UIA-HYP CUP 2026 International Student Competition in Architectural Design

The UIA-HYP CUP International Student Competition in Architectural Design has officially launched its 2026 edition. Now in its 15th consecutive year, it is the only UIA-endorsed international student architecture competition held annually in mainland China, attracting thousands of participants from universities across the globe. Participation is free of charge for international entrants and open to architecture students worldwide. The 2026 competition is chaired by internationally renowned Australian architect Philip Cox, who has also authored this year’s competition brief.

Theme & Topic

While the overarching theme remains “Architecture in Transformation”, the 2026 topic proposed by the Jury Chairman is: Villagers: Urban, Suburban, Rural. As rural drift turns cities into megalopolises and erodes the sense of place, the competition asks students to rethink the idea of the village — a community sharing common values, schools, markets, and cultural life, whose architecture expresses its people in a vernacular way. Entrants choose one of three ways of living — urban (e.g. redesigning a disused industrial area), suburban (cohesion over sprawl), or rural (sustainability and landscape integration) — and demonstrate how relevant, self-sufficient, low-carbon communities can be created, integrating passive energy technologies into the architecture itself.

Awards

• 1st Prize (1 team): Certificate and 80,000 RMB (around 11,000 USD, before tax)
• 2nd Prize (5 teams): Certificate and 15,000 RMB (around 2,050 USD, before tax)
• 3rd Prize (12 teams): Certificate and 8,000 RMB (around 1,100 USD, before tax)
• Honorable Mentions (several teams): Certificate

Advisors of prize-winning projects are also awarded certificates. All prizes are paid in RMB; USD equivalents are approximate.

Eligibility

Open to all architecture and relevant-major students worldwide. Full-time on-campus students from accredited institutions — including master and PhD candidates and 2026 graduates — may participate alone or in a team of up to four members, with up to two faculty advisors. Only the team leader is contacted when necessary. Overseas universities and the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions belong to the international group (no registration fee); mainland-China universities form the domestic group (200 RMB per team).

Submission Requirements

• Three A1 boards (no format limit) — plans, sections, elevations and renderings as needed.
• One video no longer than 2:00 minutes, subtitled in English, with no personally identifiable information.
• Axonometric drawings, plans, sections and renderings are expected; cited data on the existing context is strongly encouraged.
• Any AI-generated drawings or video must be clearly labelled.
• Output as three JPG drawings + one MP4 video, packaged in a single ZIP and emailed to [email protected].

Key Dates (GMT+8)

• Registration Deadline: 24:00, September 20, 2026
• Q&A Deadline: 24:00, September 30, 2026
• Submission Deadline: 24:00, October 10, 2026
• Jury Review: November 2026

Organizers

Endorsement: Union Internationale des Architectes (UIA). Hosting Organizations: School of Architecture, Tianjin University; School of Architecture, Inner Mongolia University of Technology; Urban Environment Design (UED) Magazine. Exclusive Naming Sponsor: Shanghai HYP-ARCH Architectural Design Consultant Co. Ltd.

Registration & Contact

Register and find full details on the official competition website: hypcup.uedmagazine.net. Inquiries: [email protected] · International contact: +86 138 8916 2840.

See also: Explore more open calls in our architecture competitions & awards listings — including the Architecture & Design Collection Awards 2026, Design Skill Awards 2026 and the IDPA Awards 2026. Preparing your entry? Read our guide to writing an architecture design brief.