Submission, Copyright & AI

The Competition encourages ambitious, experimental, and original architectural ideas that explore the relationship between architecture, artificial intelligence, computation, digital design, and emerging creative technologies.

Participants may use a broad range of digital and physical methods to develop their proposals, including artificial intelligence, generative systems, computational design, parametric modeling, conventional architectural software, rendering tools, digital fabrication, physical models, photography, drawing, collage, post-production, and other creative techniques consistent with the Competition brief.

The Competition does not require a project to be created exclusively using artificial intelligence unless expressly stated otherwise in the Competition brief.

AI should be understood as a design medium or component of the participant’s creative process rather than as an exemption from authorship, originality, legal compliance, or professional responsibility.

Every participant remains responsible for the materials they submit regardless of the tools used to create them.

Participants must submit all materials specified in the official Competition brief and submission guidelines by the applicable deadline.

Required materials may include architectural presentation boards, visualizations, drawings, diagrams, written descriptions, animations, videos, process documentation, AI workflow information, project metadata, team information, and other materials reasonably required by the Organizer.

All submitted files must comply with the required format, dimensions, resolution, naming convention, file-size limits, language requirements, and anonymity requirements where applicable.

The Organizer may exclude materials that are materially incomplete, inaccessible, corrupted, incorrectly formatted, submitted after the deadline, or otherwise fail to satisfy the published submission requirements.

Participants are responsible for maintaining original and backup copies of all submitted materials.

Every Competition entry must represent a genuine creative contribution by the registered participant or team.

Participants may use AI-generated, computationally generated, procedurally generated, or otherwise machine-assisted content, provided that the overall submission reflects meaningful creative direction, selection, development, authorship, or design decision-making by the participant.

By submitting an entry, each participant represents and warrants that they have the legal authority to submit the work and that, to the best of their knowledge, the submission does not unlawfully copy, reproduce, imitate, or appropriate protected material belonging to another person or organization.

Participants must not knowingly submit another architect’s, designer’s, artist’s, student’s, studio’s, or team’s project as their own.

Existing projects may not simply be re-rendered, restyled, or transformed using AI and presented as an original Competition proposal where the underlying design belongs to another party and the participant lacks the necessary permission.

The use of AI does not convert unauthorized source material into original work.

The Competition permits and encourages the responsible use of artificial intelligence where consistent with the Competition brief.

Permitted AI-assisted workflows may include, without limitation, text-to-image generation, image-to-image generation, generative visualization, concept development, language models, generative video, AI-assisted modeling, material exploration, image enhancement, upscaling, post-production, generative scripting, computational workflows, machine learning, and combinations of AI and conventional design software.

Participants are free to select the tools that best support their creative process unless a particular tool, workflow, or technology is expressly prohibited by the Competition rules.

Use of a particular AI platform, model, or software does not confer preferential treatment during judging unless the official judging criteria expressly state otherwise.

The Competition evaluates the resulting architectural proposition and its relationship to the Competition brief, not merely the participant’s ability to produce visually impressive AI-generated imagery.

The Competition recognizes that contemporary design processes may involve varying degrees of collaboration between human designers and computational or AI systems.

Participants are expected to exercise meaningful creative judgment over their submissions. Such judgment may include developing the architectural concept, defining design objectives, creating or selecting prompts, developing spatial strategies, choosing and refining outputs, combining multiple methods, constructing models, controlling geometry, editing generated material, developing drawings, testing iterations, establishing narratives, or otherwise directing the project.

The Organizer does not prescribe a universal percentage of “human” versus “AI” authorship.

However, participants must not materially misrepresent the nature of their creative contribution.

If a participant presents a generated result as a manually modeled, photographed, fabricated, constructed, or independently authored artifact when that representation is materially false and relevant to the evaluation of the project, the Organizer may treat the representation as misleading.

Transparency concerning AI use is an important principle of the Competition.

Where requested as part of the submission process, participants must identify the principal AI tools, models, platforms, or generative systems materially used to develop the project.

The Organizer may require a concise AI Process Statement describing how AI contributed to the development of the submission.

Such disclosure may include, where relevant:

• principal AI platforms or models used;
• the role AI played in concept generation or development;
• whether image-to-image or reference-image workflows were used;
• other significant software used alongside AI; and
• significant human modifications or design development following generation.

Participants are not ordinarily required to disclose every individual prompt, intermediate image, software operation, or minor tool used during the design process unless specifically requested.

However, the Organizer may request additional process information from finalists, potential winners, or participants whose submissions raise reasonable questions regarding authorship, originality, eligibility, or compliance.

Failure to provide reasonably requested verification information may result in exclusion or disqualification.

Unless specifically required by the Competition brief, participants are not required to publicly disclose their complete prompts, prompt libraries, custom workflows, scripts, proprietary techniques, or other confidential process information.

Where process information is submitted privately for verification, the Organizer will use reasonable efforts to limit its use to Competition administration, verification, editorial analysis, or other purposes permitted under the Competition Terms.

The Organizer may request representative screenshots, source files, iteration histories, prompts, model files, metadata, timestamps, or other reasonable evidence where necessary to investigate suspected plagiarism, false authorship, manipulation, or other Competition violations.

The absence of a particular type of process record shall not automatically establish wrongdoing. Verification will be assessed reasonably based on the circumstances and available evidence.

Participants may use reference images, sketches, photographs, models, diagrams, renders, or other source materials as part of an AI-assisted workflow only where their use is lawful.

Participants should use their own materials, public-domain materials, appropriately licensed materials, or materials they otherwise have the legal right to use.

Where third-party copyrighted material is used as a material input, participants are responsible for determining whether that use is authorized by license, permission, applicable law, or another lawful basis.

Participants must not knowingly use a protected architectural project, artwork, photograph, visualization, or other work as a source for the purpose of producing a substantially derivative Competition submission where doing so would infringe the rights of the original creator.

The fact that an AI platform technically permits the upload or processing of a reference image does not mean that the participant has the legal right to use that image.

Competition submissions may incorporate third-party materials where the participant has sufficient rights to use them.

Examples may include textures, fonts, photographs, stock imagery, 3D assets, models, datasets, maps, GIS information, plugins, software outputs, open-source resources, or other licensed content.

Participants are solely responsible for reviewing and complying with the licenses applicable to third-party materials.

Where attribution is legally or contractually required, participants must provide the required attribution.

Participants should retain records of relevant licenses, permissions, purchases, or other authorization for material third-party elements included in their submissions.

The Organizer may request evidence of such authorization where reasonably necessary.

Participants are responsible for understanding and complying with the terms applicable to the AI tools and platforms they use.

Different AI providers may impose different rules concerning ownership, commercial use, attribution, privacy, training data, account status, or generated content.

The Organizer does not warrant or represent that content produced through any particular AI system is owned by the participant, qualifies for copyright protection, is non-infringing, or may lawfully be used for every purpose contemplated by the participant.

A participant’s ability to submit AI-generated material depends upon the participant having sufficient rights and authority to make the submission and grant the rights required under the Competition Terms.

The Competition may involve technology companies, sponsors, or prize providers, including OpenAI, as identified in official Competition materials.

Unless expressly stated otherwise in official Competition materials or a written agreement, the involvement of a technology provider does not mean that participants are required to use that provider’s technology.

Participants may use other eligible AI and design tools consistent with the Competition brief.

The use or non-use of OpenAI products or any other specific platform shall not, by itself, improve or reduce a participant’s chances of receiving an award unless expressly included in the published judging criteria.

Any credits, services, accounts, or other benefits provided by a technology partner may be subject to that provider’s independent terms, eligibility requirements, geographic limitations, account requirements, expiration periods, usage policies, and availability.

Nothing in the Competition materials should be interpreted as granting participants rights in the names, logos, trademarks, technologies, models, or intellectual property of OpenAI or any other Competition partner.

Copyright and related laws concerning AI-generated material continue to differ among jurisdictions and may evolve over time.

Some AI-generated material may not qualify for copyright protection, or protection may extend only to aspects reflecting sufficient human authorship.

Participants acknowledge this uncertainty.

Parametric Architecture, LLC does not provide legal advice concerning whether a participant owns copyright in any particular AI-generated element.

Regardless of whether individual AI-generated components qualify independently for copyright protection, participants remain responsible for ensuring that they have sufficient rights to submit the complete Competition materials and permit the uses authorized under the Competition Terms.

Subject to the rights of third parties and the legal status of AI-generated components, participants retain such ownership rights as they lawfully possess in their underlying original architectural designs and creative work.

Participation in the Competition does not transfer ownership of a participant’s underlying design practice, pre-existing intellectual property, proprietary design systems, software, methodologies, trademarks, or unrelated work to Parametric Architecture, LLC.

However, all Competition submissions are subject to the broad publication, reproduction, adaptation, promotional, educational, archival, and other usage rights granted to Parametric Architecture, LLC under the Competition Terms and this Policy.

By submitting materials to CartesianForms: Architecture Reimagined, each participant grants Parametric Architecture, LLC a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid-up, transferable and sublicensable license to use the submitted Competition materials.

This includes the right to host, store, reproduce, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, exhibit, communicate to the public, broadcast, translate, crop, resize, reformat, edit, annotate, adapt, archive, promote, advertise, and otherwise use submitted materials, in whole or in part, in any medium or format now known or later developed.

These rights may be exercised in connection with the Competition, Parametric Architecture, PAACADEMY, future editions of CartesianForms, editorial publications, websites, social media, newsletters, books, magazines, videos, documentaries, podcasts, exhibitions, events, presentations, lectures, reports, educational materials, research, case studies, advertising, public relations, promotional campaigns, partner communications, media coverage, and archival activities.

Parametric Architecture, LLC may authorize its affiliates, platforms, publishers, media partners, sponsors, promotional partners, contractors, service providers, successors, and other authorized parties to exercise these rights in connection with permitted activities.

The rights granted under this section do not require Parametric Architecture, LLC to publish or otherwise use any submission.

No additional royalty, licensing fee, publication fee, or other compensation shall be owed to a participant for uses authorized by this Policy and the Competition Terms.

The Organizer may make reasonable modifications to submitted materials for publication, exhibition, promotion, editorial presentation, technical compatibility, or communication.

Such modifications may include cropping, resizing, compression, layout adjustments, translation, formatting, excerpts, typography, captioning, sequencing, video editing, conversion between formats, and the addition of Competition branding or contextual information.

The Organizer will not intentionally make material modifications that falsely attribute a fundamentally different design position to the participant.

Where commercially and practically reasonable, the Organizer intends to credit the relevant participant or team when prominently publishing submitted work. However, an inadvertent omission, technical limitation, formatting issue, temporary lack of attribution, or third-party republication outside the Organizer’s control shall not constitute a material breach of this Policy.

Participants acknowledge that Competition submissions may receive international editorial, social media, exhibition, or promotional exposure.

The rights granted to Parametric Architecture, LLC include the ability to provide or sublicense submitted materials to authorized Competition partners, sponsors, publishers, media organizations, exhibitions, educational organizations, and promotional channels for Competition-related and associated editorial or promotional purposes.

Where a third-party publisher independently wishes to use a submission outside the scope of rights granted through the Organizer, that publisher may need to obtain any additional rights required by applicable law directly from the participant.

Unless the Competition brief expressly permits otherwise, the principal architectural proposal submitted to the Competition should be created for or genuinely developed in response to CartesianForms: Architecture Reimagined.

Participants must not submit a previously completed project as a new Competition proposal merely by changing its title, presentation, rendering style, or AI treatment.

The Organizer may permit the incorporation of pre-existing research, design techniques, scripts, computational systems, prototypes, studies, or other background material where such material contributes to a substantially new Competition proposal.

If a participant is uncertain whether previous work may be incorporated, the participant should seek clarification from the Organizer before the submission deadline.

Participants may not submit academic, professional, commissioned, employer-owned, client-owned, or collaborative work unless they possess sufficient authority to do so.

Where a project was developed within a university, architecture practice, design studio, company, research laboratory, or other organization, the participant is responsible for determining whether that organization, instructor, employer, client, collaborator, or funding body holds rights that affect submission.

Registration in the Competition does not override employment agreements, university policies, client contracts, confidentiality obligations, intellectual property assignments, or other pre-existing legal obligations.

Participants must not submit confidential, proprietary, classified, trade-secret, personally sensitive, or contractually restricted information unless they have explicit authority to disclose and publish it.

Competition submissions should be treated as materials intended for potential public disclosure.

Participants should assume that submitted presentation materials may eventually be published online, displayed publicly, distributed to jurors, provided to authorized partners, or used in Competition-related media.

The Organizer is not responsible for protecting confidential information voluntarily included in a Competition submission contrary to this Policy.

Plagiarism is prohibited.

The Organizer recognizes that architectural concepts, visual styles, AI outputs, prompts, and design methodologies may sometimes produce similarities between independently created works. Similarity alone does not necessarily establish plagiarism.

Where substantial similarity raises a reasonable concern, the Organizer may consider available evidence concerning the participant’s process, chronology, source materials, design development, AI workflow, and other relevant circumstances.

The Organizer may request additional information from the participant and may consult jurors, independent experts, rights holders, technology providers, or legal advisers where appropriate.

The Organizer is not required to establish copyright infringement to the standard required in a court of law before taking reasonable Competition-administration measures. Where credible evidence demonstrates a material violation of Competition rules, the Organizer may disqualify the submission to protect the integrity of the Competition.

The Organizer may conduct enhanced verification of shortlisted, finalist, and winning submissions.

Participants selected for verification may be asked to provide reasonable evidence of their creative process, which may include selected work-in-progress files, sketches, model files, screenshots, generation histories, prompts, metadata, software files, timestamps, or explanations of the design workflow.

Verification requests will be proportionate to the circumstances and are intended to protect participants, jurors, the Organizer, and the credibility of the Competition.

Failure or refusal to provide reasonable verification information may result in removal from consideration where the Organizer cannot otherwise establish compliance with the Competition requirements.

Fabricated evidence or intentionally manipulated verification materials constitute grounds for immediate disqualification.

A participant or third-party rights holder who reasonably believes that a Competition submission violates their intellectual property rights may contact the Organizer using the official Competition contact channel.

A complaint should identify the allegedly infringing submission, the protected work or rights involved, the complainant’s relationship to those rights, and sufficient information for the Organizer to understand the basis of the claim.

The Organizer may request additional evidence.

Upon receiving a credible complaint, the Organizer may temporarily remove a submission from publication, suspend its eligibility, withhold an award, request information from the participant, or take other reasonable measures while reviewing the matter.

The Organizer’s Competition-related review does not constitute a judicial determination of intellectual property ownership or infringement.

Participants remain responsible for resolving substantive legal disputes with third-party rights holders.

A participant may be disqualified where the Organizer reasonably determines that the submission involves material plagiarism, unauthorized copying, false authorship, significant undisclosed third-party work, intentionally misleading AI disclosure, fabricated verification evidence, infringement of third-party rights, violation of applicable law, or a material breach of this Policy or the Competition Terms.

Disqualification may occur before or after finalist or winner announcements.

Where a violation is discovered after an award has been granted, the Organizer may revoke the participant’s award, title, certificate, publication status, and other Competition recognition and, where legally permissible, require the return of prizes already provided.

The Organizer may also remove infringing or otherwise non-compliant materials from its websites, publications, social media, archives, or other channels where appropriate.

Submission does not guarantee publication, exhibition, finalist status, award, media coverage, commercial opportunity, intellectual property protection, or professional recognition.

The Organizer does not undertake to register, enforce, monitor, or defend copyright, design rights, patents, trademarks, or other intellectual property on behalf of participants.

Participants who believe their designs require formal intellectual property protection are responsible for obtaining independent professional advice and taking any necessary steps before publicly submitting their work.

Participants should understand that Competition submission may constitute public disclosure and, depending on applicable law, public disclosure can affect certain intellectual property rights, including potential patent or registered-design rights.

Each participant remains legally responsible for their Competition submission.

Parametric Architecture, LLC does not assume responsibility for determining whether a participant’s use of third-party materials, AI-generated content, datasets, software, images, architectural references, or other resources is lawful.

Acceptance of a submission, publication of a submission, finalist selection, or granting of an award does not constitute a representation by the Organizer that the submission is free from third-party claims.

If a third-party claim arises from materials supplied by a participant, the indemnification and other protections contained in the Competition Terms & Conditions shall apply.

This Policy supplements the CartesianForms: Architecture Reimagined Competition Terms & Conditions.

All intellectual property licenses, representations, warranties, indemnification obligations, liability limitations, dispute provisions, governing-law provisions, and other protections contained in the Competition Terms remain fully applicable.

Nothing in this Policy shall be interpreted as limiting rights previously granted to Parametric Architecture, LLC under the Competition Terms.

If any provision of this Policy conflicts with the Competition Terms, the Competition Terms shall control unless expressly stated otherwise.

Parametric Architecture, LLC may reasonably update this Policy to respond to developments in artificial intelligence, intellectual property law, Competition administration, technology, security, or applicable legal requirements.

Material changes affecting registered participants will be communicated through the Competition website or another reasonable official channel.

The version displaying the latest revision date shall constitute the current version.

Questions concerning submissions, copyright, AI usage, authorship, or this Policy should be submitted through the official contact information provided on the CartesianForms: Architecture Reimagined Competition website.

By submitting work to CartesianForms: Architecture Reimagined, each participant confirms that they have the authority to submit the materials provided; have complied with applicable rules governing AI and third-party content; have not knowingly submitted plagiarized or unlawfully copied work; understand the disclosure and verification requirements of the Competition; grant Parametric Architecture, LLC the rights described in this Policy and the Competition Terms; and accept responsibility for the legality and integrity of their submission.