Memorial to the Sixth Extinction Design Competition 2026
Australian Urban Design Research Centre—AUDRC
📌About the Event
The Memorial to the Sixth Extinction Design Competition 2026 is an open international ideas competition inviting students, designers, artists and professionals to conceptualise a physical memorial addressing the ongoing loss of biodiversity caused by human activity. Unlike traditional memorials centred on human achievements or losses, the competition asks participants to create a design that questions humanity’s role in the destruction of species and natural habitats. The memorial may be of any size and located anywhere in the world.
ℹ️ Event Details
- Mode of conduct: Online competition with proposals submitted for international jury evaluation.
- Theme: Designing a physical memorial to the Sixth Extinction and the ongoing global biodiversity crisis.
- Design freedom: Participants may select any location, scale, material, medium or physical form for their memorial.
- Geographical restriction: No fixed project site; the memorial can be situated anywhere in the world.
- Participation format: Individual entries and multidisciplinary team entries are accepted.
- Team size: A team may include up to six participants.
- Competition language: English.
📅 Important Dates
- Competition status: currently Open.
- Competition announcement: June 2026.
- Registration and submission deadline: 1 November 2026
🎯 Eligibility & Rules
- Eligibility:
- The competition is open to participants from all countries, including India.
- Undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled at universities or technical colleges may participate.
- Faculty members and working professionals of all experience levels are eligible.
- Expected disciplines include:
- Architecture
- Landscape architecture
- Urban design
- Fine arts
- Other relevant creative and design-related fields
- Participants may enter individually or form multidisciplinary teams of up to six members.
- Competition Rules
- Participants must propose a physical memorial responding to the Sixth Extinction.
- The memorial may be any size and located at any site selected by the participant.
- Proposals should focus on species loss, habitat destruction and humanity’s relationship with the natural environment.
- The memorial should not simply celebrate or commemorate humans; it should critically examine humanity’s contribution to biodiversity loss.
- Entries will be evaluated anonymously.
- Participants should remove identifying information from competition material wherever required by the official submission guidelines.
- Entrants must follow the complete presentation, file-format and submission instructions provided in the official competition brief.
🏆 Benefits for the Participants
- Total cash prize pool: AUD 15,000.
- The prize pool will be divided among the selected winning entries.
- The exact distribution of the AUD 15,000 prize pool among individual winners has not yet been publicly specified.
- Up to 10 Honourable Mentions may also be awarded.
- Recognition from an international jury of landscape architects, designers, academics and creative professionals.