Anyone. There are no age or qualification requirements needed to enter. Participants from all over the world can compete. Architects, designers, students and others will be invited to register and develop designs based on the brief. However there is not required age or level of qualification to enter. In previous initiatives hosted by Architecture for Humanity entrants have been as young as 9 and as old as 90.

If a non-licensed team or entrant is the winning designer then we will partner you with a licensed professional in order to develop construction documents for your design. If you can draw, you can win.

From now until the May 4, 2009, the submission date, you can register for the competition online on the Worldchanging. You must register with Worldchanging before May 4, 2009 in order to compete. You may enter as a team or as an individual. We will accept multiple design entries. Each design submitted for consideration must be accompanied by an entry fee. The entry fee is waived for entrants from developing countries.

To get back to your entry once you have registered, follow the steps below:

1) Log-in to Worldchanging
2) Click on your name or on the "My OAN" button in the top right corner of this page. That will take you to your profile page.
3) On your profile page, you will see a tab that reads "competitions" Click on the "Competitions" tab on your profile page.
4) Click on the text link that says "Go To My Entry."
5) On the main overview page of your entry you'll find information about the design briefs, options to choose a site (you can choose a school of your own or enter a design for one of our school building partners.)

To find detailed briefs for each school building partner, including the instruction and brief for choosing your own school, you need to go to your entry page. There you will find links to each school building partner's detailed brief or "site."

1) Log-in to Worldchanging
2) Click on your name or on the "My OAN" button in the top right corner of this page. That will take you to your profile page.
3) On your profile page, you will see a tab that reads "competitions" Click on the "Competitions" tab on your profile page.
4) Click on the text link that says "Go To My Entry."
5) On the main overview page of your entry you'll find information about the design briefs, options to choose a site (you can choose a school of your own or enter a design for one of our school building partners.)
6) Click on on "View full brief" to get to the detailed brief and related links for each site.

Entrants will have approximately five months (from the January 28, 2009 launch date to June 1, 2009 submission deadline) to develop their design solution.

First and foremost you will receive the opportunity to work with your school to develop your design - impacting the lives of thousands.

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The winning school will receive up to $50,000 to build or upgrade a classroom and the winning designer(s) will receive $5,000. That's your design fee!

We understand that you want to consider the incorporation of your classroom design into the context of your school. Our jury will be evaluating the classroom component only. For this competition, detailed drawing of building support spaces, administration or faculty offices are not necessary.

There is no time commitment required. What ever is necessary and appropriate to create your design from 1 hour to a whole semester.

The competition is to design innovative learning spaces. It is up to you to decide where the majority of the teaching and learning takes place in your school. Entries with the most replicable model will be given primary consideration.

The competition is for primary and secondary classrooms (Grades K-12). We’ve worked with Curriki to design a curriculum for Grades 6-12 that you are free to use and adapt to suit your needs.

We suggest you contact a school local to your area. If you are unable to partner with a local school, you can work with one of building partners.

We suggest you contact your local trade organization search a designer in your area. You can also search on Worldchanging for architects and designers.

Well that's very generous of you. As you can guess we are certainly not going to stop you from doing such a noble thing.

All entries to the competition will be shared on Worldchanging under the terms of the Creative Commons Developing Nations license. Finalists and selected entries will be featured in traveling exhibitions, publications and events. Learn More

Go through both the Modular and School of Your Choice briefs, paying attention to the design specifications. Choose whichever brief fits your project completely.

The Open Architecture Challenge: Classroom is administered by Architecture for Humanity. Architecture for Humanity is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that seeks architectural solutions to humanitarian crisis and brings design services to communities in need. Over the past nine years the organization has hosted international competitions, held workshops, connected clients and pro-bono designers and implemented more than a hundred projects in a dozen countries. For more information on past competitions and other programs, please visit www.architectureforhumanity.org.

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