A useful award entry description explains what the project needed to achieve, what you designed and why those decisions matter. Give the jury enough context to interpret the images. Use specific facts rather than claims such as “iconic”, “innovative” or “world-class” without evidence.
This is an editorial structure you can adapt, not a mandatory IADA template. Follow the current field limits in your participant account and write the project title and description in English.
Build the story in four steps
01
Brief
Who is the project for, and what problem or constraint shaped the work?
02
Design response
Which spatial, material or technical decisions address that brief?
03
Evidence
What can the jury see in the images, drawings or documented outcomes?
04
Status
Is the project built, in progress or a concept? Make that distinction explicit.
What to put in each part
| Part | What to include | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | Project type, intended users, setting and project status. | A studio biography or an opening slogan. |
| Challenge | The constraints that influenced the design: site, circulation, existing fabric or intended use. | A generic claim that the brief was complex. |
| Response | Two or three important decisions and the reasons behind them. | Listing every material or room without explaining its role. |
| Evidence | A drawing, detail, measured result or observed use that supports each main claim. | Unverified percentages or results that have not been measured. |
| Closing | The contribution of the project and any relevant limitations. | Repeating the opening in more promotional language. |
Replace adjectives with a design decision
Too vague: “This innovative community hub creates a unique and sustainable experience.” That sentence does not tell the jury what changed or what to look for.
Connect your words to the judging criteria
The published IADA criteria cover Innovation & Originality, Design & Aesthetic Quality, and Functionality & Spatial Integration. Explain the relevant design decisions in those areas. You do not need to turn the text into three repeated sales pitches.
- Originality: identify the particular problem and your response. Do not claim that something is the first of its kind unless you can substantiate that claim.
- Design quality: describe proportion, material relationships, composition or detail, and point to images that show them.
- Function: explain how the project supports its intended use. Distinguish design intent from tested outcomes.
Keep facts, credits and publication copy organised
Check names, project status, dimensions and dates against your project records. For environmental or performance claims, state what was measured, how it was measured and whether the number describes a target or a completed result. If you cannot support a number, remove it.
Use the dedicated author, studio and image-credit fields. Keep identifying names and logos out of the jury presentation where the anonymity rules require this. The project editor also offers an optional separate publication description; when that option is off, the main project description is used for publication.
One final editing pass
- Can a reader unfamiliar with the project understand the brief from the opening?
- Does every important claim have a concrete explanation or supporting image?
- Are concept-stage intentions clearly distinguished from completed outcomes?
- Does the English text use consistent names and terminology?
- Have you saved the revised text in My Entries?
Next, prepare your images and credits, then run the submission checklist. For the full process, read How to enter IADA.
Requirements: IADA FAQ and competition terms. Current account instructions take precedence over this suggested writing structure.