ASIBA Creative Challenge 2025
In a competition with no judges, questioning the core and potential of your own expression
A competition usually has judges — a system that ranks entries and picks winners, but in doing so reduces a work's inherently layered possibilities to a single axis of evaluation. ASIBA Creative Challenge 2025 set out to question that premise, aiming instead for an award with no judges. Open to students of architecture, design, and art, participants worked alongside mentors with cross-disciplinary knowledge, engaging with the possibilities of their work apart from winning, losing, or job hunting. Across workshops and a final critique, this four-day program became a space to discuss not “how polished the work is” but “how far it managed to travel.”
FIG.1 © Kazuki Fujisaki
Statement: It Is Precisely Beyond “Being Evaluated”
The works created by
students of architecture, design, and art—born of their passion and time—
surely weren’t created solely for the sake of recognition or awards.
Weren’t they born through
trial and error—as you sought to convey the impulse that drives you or the obsession that grips
your heart, and to express the
unceasing questions and curiosity you hold toward society?
Your unique words, woven together through countless revisions, and the world you’ve depicted—a world you’ve continued to shape with your own
hands, even while grappling with contradictions. The potential of your work, born
in this way, cannot be
easily confined to evaluations or awards.
Unless you let go of it yourself, the landscape
you truly long to see lies beyond the realm of “being evaluated.”
ASIBA, which strives to remain the
greatest ally for students and young professionals in the fields of “architecture, design, and art” as they tackle their own questions, is bringing together all the insights it has cultivated over the years to host its
first-ever independently organized event: the “ASIBA Creative Challenge.”
Naturally, there are no “judges” here to determine evaluation criteria or awards for the works.
Together with “mentors” who respect your individuality and work
alongside you to help each piece of work blossom, you’ll explore multifaceted possibilities while grappling with challenges
side by side.
This isn’t about winning, seeking approval from others, improving your grades, or preparing for job hunting.
We aim to create a space that serves as a catalyst for you to accelerate your exploration and open
new doors while remaining true to yourself.
Now, let’s transcend disciplinary boundaries and exchange our perspectives.
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Mentors Who Think and Wrestle with Issues Alongside You
Not judges, but mentors who got to know each of you and walked alongside you as you thought and wrestled with ideas together. Invited from both the field of architecture and beyond, they supported you in creating that mix of uncertainty and excitement that would serve as your driving force for the next step.
- Yuta Satake
- Motoko Tanaka
- Taiga Matsuoka
- Ayaka Sakuragi
- Yuichi Kato
- Eri Tsugawa
- Junpei Nosaku
- Tomoyuki Torisu
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Nine Challenges
This program was a huge challenge for ASIBA as well. To work toward our goals, we established nine key pillars and shared them with the participants.
- Creating a framework to deepen inquiry
- A New Form of Creative Program Not Focused on Winning
- A 4-Day Workshop That Generates “Confusion and Excitement”
- Open to all architecture, design, and art students in Japan
- All types of work are welcome!
- A team of mentors who will encourage you through cross-disciplinary experiences
- The “Origin Report”: A chance to reconnect with yourself and the source of your ideas
- Selection Based on “Potential” and “Excitement”—Qualities That Can’t Be Measured Quantitatively
- The “Final Critique,” where we reflect on how far we’ve come
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CREDIT
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