Pictured above is a conceptual rendering from the first place team representing Auburn University. The project is titled "Resurgence" and is a conceptual design to address global warming and how it is effecting the Maldives Islands in the Indian Ocean. It was created by Daniel Mejia and Tanmay Shetty.

DENVER (September 20, 2022) – In early 2022, Colorado based arts organization, MOA (Museum of Outdoor Arts), announced its fourth annual national collegiate design competition as part of its award winning Design and Build program. In August, individual and student teams from across the US submitted their conceptual design proposals for architectural sanctuary spaces around the world. Four winning teams have been selected, representing the best entries received in the competition.

MOA sought out conceptual proposals for the competition from art, architecture, design, and other creatively focused USA based undergraduate and graduate students. Submissions addressed this year’s challenge of designing a sanctuary space for public use on one of the seven continents of earth, through a blend of architecture and sculpture/ installation or other creative solutions, while utilizing sustainable and local materials. Students flexed their creative muscles to design their conceptual projects for various places around the world.

Auburn University (Auburn, Alabama)

College of Architecture

Daniel Mejia, 4th year Bachelor of Architecture student

Tanmay Shetty, 4th year Bachelor of Architecture student

University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

School of Architecture

Andrew Runde, 4th year Bachelor of Science in Architecture student

Ensar Smailagic, 4th year Bachelor of Science in Architecture and Bachelor of Applied Science in Construction Management.

University of California Berkeley (Berkeley, California)

College of Environmental Design

Pericles Bien, 4th year Bachelor of Architecture student

Jared Calvo, 4th year Bachelor of Architecture student

Daniel Chiu, 4th year Bachelor of Architecture student

Alexis Kelly-Patino, 4th year Bachelor of Architecture student

Ethan Oh, 4th year Bachelor of Architecture student

Southern California Institute of Architecture (Los Angeles, California)

Department of Arts and Architecture

Firdavs Yuldashev, 3rd year Bachelor of Architecture student

Full proposals and images are available in our media kit.

Competition Brief may be viewed here.

“While the competition is primarily architectural in nature, it provides an opportunity for students to think about integrating art and landscape into architecture,” said Cynthia Madden Leitner, MOA president. “This aligns with the Museum of Outdoor Arts' history of creating environments that are a synthesis of art, architecture, and landscape.”

Since 1991, MOA’s Design and Build program has provided an opportunity for emerging artists, students, and creative minds to express their creativity in collaborative art, architecture, and design projects. Since the inception of the program thousands of students throughout Colorado have collaborated on site-specific installations. Assisted by professional faculty and artists in residence, Design and Build participants have produced exciting and original site-specific art works for MOA’s gallery and public spaces throughout the Denver metro area.

2022 marks the fourth year of the national competition arm to the Design and Build program. The mission of the program is "to motivate invention through collaborative creativity." The goal of the competition is to cultivate potential from emerging artists, architecture, and design students, and other creatives and to allow students the space to conceptualize inventive ideas within a set of boundaries.

The competition garners an online repository of art, architecture, and design concepts. It is the goal of the museum to take the competition to an international audience and collaborate with creatives across the globe beginning in 2023. It is also the hope of MOA to be able to realize and build student design prototypes in the near future. The competition is currently only open to students attending college in the US, and will begin accepting international entries beginning in 2023.

A call for the next competition challenge will go out this winter. The next competition will be open to individuals, teams, and university faculty who wish to take the competition on as a class project. More information may be found on the Design and Build Competition website.