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
Each year the judges award a Grand Prize and name winners in the Professional, Student and General Public categories. 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.
2026 winners
Theme: Portals and Gateways. Entries closed at 11:59 PM Central on Sunday, October 11, 2026. James Dunn won the 2026 Grand Prize, with winners named in the Professional, Student and General Public categories. See the 2026 winners and their sketches.
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.
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 is required.
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 the ALA website, 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. Entries closed on Sunday, October 11, 2026, and the winners are announced at the Design Awards Gala on November 5. Questions? The ALA office can help: ALA@licensedarchitect.org or 847.382.0630.
The Design Awards