitator), Chris Ware (an American cartoonist and contributor to The New Yorker) and Sonya Dyakova (a Russian artistic director and graphic designer based in London).

Designs must be submitted by email in A3 format and include the UIA logo and the words “Architecture… housing for all”. A statement of maximum 100 words must also be provided, to explain the entrant’s interpretation of World Architecture Day.

For the full brief, contact uia@uia-architectes.org with the subject line “Poster Competition” prior to Friday, 31 May 2019.