The Architect's Chair - 8,000 € - Registration Deadline 03 December 2026
Dec 3, 2025
2 min read
Some of the most enduring objects in design history were never meant to be buildings. Charles and Ray Eames, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer, and Arne Jacobsen all understood that a chair could carry as much architectural thought as a facade or a floor plan. A single seat, built with the right intention, can hold an entire design philosophy in its frame.
PRIZE FUND: 8,000 €
1ST PLACE: 3,500 €
2ND PLACE: 2,000 €
3RD PLACE: 1,000 €
Student Award: 1,000 €
Sustainability Award: 500 €
DATE:
Closing date for registration: 03 December 2026
Competition Q&A deadline: 08 December 2026
Closing date for submission: 05 January 2027 - 23:59 (London Time)
Announcement of the winners: 10 February 2027
PARTICIPANT: Everyone (No professional qualifications required)
COST:
Advanced (24 Jul - 24 Sep): 120 € (Students: 110€)
Last Minute (25 Sep - 03 Dec): 140 € (Students: 120€)
That tradition continues with the sixth edition of the Architect's Chair Competition, developed in partnership with the Stockholm Furniture Fair. The brief is refreshingly focused: design a signature chair. Nothing more, nothing less — and yet within that single object lies room for architects and designers everywhere to explore material, structure, craft, and identity at an intimate scale.
Where architecture asks designers to think in decades and city blocks, this competition asks them to think in centimeters and curves. It's an invitation to slow down, distill a design philosophy into its purest form, and let a chair speak for a body of ideas.
This year's edition carries particular weight. By aligning the evaluation process with the Stockholm Furniture Fair itself, submissions won't just be judged in isolation — they'll enter direct dialogue with the architects, manufacturers, and design leaders shaping the industry's next chapter. For the winners, that conversation continues on the fair floor, where their chairs will be exhibited before an international audience.
From the molded plywood of the Eames Lounge Chair to the taut steel lines of the Barcelona Chair, architect-designed furniture has always done double duty: it's functional, and it's a manifesto. The Architect's Chair Competition simply asks a new generation to write the next line of that manifesto — one chair at a time.
Ready to turn your design philosophy into a seat worth sitting in? This is your chance to join a legacy shaped by the greats and put your own signature on it. Take a seat, and make your statement.
