Celebrating 42 years of excellence, ARKWIZ 2026 returns to once again challenge the nation’s brightest architecture students in a prestigious competition of knowledge, skill, and design excellence.
Hosted by the UP Architecture Forum, established in 1984, ARKWIZ 2026 has become one of the Philippines’ most anticipated premier national architectural quiz bees. It was created to provide opportunities for architecture students in learning, camaraderie, and healthy competition.
Defending champions from Pangasinan State University – Urdaneta will be returning to defend their title, with the runners-up from the University of Mindanao looking to finally take the top spot, alongside many other challengers from all over the country eager for the throne.
With ARKWIZ 2026, Daily Mobility is adopted as the theme to emphasize the architectural role in shaping everyday movement within cities and communities, moving beyond transportation as a purely technical system toward an understanding of mobility as a lived spatial experience. The theme highlights how architecture influences how people move, wait, transfer, and interact through the design of form, sequence, scale, materiality, and environmental performance. By focusing on daily mobility, the organization addresses contemporary challenges such as multimodal integration, universal and inclusive design, and climate-responsive architecture, reframing stations, terminals, airports, ports, and intermodal hubs as civic spaces rather than mere points of transit. Ultimately, the theme positions transportation architecture as a vital link between infrastructure and livability, reinforcing urban identity while promoting accessibility, resilience, and inclusive public life.
Topics included are History of Mobility Infrastructure, Universal/Inclusive Design, and Infrastructure Planning and Policy. The competition will progress through three main rounds, increasing in difficulty to determine which team will be crowned the winner.
ARKWIZ 2026 will be held on May 9, 2026, at the Benito Sy Pow Auditorium of the UP Diliman College of Architecture. It is open to all undergraduate architecture students nationwide. Updates and additional information will be posted on the official social media pages of the UP Architecture Forum.
Snacks, refreshments, and various merchandise will be available at an adjacent event, FLIP, also hosted by the UP Architecture Forum at UPCA Building 1.
