International Masonry Institute’s JBC Masonry Innovation Competition

The International Masonry Institute’s JBC Masonry Innovation Competition celebrates game-changing creativity and new ideas that have the power to propel growth within the industry. The competition challenges current and budding designers to answer the question: what will masonry’s design and construction delivery experience look like in the future?

For IMI, innovation is key to positioning masonry as a valued building system in design and construction. Innovation includes any solution that adds value, usefulness, appreciation, and relevance to masonry design and construction, and can be either an improvement of an existing system or a groundbreaking proposal. In other words, solutions should progress current masonry thinking or create new opportunities for growth through the creation of a scalable and repeatable model.

Solutions can explore innovation through masonry materials, the process of construction, or new business models related to construction efficiencies, and may also address issues such as energy efficiency, resiliency, sustainability, constructability, and customization. In all cases, however, the innovative ideas should be both clear and constructible.

To encourage freedom to innovate, the scale, size, program, and location, if applicable, are left open to the participant. Participants should model their solutions using BIM technology, and are encouraged to make use of BIM for Masonry (BIM-M) software plugins and tools.

The final solution can be an imagined, proposed, or completed structure or system. Submissions should clearly illustrate how masonry can transform or enhance its role in the building industry, and how this process advances design and construction opportunities in the future.

EVALUATION CRITERIA
The following criteria will be used to judge submissions:

- Innovation (45%): The idea provides a groundbreaking proposal for positioning masonry. The idea generates added value or usefulness, improvement, or increases masonry’s relevance.
- Execution of idea (30%): The idea is clearly communicated and understood.
- Creativity (25%): The solution shows original thinking.


The competition is open to:

University students enrolled in a design, architecture, or engineering program
Architects
Engineers
Architectural and Engineering Firms
ENTRY CATEGORIES
There are 3 entry categories:

Students: Undergraduate or graduate students enrolled in an accredited design, architecture, or engineering school.
Young Architects/Engineers: Any architects or engineers under the age of 40.
A/E Firms, Individual Architects/Engineers, & Cross-Category: Architecture/engineering firms, architects and engineers age 40 and over, and cross-category teams.
Multidisciplinary teams are encouraged in all categories to help facilitate a well-conceived solution, but individual entries are also permitted. There are no restrictions on team size.

Each team or individual may only submit one entry.

PRIZES
Monetary awards will be provided to 1st place winners in each of the 3 entry categories.

In addition to monetary prizes, winners may receive special publication and promotion opportunities and will be honored during an awards ceremony in Florida, with travel and accommodations covered by IMI.

See the competition brief for complete details and register today to enter the competition!

KEY COMPETITION DATES

Registration opens: July 15, 2019
Submission opens: August 1, 2019
Submission deadline: December 15, 2019 (11:59 p.m. EST)
Winners notified: February 2020
Award ceremony/winners announced: March 2020

Questions should be submitted via email to MjIwVk5PTWNNXlAsVVlVY1FOGlteUw==.