Starchitect's Chair
Design Competition 2022
Registrations are now closed. Stay tuned for results.
Premise
Architecture is about designing experiences. Starchitects go to great lengths to curate an amazing experience for their users. This obviously includes the walls, roof and floors, but often also extends to designing other details like paintings, lights and furniture. A detail that many starchitects find important is the chair.
As long as architects have been designing buildings, they’ve also been designing the chairs that feature within them. Starchitects like Frank Gehry, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Zaha Hadid and Eero Saarinen, have all designed iconic chairs. In order to have complete control over how users experience their buildings, they have masterfully crafted chairs that complement their design language.
Frank Lloyd Wright once said, “… it is quite impossible to consider the building as one thing, its furnishings another…”. While architecture sets the scene and provides the framework, a chair can have a strong influence on a room’s character. The Barcelona Pavilion is incomplete without the Barcelona Chair and so is the Villa Savoye without the LC4 Chaise Lounge.
The Starchitect’s Chair design competition is looking for the next iconic chair.
Design Synopsis
Through training and experience, architects acquire a wide range of skills that enable them to design at any scale – from urban to product design. Designing a chair requires a deep understanding of the scale and dimensions of the human body.
Imagine yourself as the next starchitect. Your buildings would need an iconic chair to accompany them. The chair needs to be more than a place to sit on. It needs to be a work of art!
Design a chair that immerses the user in your design philosophy. The chair needs to take into consideration multiple aspects – aesthetics, materials, fabrication, and – most importantly – comfort. You can design any kind of chair – office chair, lounge chair, outdoor chair or something unique!
Can you design the next iconic chair?
Submission
Participants are required to submit one Presentation Board (Landscape A1) in the form of one JPG/JPEG file for the ‘Starchitect’s Chair’ design competition.
We encourage the participants to represent their designs with impactful graphics and minimal text where necessary. Please make sure to size all text and graphics according to the sheet size.
We want your design to grab eyeballs! So pick what you want to show on your presentation board wisely. Choose quality over quantity. And remember, “Less is more.”
Email your submissions to: [email protected]
- File Naming: ‘Chair-Registration ID.jpg’ (ex. if your Registration ID is 1234, the file name should be Chair-1234.jpg). You will receive your Registration ID after completing the registration.
- Size Limit: 5 MB
Awards
3
Winners
10
Honorable
Mentions
30
Shortlisted
Entries
Exposure and recognition is the key to success for any designer. The Starchitect’s Chair design competition provides professionals and students, the opportunity to showcase their work on a global stage. The best entries shall be featured on theCharette.org, and on our social media platforms. The results will also be published by various websites and online magazines associated with us.
Trophies
Custom Designed Trophies will be awarded & shipped to the Top 3 Winners.
Certificates
Sharable and verifiable certificates of achievement will be awarded to the Winners, Honorable Mentions & Top 30.
Exclusive Interview
The Top 3 Winners will get an exclusive interview in both – written and video formats. Photos, interviews, and more information about the winners will be published on our website.
Publications
The winning entries shall be published on Charette’s website & social media platforms and other international architecture websites partnered with us.
Guidelines
- “Starchitect’s Chair” is open to all creative people – architects, interior designers, furniture designers, and all problem solvers! Participation is encouraged from professionals and students alike.
- Teams can have up to 4 members from similar or interdisciplinary backgrounds.
- Submissions should be emailed as a file attachment and not as a link.
- You need not write the Registration ID on the presentation board.
- The submission shouldn’t contain any information which discloses your identity.
- Participants who plagiarize or submit work that is not entirely their own will be disqualified at any point during or after the competition.
- All text must be in English.
Key Dates
Closing date for registration
30 Jul 2022
Closing date for submission
31 Jul 2022
Announcement of the winners
31 Aug 2022
All deadlines are 11:59 PM UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).
Registration
$45 Early Entry
1 May – 31 May 2022
$55 Standard Entry
1 Jun – 30 Jun 2022
$65 Last-Min Entry
1 Jul – 30 Jul 2022
After completing the checkout, you will automatically receive a confirmation e-mail. In the e-mail, you will also find your Registration ID. Please note, your Registration ID is your order number. If you can’t find the e-mail in your inbox, please check your spam folder. Even after the registration, you are welcome to add, remove, or swap team members as long as their total number does not exceed four. For any queries, feel free to contact us at [email protected].
Payments are handled by PayPal and Stripe’s Secure Payment Gateways. You can pay through a Credit Card / Debit Card or your PayPal balance. We accept all major currencies.
All deadlines are 11:59 PM UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).
FAQ
Your Registration ID is the order number that appears after completing the registration process. It can also be found in the confirmation e-mail that you’ll receive upon successful registration. The confirmation is only sent to the email provided during the checkout.
Submissions will be judged digitally on a computer screen. The jury is going to consider the following criteria – innovation, practicality, aesthetics, impact and presentation.
Unfortunately due to the high volume of entries, theCharette cannot offer individual comments to its entrants.
Yes, to update your entry, you can re-submit before the deadline.
This contest is open to all.
No refunds shall be issued once the registration is completed.
You’ll receive a confirmation email acknowledging receipt of your entry. If you do not receive an email confirmation within 24hrs, please email [email protected].
Don't see the answer to your question?
E-mail us at [email protected].