The 2019 BP Student Ideas Competition at the Chicago Architecture Biennial invited young people to respond to the following prompt:
Design a safe community space where young people can share ideas and take action on a local or global issue. Your space can be a physical place, an object, or an event.
The competition is sponsored by BP America and organized by the Chicago Architecture Biennial, in partnership with the Chicago Architecture Center. The competition welcomed submissions that explored ideas about architecture and the built environment from a wide range of disciplines including design but also the humanities, visual and performing arts, and STEM fields. Strong entries will be community specific, imaginative, and exhibit a creative use of materials.
The competition was free to enter and open to students from Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana, grades 7 through 12. The competition opened in September and closed in December.
A jury of eight diverse professionals convened to review student submissions to select finalists to compete for first, second, and third place prizes. Competition winners received varying cash prizes up to $500 public recognition at the final showcase and their work on display at the Chicago Architecture Biennial from December 19 to January 6, 2020.
