The Texas Society of Architects 2026 Student Design Challenge broke all the records with an incredible 122 submissions! Thank you to all who participated and supported students in this program. 

• Total Submissions: 122
  • High School: 120
  • Middle School: 2
•  Team Projects:  62
• Individual Projects: 60
•  Participating Cities: 26
• Participating Schools: 38 (36 High Schools, 2 Middle Schools)

2026 Design Brief:

GATHER [verb]: to collect, accumulate, or bring together people or things, or to infer information

“Architecture can’t force people to connect; it can only plan the crossing points, remove barriers, and make the meeting place more useful and attractive.”

“The greenest building is the one that has already been built.”

                                                                                                     —DENISE SCOTT BROWN

As architects, our job is to not only design buildings, but to create spaces. Spaces for business, spaces for housing, spaces for learning, and spaces for gathering. Poorly designed gathering spaces discourage engagement, erode trust, and diminish the shared experiences that are vital to our well-being. When spaces fail to serve communities, they can stifle connectivity and reinforce inequity. We need strong places that allow people to gather. What does it mean for people to gather? Why is it important for communities to gather?

Creative Process:

• Research your local community (ex. school, neighborhood, city, etc.). 
• Create a collage, process diagram, and/or creative document detailing the community. Gather the essence of the community. 
• Identify something unique and valuable about the existing community. 
• Adapt, create, and build upon the Community’s existing strengths.
• Design an intervention to address the needs of the community—tell us about how the community comes together! 

Points for Thought:

• Third space (a welcoming social space beyond home and work, where everyday life unfolds and people come together to connect and interact): Consider a site in your community where a third space does not exist but would benefit the community.
• Decommissioned/non-functional spaces: Was there a previous space that historically activated your community? Why does it no longer meet the community’s needs?

THANK YOU TO OUR WONDERFUL JURORS

Dwayne Bohuslav, Assoc. AIA
San Antonio College

Siboney Díaz-Sánchez, AIA, NOMA
MGI

Kyle Kenerley, AIA
Parkhill

FINALISTS // INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS
^{(in Alpha order by project name)}

SOUNDSHED: An Adaptive Acoustic Commons
Krish Bahl
12th Grade
Lawrence E Elkins High School
Sugar Land

The Jacquet
Ida Newell
12th Grade
The Gutherie Center | Memorial High School
Houston

Wetland Confluence
Maximilian 1Castro
12th Grade
Burges High School
El Paso

FINALISTS // TEAM PROJECTS
^{(in Alpha order by project name)}

Gathering Through Agriculture and Arts
Kaylee Bell & Daniela Alfonzo
12th Grade
Klein Cain High School
Klein

Lincoln Park Underpass
Marco Frias, Dominic Villarreal & Bentley Koons
12th Grade
El Dorado High School
El Paso

WINNER // MIDDLE SCHOOL DIVISION

The Sun Shade Commons
Danika Flores
7th Grade
Vela Middle School
Brownsville

WINNER // INDIVIDUAL PROJECT
^{CONGRATULATIONS}

WINNER // PEOPLE'S CHOICE
^{CONGRATULATIONS}