Architecture competition video submission: when video is allowed, anonymity rules and AI visuals
Architecture competition video submission rules: how real 2026 briefs treat video, anonymity, file limits and AI-generated visuals, plus a checklist.
In this article
You're entering an open ideas competition or a student prize, and you have a short film of the scheme that explains it better than any board. Whether you can send it depends entirely on the brief. Some competitions require a recording, most are judged only on boards and a short text, and nearly all of them disqualify anything that identifies you. This guide walks through how three real 2026 briefs handle video, what counts as identifying in a film, the format limits to read literally, how AI-generated visuals fit the rules, and what to do with your film once the results are out.
Key takeaways
- Submit a video to an architecture competition only when the brief lists one as a deliverable; boards-only competitions judge the files they ask for and nothing else.
- The 2026 RAIA Victorian Student Ideas Prize required an MP4 Pecha Kucha of 20 slides at 20 seconds each, made of still images, with no names, faces or university anywhere, including file names.
- Anonymity covers more than the boards: voice, faces, logos, end cards, watermarks, file names, file metadata and links to a channel with your name all count.
- AI rules range from "attribute it in your essay" (ACSA 2026) to "specify the role, scope and level of influence of each tool" (ASA 2026); when a brief is silent, ask the organizer during the question period.
- Posting your entry film before results can break both the anonymity rule and the "unpublished work" rule, so publish it after the winners are announced.
Can you submit a video to an architecture competition?
Only if the brief asks for one. Most open ideas and student competitions are judged on a fixed set of boards plus a short statement, and anything outside that list is ignored at best and grounds for disqualification at worst. A few require a recording: the 2026 RAIA Victorian Student Ideas Prize asked for an MP4 Pecha Kucha presentation alongside four boards. Before you make anything, read three parts of the brief: the deliverables list, the anonymity clause and the AI clause.
The rules live in different places. Some organizers put everything on the web page; others keep the detail in a downloadable brief. Buildner's Pavilion Atlas 2026 page, for example, lists dates (submissions closed October 19, 2026, with winners announced December 8, 2026) and points to a downloadable brief for the requirements (Pavilion Atlas 2026, as of October 2026). Download it, save a copy with the date, and work from that file, not from a listing site's summary.
Three 2026 briefs, three different answers
These three competitions show the range you'll meet. All three are closed; they're here as examples of how briefs are written, not as open calls.
| Competition (2026) | Video | Boards and text | Anonymity | AI rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAIA Victorian Chapter Student Ideas Prize | Required: MP4 Pecha Kucha, 20 slides × 20 seconds, still images only | Four A2 landscape boards in one PDF of no more than 10 MB; 200–300-word statement | No name, no image of your face, no university, including in file names | No AI clause in the brief |
| ACSA Steel Design Student Competition | Not in the deliverables | Four 20" × 20" digital boards (BMP, GIF, JPEG, JPG or PNG); 300-word essay; 300-word program summary | No student, school or faculty sponsor names on boards, in the project title or in file names | Students stay in control and accountable; AI use attributed in the design essay |
| ASA Experimental Design Competition | Not stated in the report we read | Not stated in the report we read | Not stated in the report we read | AI allowed, but entries must specify each tool's role, scope and level of influence |
RAIA Victorian Student Ideas Prize: video required, but not "a video"
The 2026 brief asked for a verbal presentation as an MP4 recording in Pecha Kucha format, "20 slides and 20 seconds per slide," so "no more than 7 minutes long." It's specific about what the recording isn't: "There should be 20 distinct slides – not a series of videos," and "the recording should be images only and specific to your project." Entrants were told "you are not to identify yourself (name or image of your face) or your university," and reminded not to identify themselves "in any of file names that they upload for their entry (including video presentation)." Entries closed Friday, July 10, 2026 (RAIA VIC Student Ideas Prize brief 2026).
So even a competition that requires video can rule out an animated film. A 30-second AI walkthrough dropped into slide 12 would break "images only."
ACSA Steel: boards only, AI with attribution
ACSA's 2026 Steel Design Student Competition asked for four 20" × 20" boards, a design essay of "300 words maximum" and a program summary, with a submission deadline of June 3, 2026. "The names of student participants, their schools, or faculty sponsors, must NOT appear on the boards, or in the project title or project title file name(s)." On AI, "AI usage in student submissions must ensure the students remain responsibly in control and continue to be accountable for all images and likenesses in their submissions," and students who use it attribute it in the essay (ACSA registration and rules, as of October 2026).
GIF appears in the list of accepted board formats. Don't read that as permission to animate a board; it's listed as an image format, and if you want motion, ask the organizer first.
ASA Experimental: AI with a full account of each tool
The Association of Siamese Architects' 2026 Experimental Design Competition, as reported by art4d, "does not restrict the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) or other non-human tools," but "submitted entries must clearly specify the role, scope, and level of influence of each tool utilized," and entrants had to show human decision-making in the work. Entries had to be original and unpublished; submissions closed April 9, 2026 (art4d).
Anonymity: what counts as identifying in a video
Boards are easy to scrub. Films carry identity in more places. Before you upload any recording, check each of these:
- Faces and voices. RAIA banned images of your face. A voiceover is a different question: the RAIA format implies one, but a brief that bans names may not expect a recognizable voice. Ask if unsure.
- Logos and end cards. Remove your studio logo, the school crest, a "designed by" card and any watermark. If a tool adds its own branding, check whether it could point back to your account.
- File names. Use the entry or registration number the organizer gives you, nothing else.
- File metadata. Video and PDF files can carry an author or company field from the software that exported them. Clear it before upload.
- Links and QR codes. A link to YouTube or Vimeo leads to a channel name. Treat any external link as identifying unless the brief explicitly allows it.
- Previously published images. A rendering already on your Instagram can identify you to any juror who follows you, and it may break an "unpublished" rule.
Format and length limits: read the deliverables list literally
Juries often see entries on a screen and, for shortlisted work, in an exhibition; the RAIA brief says its boards "will be viewed in two different scenarios – on screen and in an exhibition." A file that doesn't open or runs too long is a file the jury doesn't see.
| Check | What to confirm in the brief | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| File type | MP4, MOV, PDF, JPG: exactly what's listed | An unlisted format may be rejected by the upload portal |
| Length | A maximum, or a fixed structure like 20 × 20 seconds | Over-length entries can be cut or disqualified |
| File size | Per-file and total limits | Portals often reject oversized uploads at the last minute |
| Orientation | Landscape boards, portrait slides, or open | A 9:16 phone film may sit badly beside A2 landscape boards |
| Content | "Images only," "no animation," "no external links" | Defines whether an AI film is even eligible |
| Naming | Entry number format | A wrong file name can break anonymity on its own |
If anything is unclear, use the question period many competitions run before the deadline. A written answer from the organizer is the only safe interpretation.
Using AI visuals within competition rules
Briefs take one of three positions on AI: ban it, allow it with attribution, or say nothing. When the brief allows it, the two 2026 examples above set a good default for any competition: say which tools you used, for what, and how much they shaped the result. When the brief says nothing, ask; silence isn't permission.
AI video adds risks that a still rendering doesn't. An image-to-video model extends what it sees; it can bend a facade, add a floor or show people and furniture that aren't in your design. A juror comparing your film to your plans will notice. Watch every frame against your drawings, and cut anything the model invented. AI rendering disclosure rules for architects covers how to word an AI credit outside competitions too.
Some film tools also add elements you can't remove. Arch2Video films, for instance, always include a small cast of fictional people in at least one scene and an optional studio logo; leave the logo off, and only use such a film where the brief allows animation at all. For most boards-only competitions, the film belongs after the results.
After the results: where your film can go
Once winners are announced, anonymity no longer applies and the entry becomes portfolio material. That's the moment for a short film: a shortlist announcement, an Instagram Reel, a project page, or a section of an award entry for a later program. Label it as a competition concept, name the competition and its result, and credit your team.
| Moment | What to post | Label |
|---|---|---|
| Before submission | Nothing public about the entry | — |
| Between submission and results | Nothing public, unless the brief allows it | — |
| Shortlist or winner announced | Film plus one board, with the organizer tagged | "Competition entry, [result], concept" |
| Months later | Project page, portfolio, interview presentations | "Unbuilt competition entry, [year]" |
Award programs work differently from ideas competitions, with their own image counts and video rules; the architecture award submission guide compares them. If the competition you want is itself a film contest, the AIA Film Challenge guide for small firms covers a documentary entry. And if a competition win leads to an interview stage, video in a shortlist interview presentation covers what panels usually allow.
Frequently asked questions
Can I put a QR code or video link on my competition board?
Only if the brief explicitly allows external links. A link takes the juror to a page you control, which usually shows a channel name, a profile or an upload history, and that breaks anonymity even if the board itself is clean. It can also put more material in front of the jury than other entrants are allowed, which an organizer may treat as unfair. If you think motion matters to your idea, ask the organizer during the question period.
Are AI-generated renderings allowed in architecture competitions?
It depends on the competition, and the rules differ widely. In 2026, ACSA asked students to stay accountable for every image and attribute AI use in their essay, and the ASA Experimental competition allowed AI but required entrants to specify each tool's role, scope and level of influence. Other competitions ban it. If the brief doesn't mention AI, ask the organizer in writing before you rely on it.
How long should a competition presentation video be?
Exactly as long as the brief says, in the structure it specifies. The 2026 RAIA Victorian Student Ideas Prize, for example, fixed the format at 20 slides of 20 seconds each, no more than 7 minutes, made of still images. If a brief gives only a maximum, stay comfortably under it; jurors review many entries, and a tight presentation reads as confidence.
Can I post my competition entry on Instagram before the results?
Usually not. Posting the entry can identify you to jurors who follow you, and some competitions require work that hasn't been published, as the 2026 ASA competition did. Wait until the winners are announced, then post the film and boards with the competition named and the entry labeled as concept work.