Every year, in partnership with UNESCO, the Foundation organizes an international architecture and innovation competition. This unique call for creativity offers artists, architects, designers, engineers and urban planners a unique opportunity to work in multi-disciplinary teams to propose daring and disruptive architectural projects focused on climate, ocean and space.
| 1 | Vision |
| 2 | Relationship to the Environment and Living Systems |
| 3 | Human, Social, and Cultural Dimension |
| 4 | Innovation and Interdisciplinarity |
| 5 | Feasibility and Credibility |
| 6 | Sustainability, Resilience, and Resource Efficiency |
| 7 | Architectural and Spatial Quality |
| 8 | Quality of Representation |
| 9 | Alignment with the Theme and the Spirit of the Foundation |
"Along with my colleague Martin Garcia, we were immediately interested in the theme of rising sea levels proposed by the Jacques Rougerie Foundation competition. Architecture allows us to conceptualise and prepare the necessary adaptation to climate change. Taking part in this competition gave us the opportunity to share our vision of tomorrow's world. The competition has been a real springboard in our careers. Firstly through the recognition of our work, but above all thanks to the people we were able to meet, all united around architecture to reflect on the issues of tomorrow. It reinforced my desire to work on projects to adapt our territories to climate change."
Coralie Brival
"My dream was to be part of the first generation of architects to design in space. This competition was a way of realising that dream: the motivation and inspiration it gave me inspired me to apply for other international competitions. It gave me a lot of hope for future construction in space. The Foundation is like an 'academy' now! I've been preparing for it every year for the last six years. I now teach young students about architecture in space."
Samer El Sayary
Inventing habitats and infrastructures that learn to live with water.
Imagining habitats and infrastructures capable of sustaining life and organizing resources.
Designing habitats and infrastructures to live in symbiosis with the sea.
This competition invites participants to design new living environments across three realms where physical and environmental conditions redefine the act of building: flood-prone lands, marine and submarine environments, and space.
In these unstable or hostile contexts, the ground can no longer be taken for granted, the atmosphere is no longer assured, resources are limited, and natural cycles impose their own temporalities. The challenge is not to dominate the environment, but to design in harmony with it.
Projects are encouraged to develop bold, resilient, and tangible responses.
The objective is to place humanity and living systems at the heart of safe and desirable frameworks, capable of turning constraints into resources and inventing new ways of inhabiting the Earth, the sea, and beyond—by bringing together art, science, and technology in close connection with nature.
On 26 November 2025, beneath the magnificent Dome of the Palais de l’Institut de France, the Foundation celebrated the International Architecture and Innovation Grand Prizes 2025, Antoine Grolin …
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