CartesianForms: Architecture Reimagined, An AI Architecture Competition for the Next Generation of Design

What would you preserve in a place you know well? What would you change? And what possibilities would you leave for the people who come after you?

CartesianForms: Architecture Reimagined is a global AI architecture competition organised by FORMAS.AI and PAACADEMY, sponsored by OpenAI, with Parametric Architecture as media partner. Open to students and professionals worldwide, it invites participants to reimagine a 50 × 50 metre site through three generations of architectural change.

With more than US$120,000 in combined prizes and participant benefits, the competition brings together design exploration, AI workflows and spatial development around a shared question: how can architecture evolve while carrying forward what matters?

Registration closes on 6 December 2026 at 23:59 UTC, with final submissions due on 13 December 2026 at 23:59 UTC. Explore the official competition details.

One site. Three generations of architecture.

Every site gives a designer something to work with. It may be an existing structure, a familiar route through a neighbourhood, a material tradition, or a relationship between buildings and landscape.

Architecture is never finished by one generation. It is inherited, altered, and passed on.

Carlos Bañón/Co-Founder & Chief Design and AI Officer (CDAIO) of FORMAS.AI

CartesianForms asks you to choose a 50 × 50 metre site anywhere in the world and develop its architectural evolution across three moments:

2030 — Inherit. Investigate the site’s existing conditions. Identify the spaces, structures and qualities worth carrying forward, and explain why they matter.

2055 — Alter. Develop an intervention that responds to changing needs. Explore alternative approaches and make the reasoning behind your decisions visible.

2080 — Pass on. Consider how another generation could adapt your proposal. What could be extended, reconfigured, reused or reconsidered?

This framework opens up questions about adaptive reuse, cultural continuity and long-term flexibility. A proposal might investigate how an industrial building accommodates new public uses, or how a neighbourhood space changes as its community grows. These are possible starting points; the site and architectural response are yours to define.

Putting AI to work in the architectural design process

At FORMAS, we are interested in how AI helps designers explore ideas and develop them with greater intention.

That means asking useful questions throughout a project. What happens when the massing changes? How does an alternative material affect the character of a space? Which qualities of the original site remain legible as the proposal evolves?

CartesianForms gives participants a setting in which to investigate these questions using FORMAS.AI, CARTESIAN by FORMAS and OpenAI as the shared design and AI environment.

Bring sketches, photographs, drawings, CAD work, models or existing design studies into your process. Use them to establish a direction, explore alternatives and communicate the development of your proposal within FORMAS.

CARTESIAN by FORMAS extends this exploration into editable 3D geometry, connecting early design ideas with spatial reasoning and model development.

Your role as the designer is to evaluate what emerges: which direction responds to the site, which needs further investigation, and which deserves to become architecture.

Make your design decisions visible

The design process forms part of the competition submission. Your exploration should help someone else understand how the project developed.

Keep the alternatives that reveal a meaningful decision. Explain why you retained an existing structure, changed a circulation route or revised the relationship between indoor and outdoor space. Connect those choices to the site and to the generations your proposal addresses.

The judging criteria reflect this emphasis:

For participants, this is an opportunity to build a project with a clear architectural argument and a documented process that can continue into a portfolio, studio discussion or further design investigation.

Who can enter CartesianForms?

The competition is open worldwide to participants aged 18 and over, entering individually or in teams of up to five people.

There are two separately judged categories:

• Professional: Architects, designers, studios, researchers and professionals working in architecture, design and related fields.
• Student: Currently enrolled students in architecture, design, urbanism, landscape architecture and related disciplines.

Every team member must be included in the registration. Fees are charged per person, per project, in US dollars.

Early-bird registration runs from 25 September to 20 October 2026, at US$10 for students and US$20 for professionals. Regular registration runs from 21 October to 15 November 2026, at US$15 for students and US$30 for professionals. Late registration runs from 16 November to 6 December 2026, at US$20 for students and US$40 for professionals.

Prizes and access to support your work

CartesianForms offers more than US$120,000 in total prizes and participant benefits, combining sponsorship, AI credits, platform access, memberships and a US$5,000 cash prize pool.

Awards include first, second and third places in both categories, further recognition for projects ranked fourth to tenth, six Honorable Mentions and three Most Popular Choice Awards. Selected projects may also receive editorial exposure through Parametric Architecture.

The first 500 registered projects across both categories receive complimentary FORMAS.AI access for November 2026. Each project receives one allocation, assigned to its registered lead.

Registered participants can also use a 40% competition discount on FORMAS access to start earlier, purchase additional access or continue after November. The discount is redeemable until 31 December 2026.

Develop your proposal with the FORMAS workshop

A free five-hour workshop with Carlos Bañón, Co-Founder and Chief Design and AI Officer of FORMAS.AI, takes place on 15 November 2026.

The workshop introduces participants to developing a competition proposal with FORMAS.AI, CARTESIAN and OpenAI, connecting visual exploration, design iteration and editable 3D. Bring a site or existing building, together with references or design material you want to develop.

Explore the workshop and register for free.

What will you submit?

Your submission should communicate the architecture and the thinking behind it. Required materials include:

• A FORMAS AI Board documenting the design process.
• 3D and spatial representation using CARTESIAN.
• Three to five final architectural visualisations.
• A concise written project narrative.
• Hero imagery in 4:5, 9:16 and 16:9 formats.
• Short videos of approximately 12 seconds each, in all three formats.

Plans, sections, elevations, sketches and concept diagrams can provide further architectural clarity. Consult the final competition brief for file specifications, board requirements, word limits and upload instructions.

Choose a place. Shape what comes next.

Start with a site that gives you a reason to investigate. Look closely at what exists, define what could change, and consider what your intervention will make possible for another generation.

CartesianForms is an invitation to develop your approach to AI in architecture through a project grounded in place, time and design judgment.

Register by 6 December 2026. Submit by 13 December 2026. Both deadlines are at 23:59 UTC. Winners will be announced on 23 December 2026.

Register for CartesianForms: Architecture Reimagined →
Listed on: e-architect