Organizer Information
The Fondation Jacques Rougerie – Académie des beaux-arts is based at the Institut de France, 23 quai Conti, Paris. It was founded by Jacques Rougerie, a French visionary architect and member of the Académie des beaux-arts specializing in marine and coastal habitats, whose work spans biomimetic and bio-inspired prospective architecture. The Foundation is organized in partnership with UNESCO and operates under the "Génération Espace Mer" banner, supporting new generations of architects, designers, and creators who address climate, ocean, and space challenges. Since its creation, the Foundation's international competition has drawn more than 12,000 candidates from 150 nationalities across five continents, generating some 5,000 press mentions worldwide. Beyond the competition, the Foundation runs an Ambassadors network, a Junior Ambassadors program for young people, a scientific council, and an international open database of ocean- and space-related architectural projects.
Title & Description
International Architecture and Innovation Competition 2026 (16th edition)
Organized annually by the Fondation Jacques Rougerie – Académie des beaux-arts in partnership with UNESCO, this competition invites architects, designers, engineers, urban planners, inventors, artists, and creators from all disciplines, working individually or in multidisciplinary teams, to propose bold, disruptive architectural projects addressing three themes: submersible lands (rising sea levels), the sea, and space. Projects must be biomimetic and multidisciplinary, grounded in emerging progress and either a prospective or concrete vision, and must respond to major contemporary challenges of environmental, industrial, and technical responsibility, sustainable development, and the integration of the sea, space, and rising waters into the development of society.
Theme
Three thematic tracks, each split into two categories (Prospective Project and Lab Project): "Terres Submersibles" (Submersible Lands) — inventing habitats and infrastructure that learn to live with water; "Mer" (Sea) — designing habitats and infrastructure to live in symbiosis with the sea; and "Espace" (Space) — imagining habitats and infrastructure capable of sustaining life and organizing resources.
Categories
- Architecture
- Design
- Industrial Design
- Interior Design
- Environment
- Technology
- Research
- New Media
- Multiple Disciplines
- Interdisciplinary Arts
Eligibility
- Open internationally to students, professionals, researchers, creators, designers, artists, engineers, urban planners, and inventors of all disciplines, worldwide
- No restriction on age, gender, nationality, or religion
- Participation is free of charge
- Entry is open to individuals or teams; teams must designate a project leader ("Leader")
- Each participant may enter only once and with only one project in the 2026 edition; multiple entries result in automatic disqualification of the individual or the whole team
- Not eligible: people who took part in organizing or running the competition, experts, jury members and their family members, staff of the Rougerie+Tangram agency, members of the Institut de France and its correspondents, and staff of the Académie des beaux-arts
Program Benefits & Awards
- Total prize pool of €42,000 across six Grand Prizes
- Grand Prix Submersible Lands – Prospective: €7,000
- Grand Prix Submersible Lands – Lab: €7,000
- Grand Prix Sea – Prospective: €7,000
- Grand Prix Sea – Lab: €7,000
- Grand Prix Space – Prospective: €7,000
- Grand Prix Space – Lab: €7,000
- Winners receive ongoing support from the Foundation to further develop their project and may call on the Foundation's network of experts
- Possible inclusion of the project in the Foundation's free, publicly visible international project database
Application Fee
None
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 24 September 2026
- Jury deliberation: October 2026
- Individual notification of winners: end of October 2026
- Award ceremony: end of November 2026, in Paris
Location
Paris, France
Additional Details
- Selection happens in two stages: a technical pre-jury shortlists finalists in each of the three themes, then an international jury of architecture, space, sea, and coastal experts selects the winners
- Jury decisions are made by a two-thirds majority; the jury president's vote counts double if needed; the jury may choose not to award all or part of the prizes if it judges no project merits them
- Winners are notified by phone, letter, or email
- Evaluation criteria (not ranked in priority order): vision and intent; relationship to environment and living systems; human, social, and cultural dimension; innovation and cross-disciplinarity; feasibility and credibility; sustainability, resilience, and sobriety; architectural and spatial quality; quality of representation; and fit with the competition's theme and spirit
- Any form of plagiarism results in automatic disqualification and may lead to legal action under French intellectual property law
- Winners authorize the Foundation to communicate about the award and use photos/videos from the ceremony for promotional purposes, without additional compensation
- The Foundation may select projects for inclusion in its free international project database
- Disputes are governed by French law and fall under the jurisdiction of the Paris administrative court
- The Foundation reserves the right to extend, postpone, or cancel the competition at any time