Key facts
- Type
- Competition
- Provider
- Aibuild
- Deadline
- 10/22/2026
In short
The Open Chair International Design Competition challenges participants to design a full-scale chair using digital fabrication and open design principles. The chair must be producible with a standard home 3D printer, assemble with minimal tools, and be shared as an open design. The competition is open to a wide range of creative individuals and teams, with monetary prizes and certificates awarded to top entries.
Call for Entries: Open Chair International Design Competition
By Aibuild
CompetitionAccepting applications nowApply by 10/22/202636 days left
Reimagine the chair through digital fabrication and open design.
Design Challenge
Full-scale chair design, 3D printable on a home printer.
Project Scope
Open internationally to various creative professionals and students.
Eligibility
Prizes include monetary awards and certificates.
Awards
Overview
The Open Chair International Design Competition, in partnership with Aibuild, is a global ideas competition for architects, designers, makers, engineers, and creative thinkers. Participants are invited to reimagine the chair, a historically significant object, through the contemporary lens of digital fabrication and open design principles. The competition seeks to explore how desktop manufacturing and accessible digital fabrication are transforming the way objects are designed and made. Participants are tasked with designing a full-scale chair that adheres to specific production criteria: it must be capable of being fabricated using a standard home 3D printer, assembled with minimal tools, and intended to be shared freely as an open design. This challenge extends beyond mere aesthetics, emphasizing systems thinking, fabrication strategy, assembly logic, and overall design excellence. The competition encourages proposals that achieve a balance between visual appeal and practical buildability. Designs should not only be visually compelling but also realistically printable, constructible, and reproducible. The clarity of the idea and the intelligence of its execution are paramount, regardless of whether the proposal is minimal, complex, experimental, or conventional. The competition is open internationally to students, graduates, professionals, makers, and multidisciplinary teams. Selected projects will gain exposure through Creathlon's platforms, and monetary awards will be presented to the winning proposals.
What to build
A full-scale chair that can be fabricated using a standard home 3D printer, assembled with minimal tools, and shared freely as an open design. The design should balance beauty with buildability, ensuring it is visually compelling, realistically printable, constructible, and reproducible.
Prizes
1st Prize
+ Certificate
£600
2nd Prize
+ Certificate
£300
3rd Prize
+ Certificate
£100
Honourable Mentions
N/A
Key dates
- Registration Closes2026-10-22
- Submission Deadline2026-11-06
- Winners Announced2027-01-12
Submission requirements
- Design a full-scale chair.
- The chair must be fabricable using a standard home 3D printer.
- The chair must be assembled with minimal tools.
- The chair design must be shared freely as an open design.
Judging criteria
- Clarity of the idea
- Intelligence of its execution
- Balance of beauty with buildability
- Realistically printable, constructible, and reproducible
Sponsors & partners
AibuildCreathlon