Award Name

Idea-Tops takes from the meaning of "top idea". It's positioning itself to be an international space design award, which focuses on aspects of international, professional, authoritative and academic development.

Purpose

Idea-Tops discovers and praises designers and design works, which are creative in the space form, technology application, art performance and cultural presentation. Idea-Tops Award aims to identify designers and design institutions that have completed outstanding and innovative projects in the fields of urban design, architectural design, interior design, landscape design and sustainable development in terms of spatial form, technology application, artistic expression and cultural characteristics. It aims to create the most thoughtful and influential design award in the world, and promote the development of design industry with the highest professional standard, strict professional responsibility and excellent professional communication.

Operating Organization

Shenzhen East Sun-Flying Culture Communication Co., Ltd. is the general operating organization of Idea-Tops Award.

Award Categories

A.Urban Design

Includes new urban design, town planning, urban renewal, urban village reconstruction, street reconstruction etc.

B. Architecture Design

1. Cultural Architecture Design: museums, art galleries, libraries, exhibition halls, concert halls and other cultural and art centers.
2. Educational Architecture Design: all kinds of schools, kindergartens, campus offices and dormitory buildings.
3. Residential Architecture Design: the residential buildings,such as single family house, row, low, middle and high-rise apartments, etc.
4. Commercial Architecture Design: shopping malls, shopping centers, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment buildings.
5. Public Architecture Design: office buildings, science and technology parks, urban complexes, sports facilities, transportation buildings, exhibition buildings and other public buildings.
6. Green Architecture Design:  the architectural design that aims to save resources, protect the environment, reduce environmental impact and harm, and provide people with a healthy lifestyle in harmony with nature.
7. Prefabricated Architecture Design: various buildings built with the help of prefabricated design.

C. Landscape design

1. Urban Landscape Design: urban parks, squares, blocks, and other public environment landscape design.
2. Community Landscape Design: garden landscape, community garden landscape, community open spacesand other landscape design.
3. Ecological Landscape Design: landscape design of scenic spots, country parks, forest parks, geoparks, and natural reserves.

D. Interior Design

1. Cultural Space Design: public spaces for cultural and educational functions,such as schools, churches, museums, concert halls, theaters, etc.
2. Office Space Design: all kinds of office premises, including the corporate headquarters buildings, financial institutions, business premises, small offices, shared offices etc.
3. Commercial Space Design: shopping malls, specialty stores, retail stores, hairdressing centers, bookstores, and other commercial spaces.
4. Exhibition Space Design: products of exhibition halls or other products different from retail stores, service publicity and exhibition venues, including real estate marketing centers, temporary exhibition halls, etc.
5. Dinning Space Design: all kindsof restaurants and dinning areas,such as theme restaurants, taverns, special style restaurants, chain restaurants, etc.
6. Entertainment Space Design:  all kinds of bars, nightclubs, and other entertainment venues.
7. Hotel Design: all kinds of hotels (that should include rooms, lobby, public service space, etc.)
8. Club Design: clubhouses, SPA centres and other leisure places.
9. Residential Space Design: design of living spaces such as villas, apartments and collective houses.
10. Display Art Design: interior soft design including furniture, soft decoration, decorative painting, art ornaments, etc.

E. Lighting Environment Design:

1. Urban Architecture Lighting Design:night scene lighting design of external light environment of buildings, as well as squares, parks, public spaces, courtyards, amusement parks, etc.
2. Interior Architecture Lighting Design: lighting environment design inside various public buildings, including culture and art, commerce, entertainment, and exhibition buildings.

F. Urban Public Art:

Various art works placed in urban public spaces, including art installations, light and shadow art, technology-inspired art, urban sculpture, etc.

Processes of Award

1. Awards: from low to high: City Shortlist Award, “City TOP10”, Country Shortlist Award “Country TOP50”, Global Shortlist Award “Global TOP5”, Global Best Design Award. In addition, special awards can be created.

2. Selection process:
1) City Shortlist Award: the expert jury will evaluate the entries from the city, select the winners of the City Shortlist Award in various professional categories, and award them with the honorary certificate Idea-Tops Award · City Shortlist Award.
2) City TOP10: only entries from City Shortlist Award are eligible to enter the evaluation for City TOP10, that are selected by the expert jury and awarded Idea-Tops Award · City TOP10 honorary certificate.
3) Country Shortlist Award “Country TOP50”: only entries from City TOP10 from different cities are eligible to enter the evaluation for Country Shortlist Award “Country TOP50”. The expert jury will evaluate the entries in different professional categories, and award winners the medal and Idea-Tops Award · Country Shortlist Award “Country TOP50” honorary certificate.
4) Global Shortlist Award Global TOP5: only winners from Country Shortlist Award “Country TOP50” are eligible to enter the evaluation for Global Shortlist Award “Global TOP5” of Idea-Tops Award. The international jury of Idea-Tops Award will evaluate the entries and select 5 entries for each category, the winners will be awarded medals and Idea-Tops Award · Global Shortlist Award “Global TOP5” honorary certificate.

5) Global Best Design Award
The international jury of Idea-Tops Award will evaluate and select the entries among the Global Shortlist Award “Global TOP5” and choose one winner in each category. The winners will be awarded the trophies and Idea-Tops Award · Global Best Design Award honorary certificate.
6) According to the quality of the entries, all or part of the awards of all categories can be left vacant.

Participation Qualification

1. Idea-Tops is open to the global architecture and interior design community, and has no restrictions on ethnicity, religion, region, or nationality.
2. The location of projects is not restricted, but entries submitted must have been completed in the last two years. The submission must provide realistic photos.
3. Works created collectively must be marked with the name of the main creative designer or the name of the main creative design company.
4. If the entries are cooperative projects, the cooperative units and their respective divisions of labor must be indicated.Entries submitted in an unspecified manner will be disregarded.

Submission Period

The competition starts on December 1, The deadline is July 31 of the second year.（Submission deadline for the 14 Idea-Tops Award: December 31, 2024）

Submission Processes

Please follow the guidelines below:

1. Go to official website of Idea-Tops Award (www.idea-tops.com), choose language and sign up.
2. Upload your entries and submit entry materials. The information to be submitted includes:
1) At least 10 realistic photos (JPG, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP format, with resolution not less than 300dpi), that fully reflect the creative highlights and styles of the entry.
2) No more than 5 photos of floor plans and other related drawings, that can show the features of the entry with the resolution at least 300 dpi.
3) Text description of design concept (no more than 2000 words).
3. After uploading the submission materials, proceed with online payment. Once the payment is successful, the submission is completed.
4. Fill in the application form of Idea-Tops Award online and enter the evaluation system. The organizer will review the submitted materials and guide the participants to make corrections in case there are incomplete, incorrect or unqualified entries. If entries are not corrected within the agreed time limit, they will be disqualified. Participants should select the design category carefully when submitting projects, if a participant cannot determine the category, he/she can consult with the organizer.

Standard of Entry Fee

1. Mainland China and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Regions: 800 RMB /one category; overseas participants: $150 /one category.
2. The entry fee will be paid upon confirmation of the entry.Once a submission fee is paid, there are no refunds provided. Regardless of the result of the competition, including disqualification, the fee will not be refunded.

Jury

1.The responsibilities of jury include formulating and revising the evaluation rules and implementation measures of the award, selecting annual evaluation members, participating in the annual evaluation meeting, reviewing the final winners, etc.
2.The divisional jury are appointed by the divisional executive committee and consists of local and overseas experts.
3.The international jury of Idea-Tops Award consists of senior global experts, scholars, leading architects and designers, financial experts, and influential media editors.
4.All jury responsible for the Idea-Tops evaluation of winning works (including the divisional jury) jointly sign a letter of appointment provided by the Organizing Committee of Idea-Tops.

Judging Principles

With the principles of being professional, rigorous, impartial, and fair, Idea-Tops conducts the judging with high professional standard, responsibility and rigorous attitude, each of the judges complies with the contest rules and regulations, respects each participant and their works, and evaluates all the entries in a fair manner.

Judging Criteria

The Idea-Tops Award will be reviewed according to the four aspects of innovation, function, artistry and environmental protection.

1. Innovation: the entry has special and original design concept, distinct and unique characteristics.
1) Innovative design concept and method;
2) Creative technology and materials;
3) Original and exquisite expression of design art.

2. Functionality: the entry has scientific design, rational function, and meets professional standards.
1) Ingenious function and creative application;
2) Reasonable arrangement of functions, which focuses on users' needs;
3) Perfect combination of function, technology, and environment.

3. Artistry: the entry has high-level aesthetic taste that shows humanistic characteristics and connotation.
1) Novel and original performance of art;
2) Excellent humanistic connotation, outstanding features of regional culture and art;
3) Perfect combination of art and engineering technology.

4. Environmental protection: the entry reflects ecological civilization and complies with environmental requirements.
1) The entry creates and leads a green and ecological lifestyle;
2) The designer makes full use of green science and technology, combines environmental protection with innovative science and technology perfectly.
3) The designer understands and takes full advantage of geographical and environmental characteristics, establishes an environment-friendly living environment.

Judging Processes

1. Idea-Tops Award review of entriesis conducted through Idea-Tops online evaluation system. Offline evaluation and reviewing of materials can be added if needed to ensure the scientificity and preciseness of the evaluation. The jury shall examine all the entriessubmitted by the participants, determine whether they conform to the rules and conditions, and exclude any which do not.
2. The whole evaluation process shall be carried out according to the judging criteria. If there are objections to individual entries, reconsideration shall be organized, and the juryshall write award-winning comments at the international final evaluation sta

Authorization of Idea-Tops Divisions

1. In order to discover and explore outstanding design talents and design teams,and build an excellent global event operation platform, divisions (competition areas) can be set in all countries around the world. Organizations that meet the conditions can authorize the establishment of Idea-Tops Award competition areas. The competition area implements the authorization system. The applicant organization can carry out the operation of the competition area only after obtaining the written authorization of the general operation organization of Idea-Tops Award.
2. According to the actual situation of each country or region, the “Regulations on the Operation of Idea-Tops Division” can be additionally formulated and signed.
3. Representative offices can be set up in countries or regions that have not yet established Idea-Tops division. The representative offices are in charge of collection of Idea-Tops entries, publicity and promotion, and the establishment of the division.

Organization of Idea-Tops Divisions

Every Idea-Tops division may establish an Executive Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Executive Committee of XX Division) and take charge of planning different competition affairs with the written authorization of Idea-Tops Award headquarters. Members of the Executive Committee are famous designers, experts, scholars, and celebrities in real estate industry, media and other fields of architecture and design.

Responsibilities of Idea-Tops Divisions

1. Each division undertakes the responsibilities of Idea-Tops Awardpromotion, entry collection and other affairs.
2. Idea-Tops Award headquarters is directly responsible for the evaluation of projects from each division and announcement of the winners.
3. Each division can organize its own awarding ceremony. The awarding  ceremony can be held only after the activity plan is submitted to Idea-Tops Award headquarters for deliberation and approval.

Award Presentation

1. As an important award for outstanding talent in architecture and interior design, winning the Idea-Tops award is a global recognition and honor in the design world.
2. The awarding ceremony of Idea-Tops Award is held to present the prizes to the winners of Idea-Tops Award and to highlight the recognition and respect for outstanding design talents.
3. The global awarding ceremony of Idea-Tops Award is held annually in November (the specific date shall be subject to the announcement of Idea-Tops Award Organizing Committee).
4. Winners can download the electronic award certificate on the official website of Idea-Tops Award (www.idea-tops.com).

Award Withdrawal

If it's officially confirmed that an award-winning work has violated the design rights and intellectual property rights of others, the Idea-Tops Organizing Committee has the right to withdraw the issued trophies, medals and award certificates, and make a relevant announcement on Idea-Tops official website.

Award Promotion

1. Collection of entries: official website of Idea-Tops Award (www.idea-tops.com) permanently contains information about the winners and all the award-winning projects.
2. Publication of the Yearbook : Idea-Tops Award Organizing Committee can issue a Yearbook of Idea-Tops Award winning works.
3. Tour Promotion : Idea-Tops Award Organizing Committee will hold online and other promotional events to showcase the award-winning works, spread the forward-looking innovative ideas, demonstrate creative wisdom of Idea-Tops Award designers, and to enhance public influence.
4. Global Recognition : Idea-Tops encourages projects cooperation and academic exchange activities among global partners and urban divisions to promote international design exchange and cooperation.
5. Media Dissemination: The shortlisted works of Idea-Tops Award will be displayed both online and offline. The winners and their works will be promoted through the mass-media partners of Idea-Tops Award, that include domestic and foreign media, magazines, Internet websites, social media accounts, etc.
6. Business Opportunities : Ides-Tops award advocates “good projects and good designs”, and encourages global partners, national and regional divisions to build collaborative platforms for high-quality projects and winners of Idea-Tops Award.

Legal Notice

1. Contestants shall provide real personal data when registering. The organizer of the competition will not make substantive examination on the identity of the contestants. However, once the personal data is found to be untrue or incorrect, they will lose the opportunity to win the award and publish their works.

2. Participants must ensure the originality of their works, not plagiarize others' works, and ensure that they do not infringe any third-party intellectual property or other rights. In case of violation of others, the contestants shall be fully liable for compensation, and the Organizing Committee, organizers and third-parties of Idea-Tops Award shall not bear any responsibility. If the organizer suffers losses due to the infringement of contestants, the organizer has the right to require the compensation.

3. The contestants shall be responsible for all intellectual property protection issues related to their entries, and the Idea-Tops Award Organizing Committee, organizers and third-parties shall not bear any responsibility for this.

4. The winners acknowledge and agree to provide and grant the Organizing Committee of Idea-Tops Award the following rights free of charge:
1) The Organizing Committee has the right to use the award-winning works as non-commercial, publish and publicize them;
2) The Organizing Committee has the right to publish and display the award-winning works;
3) The Organizing Committee is not responsible for verifying the false declaration of works. In case of copyright disputes, the contestants shall be responsible for their actions themselves.

5. Participants are advised to read carefully the terms of these Regulations. Participating in the award means that you agree to and abide by all the terms of these Regulations.

Supplementary articles

1. The Idea-Tops Organizing Committee reserves the right to the final interpretation of the above terms.
2. These Regulations of Idea-Tops Award shall come into force on January 19, 2022, and the original Regulations shall be invalid.