ALA Awards
Napkin Sketch Contest
Great buildings start as small drawings. The ALA Napkin Sketch Contest celebrates the hand drawn idea: one sketch, one napkin, and whatever you can say with it. Architects, students, and people who simply love to draw all enter side by side.
The Winning Sketches
Three winners are chosen each year. See every winning sketch, and the full field of entries, in the archive.
2025 Grand Prize
Gregory Klosowski of Pappageorge Haymes Partners took the 2025 Grand Prize with the 2025 theme, Light and Shadow. The winning sketches were celebrated at the ALA Design Awards Gala at Medinah Country Club and appear in the 2025 Design Awards issue.
How the contest works
The sketch
One hand drawn sketch on a 5 inch by 5 inch format. It can show a real or imagined space, an interior or an exterior. If you can draw it, you can enter it.
The medium
Any medium works: pencil, ink, watercolor, or mixed media. Choose whatever gets the idea across best.
The judging
A panel of judges reviews every entry on creativity, originality, and technical skill.
Who can enter
The contest is open to everyone: ALA members and non members, students in architecture and design programs, design professionals, and the general public. No license required, just a good idea and a steady enough hand.
Award categories
Grand Prize
Best overall sketch.
Professional
Top entry by a licensed architect or design professional.
Student
Best sketch by a student.
General Public
Top entry by a non professional.
Where winners are featured
Winners are featured on alatoday.org, on ALA's LinkedIn and Facebook channels, and on ArchitectureFocus, our partner site. The Grand Prize winner is showcased at the ALA Design Awards Gala at Medinah Country Club, and winning sketches may also appear in ALA's newsletter.
The next contest
The 2026 theme is Portals and Gateways. Sketches are being collected at ALA events this fall, starting with Coffee with Architects in Elgin on September 5. The online entry deadline will be announced here and in ALA member emails. Questions in the meantime? The ALA office can help: ALA@licensedarchitect.org or 847.382.0630.
The Design Awards