June 16, 2026 June 16, 2026 Home » Competitions » The Sixth Extinction Memorial — International Open Design Ideas Competition 2026 A brief about the competition The Sixth Extinction Memorial is an international open design ideas competition organized by the Australian Urban Design Research Institute (AUDRC) at the University of Western Australia, in collaboration with Taylor Cullity Lethlean (TCL), one of the leading landscape architecture and urban design practices in Australia. The submission is free and open to students and professionals from any design discipline around the world, with a total prize pool of AUD 15,000. The submission deadline is November 1, 2026. The competition is held in memory of Professor Richard Weller, a leading thinker in landscape architecture and global biodiversity at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Western Australia, whose knowledge has directly influenced the intellectual framework of this brief.
The earth has witnessed five major mass extinction events. The fifth was the extinction of the dinosaurs by an asteroid about 65 million years ago. Many of today’s plants and animals now face the greatest threat to their survival from humans. This is known as the sixth extinction, and its terrifying record is the Red List of threatened species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The unchecked destruction of natural habitats for urban development and food production is described in the brief as a slow-moving asteroid equivalent.
The challenge is to create a physical memorial for the sixth extinction, a global event that has occurred, is occurring, and will occur, a memorial that does not commemorate or glorify humanity as most memorials do, but interrogates humanity as the self-designated executor of judgments on nature. The brief does not restrict submissions by type or discipline: architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, installation, sculpture, memorials, earthworks, and any other design form are eligible.
The design of the memorial can be of any size and proposed anywhere in the world. Participants are free to choose the scale, material, location, program, and medium.
This is an open ideas competition without a commission for construction. Winning proposals receive cash prizes from the total pool of AUD 15,000. The competition is also linked to the research and advocacy work of AUDRC surrounding biodiversity and environmental design and the urban condition. Full competition details are available in the brief at audrc.org/competitions.
Open to students and professionals from any design discipline around the world. No restrictions on nationality, age, or professional qualifications. Individual and group submissions are accepted. Complete submission requirements are detailed in the competition brief available via the AUDRC website. Contact: audrc.info@gmail.com
The Sixth Extinction Memorial is one of the most intellectually and ethically serious open design competitions in the current international calendar. It is organized by AUDRC at the University of Western Australia, a research institute with a documented record of high-quality academic design competitions, in partnership with TCL, which is internationally recognized for its landscape architecture and urban design. The jury is exceptional: Laurie Olin is one of the most respected landscape designers in the world, with civil works extending from the National Mall in Washington to Bryant Park in New York. Jacky Bowring is probably the most prominent academic specializing in memorial design in the landscape worldwide. Sara Lynn-Rees brings indigenous design thinking into a brief that fundamentally interrogates the relationship between humanity and the earth and non-human species. This is a jury assembled with intellectual uniqueness rather than public prominence, giving the evaluation framework a real depth. The brief itself is one of the most philosophically demanding in any design competition: designing a memorial that does not glorify humanity but interrogates humanity as the executor of nature’s judgments requires a conceptual reflection of the form of the monument that demands real critical and spatial intelligence, not just formal flattery. Full freedom in scale, location, material, and type means that proposals can range from intimate installations to earthworks on a landscape scale. The total prize pool of AUD 15,000 removes entirely the financial barriers.