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2020 Important Dates

• Call for Entries details and PowerPoint template available online Monday September 14, 2020.
• Online awards submission system opens Monday September 14, 2020.
• This year’s entry deadline will be Friday October 16, 2020 at 5:00 pm EST.
• Winners will be announced November 12, 2020.
• STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES ON HOW WINNING ENTRIES WILL BE ANNOUNCED
• To be eligible for the 2020 CDA program, projects must have been completed no earlier than October 18th, 2015.

Contacts

If you have questions regarding the program itself or your entry (requirements, categories, etc.), please contact Michelle VonderBrink (michelle.vonderbrink@thinkchamplin.com) by email.

Checklist

So you are prepared to submit your entry, please gather the following information about your project before starting the online process!

• Complete your 4-slide PowerPoint banquet file BEFORE starting the submission to save time! You can download the PPT template here. The judges do not see this slideshow! This slideshow is only used to show the audience the project while the jury explains its comments during the banquet. You can lay out the slides however you wish as long as it fits in 4 slides and does not include any video (can cause playback issues during the event with unknown video hardware in use).
• Prepare no more than 15 JPEG images to upload for the jury to review. They can include any combination of photos and drawings. They must be in JPEG format and be no more than 2000 pixels for the long edge.
• Project title, location, and completion date. Make sure you edit the TITLE at the very top of the online entry form to be your project’s title so it appears correctly on the website.
• Project team company and individual names you would like to recognize.
• Contractor(s) and Photographer names and company website URL addresses (important! – the URL’s will become links on the CDA website).
• Project narrative (1500 characters max = about 200 words.)

Requirements

The Cincinnati Design Awards (CDA) promote the best in environmental design by Cincinnati-area creative firms. It is the goal of this program to recognize local and regional designers and design firms for their outstanding work in the community and also to educate the general public to the benefits of supporting quality design. Each year, the Cincinnati Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA Cincinnati), the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) Cincinnati/Dayton City Center, the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Cincinnati/Dayton, the Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD) Cincinnati Chapter, the Miami Section of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and the American Planning Association (APA) Cincinnati Section invite their members to present their best work in their respective annual design competitions. All entries will be judged by a common jury of distinguished guests connected to all facets of the design profession. The awards are announced at the annual CDA banquet with a panel of guest jurors.

2020 Categories

• Building Architecture: projects submitted this category may include New Construction, Adaptive Reuse, Preservation, Additions, Urban Design and are evaluated against peer projects of a similar scale
  • Large Scale = >10,000 sf
  • Small Scale = <10,000 sf
• Interior Architecture: projects submitted this category may include New Construction and Renovation of Interior Projects
  • Large Scale = >5,000 sf 
  • Small Scale = <5,000 sf
• Landscape Architecture & Community Planning: projects submitted this category may include Residential, Parks, Urban Design, Campuses, Streetscape, Hospitality, Landscape Art, Interior Landscapes, Gardens, Green/Blue Infrastructure, Green Roofs, Trails & Recreation, Community and Comprehensive Plans, Open Space Networks, Neighborhood Improvement/Revitalization Plans.
  • Planning & Analysis Projects = evaluating the rigor and soundness of analysis and planning projects that contribute to a unique sense of place.
  • Implementation = results of a plan or a built project of unusually high merit contributing to an improved quality of life. 
• Experiential Graphics: projects submitted this category may include Wayfinding, Branded Environments, Placemaking, Interactive Experiences, Exhibition Design, Individual Signs
  • Large scale = environments or systems
  • Small Scale = features or elements

• Interdisciplinary: projects submitted this category exemplify design excellence through successful implementation of integrated design across disciplines at any scale, type, or budget. Projects may be submitted by individual firms or teams and should demonstrate consistent quality of design and execution of each contributing discipline’s work.
  While most projects are interdisciplinary in nature, this award honors CDA member organizations. Recognition of other project team members is at the discretion of the submitting teams/firms.
  

• Innovation: projects submitted this category include Built and Conceptual work that advances design thinking or practice (in any discipline) through cutting-edge Research, Methods, Performance

Note: The number of awards in any category is subject to the discretion of the jury. The jury also has the right not to award any projects in any given category in any given year if the work is not deemed of sufficient quality.

Eligibility

• Projects must have been completed within five calendar years of the CDA submission deadline each year.
• The submitting firm must have a local office actively involved in the project.
• The submitting firm must be the Design of Record, responsible for the overall design of the project concept.
• Submissions by design teams and joint ventures shall be eligible for the member fee only when the Designer of Record is a local member.
• Non-members may submit at a non-member rate.

2020 Entry Fees

AIA / IIDA / ASID 
Member entries: $150
Non-member entries: $300

ASLA / SEGD / APA
Member and Non-member entries: $100

2020 CDA Jurors

AIA 2020 Juror: Steve Dumez, FAIA
Principal, Director of Design | Eskew Dumez Ripple+

Steve Dumez is Principal and Director of Design of the New Orleans based design studio EskewDumezRipple. Under his design leadership, the firm has received numerous prestigious awards for design excellence, including more than fifty national awards and over 100 additional awards at the local, state and regional levels. In recognition of the firm’s significant contributions to the profession,EskewDumezRipple was recognized with the 2014 Architecture Firm Award, the highest honor bestowed on a practice by the American Institute of Architects.

Steve has been a frequent lecturer, guest critic and speaker at various institutions across the country, and his work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, books and publications. He has served as President of both AIA Louisiana and AIA New Orleans, and has contributed significant time and energy on numerous civic boards and cultural organizations. Steve received a Master of Architecture degree from Yale University (1989) and a Bachelor of Architecture from Louisiana State University (1982).

IIDA/ASID 2020 Juror: Barbara Marini, FASID
PhD, CAPS, LEED AP | University of Texas, Arlington

Barbara Marini Ph.D., FASID, IDEC, is Director of the Interior Design program at the University of Texas, Arlington. She a passionate educator, designer, organizational leader, and strategist with an eye to the future. Barbara is a professional Lifetime Member and Fellow of ASID and has received recognition for both her design and academic endeavors. She led ASID through strategic change as National Chair, chaired and served on numerous Councils and Task Forces and is a CIDQ Ambassador. Barbara currently serves on the CIDA Accreditation Commission and is Vice-Chair of the ASID AdvocateXDesign Impact Task Force focusing on the effects of COVID-19 on the interior environment and the profession.

Barbara has worked largely in the commercial sector as a consultant to architectural firms, developers, and clients and has extensive experience in the building and construction industry. She is principal of Marini Design Consultants (formerly Marini Interiors, Inc.) focused on strategic consulting for clients and organizations. She is a frequent speaker on design and industry related issues, serving on professional panels, authoring numerous articles, and has been recognized for her work and service to the profession and design education.

SEGD 2020 Juror: Julie Vogel |
President, ClearStory Inc

The intersection of architecture and graphic design has been the focal point of Julie’s career for more than 25 years. Julie believes the best wayfinding and placemaking solutions are discovered by careful consideration of the urban parameters, architectural objectives and cultural context. She excels in working on ambitious projects with complex teams. Julie’s clients appreciate her straightforward attitude, dedication to excellence, insightful design perspective and can-do leadership style.Julie graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning program. She began her career in New York City, working for multiple award-winning design firms. Julie joined Clearstory (formerly Kate Keating Associates) in 1998, promoted to Principal in 2009, and to President in 2017. As a leader in the industry, she was elected to the Society of Experiential Graphic Design’s (SEGD) Board of Directors in 2012, and served eight years with two years on the executive committee.

ASLA/APA 2020 Juror: Kim Way |
Principal, Urban Design and Planning NBBJ

Kim Way has served as Principal of NBBJ’s planning and urban design practice since joining the firm in 2001. Over the last 19 years he has led planning and design projects, both domestically and internationally, for public agencies, science and education institutions, healthcare organizations, corporations and commercial enterprises. Key international projects include; the Tencent Dashawan Bay Master Plan, Shenzhen, China; Vista Alabang Master Plan, Manila, Philippines; the Karamay City Master Plan, Karamay, China; the Shantou New East Coastal Area, Shantou, China; the Kazanka Riverfront Master Plan, Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia; and the Brookefields Gardens Master Plan, Bangalore, India. Domestic projects include; the Comprehensive and Strategic Campus Master Plan for Louisiana State University, Columbus State Community College Master Plan, Capital University Master Plan and Wright State University Master Plan; Health District Master Plans for Spectrum Health, Providence Park Hospital, the Medical University of South Carolina, McGill University and the Medical College of Louisiana New Orleans and various urban district, neighborhood and corridor studies for cities.

Kim’s expertise ranges from strategic planning to development strategies, site selection studies, master planning, urban design, landscape and environmental enhancement, and sustainable implementation strategies. With over 39 years of national and international experience, Kim contributes to all aspects of the planning, design and development process, from initial vision creation through detailed design and project implementation. Prior to joining NBBJ, Kim served as a Principal with Ellerbe Becket in Minneapolis, Minnesota for four years. For 16 years, prior to that, he was a planning and urban design Principal with LDR International in Columbia, Maryland where he led master plans for new residential and mixed-use communities, downtown districts, urban neighborhoods, waterfront redevelopment areas and civic open space environments. For five of those years he served as Managing Director of LDR’s London, England office.

2019 Local Juror: Mike Hoeting |
President, Bang Zoom Design

Mike Hoeting is the co-founder of Bang Zoom Design, a toy and game invention firm located in Cincinnati. After graduating from the University of Cincinnati’s Industrial Design program in 1989, Mike found a job designing for a toy and game inventor in Chicago. Two years later he and a former classmate moved back to Cincinnati and started Bang Zoom Design. As invention consultants to major toy manufacturers, we have been fortunate enough to have licensed over 250 toys in categories ranging from Barbie, Elmo, Mickey Mouse, radio controlled vehicles, games, action figures and more. Last year our group company recently moved to a new studio in the West End.