Archinect - News

Send your ideas to the 2016 Chicago Prize “On the Edge” competition

2016-12-05T19:45:00-05:00

Visionary plans, policy, and infrastructure have all played crucial roles in the development of the city and consequently in the definition of its edge. Today, conflicting interests regarding ownership, use, and value of the Lakefront have produced a stalemate of what this civic treasure could become.

A hotspot for land-use disputes, the urban development of Chicago's Lakefront is the subject of the 2016 Chicago Prize competition, "On the Edge”. Launched on November 29 by the Chicago Architectural Club and the Chicago Architecture Foundation, the competition seeks speculative architectural interventions for the Lakefront “in consideration of the stated issues that imagine and speculate its scape” — as exemplified in recent situations like the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, the Barack H. Obama Presidential Library, or the impacts of Lake Shore Drive.

The Chicago Lakefront. Photo: Payton Chung/Flickr.

The CAC asks: “Would new strategies of zoning recharge this long strip of stand-alone city-land? Can architectural interventions function as a framework for the excitation of the edge? How will the collision of the metropolis and the lake create a radical emergence of the unimaginable?”

There is no set program for this competition. A Question-and-Answer period is open now until December ...

Design a wall that separates Trump from the U.S. in this call for ideas

2016-08-09T17:51:00-04:00

Amid everything that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump continues to recklessly spew, one of the milestones in his circus of a campaign is his apparent plans to build the U.S./Mexico border wall... Competition creator Reality Cues turns the tables in their newest installment: Good Walls Make Good Neighbors, Mr. Trump. The objective is pretty straightforward: Design a wall that separates Mr. Trump from the rest of the U.S.

“We want to ask questions more than produce answers,” Reality Cues emphasizes in the brief. Curious? Learn more about their latest snarky competition on Bustler.

Late registration for Laka Competition 2015: "Architecture that Reacts" ends on October 20!

2015-10-12T16:10:00-04:00

Public arts initiative Laka wants to know how today's architects, engineers, scientists, and students interpret the theme "Architecture that Reacts" for the Laka Competition 2015. To get those ideas churning, architecture that reacts is responsive and highly adaptable to both current needs and unpredictable circumstances. It can be thought of like a living organism.

Entrants — who can participate individually or as teams — can still sign up during the late registration period, which ends on October 20, 2015 for a fee of $100. Also keep in mind that all submissions are due October 31, 2015 (23:59 UTC).

Three cash-prize winners and special mentions are scheduled to be announced on December 1.

The 2015 jury features:

Maria Aiolova (Architect, Educator, LEED AP, Assoc. AIA): Co-Founder of Terreform ONE
Chris Bosse (Architect, Educator): Co-Founder of LAVA
Giacomo Costa (Artist, Photographer): Author of The Chronicles of Time
Marc Fornes (Architect DPLG, Educator): Founder of THEVERYMANY™
Guy Ho...

Submit your ChiDesign CADE entries by September 9!

2015-09-03T15:53:00-04:00

The Chicago Architecture Foundation launched their first ChiDesign CADE competition earlier this summer seeking design ideas for a different type of educational facility called the Center for Architecture, Design and Education (CADE). Now that registration is closed, be sure to submit your entries by September 9.

As learning spaces become more open and communally oriented, the competition is a means to explore possible models for future educational facilities. If you need a refresher, CADE designs must include the following:

a new headquarters, visitor center and exhibition spaces for the CAF
a new headquarters for the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)
a design and allied arts high school
flexible learning spaces for out-of-school-time youth programs

The competition jury — who will evaluate all proposals and select the first, second and third prize winners — features:

Stanley Tigerman, Tigerman McCurry Architects
David Adjaye, Adjaye Associates
Monica Ponce De Leon, MPdL St...

Don't forget that the Dry Futures submission deadline is Tuesday, September 1!

2015-08-29T12:00:00-04:00

Got an inventive design idea on how to address the historic drought that's parching up California? Send your submissions to Archinect's Dry Futures competition! Architects and non-architects worldwide are welcome to send entries that are imaginative, pragmatic, idealist, or even dystopic. The submission deadline is Tuesday, September 1 at 10 p.m. Pacific Time.

We're accepting submissions in two categories: Speculative and Pragmatic. Three prize winners in each category will be announced.

"Speculative" refers to proposals of the sci-fi variety, perhaps involving technologies that don't yet exist, or imagining alternative future scenarios for a drought-affected California. "Pragmatic" are the more standard, realistic proposals – ones that could feasibly be implemented today.

1st place winners in each category will receive a $1,000 cash prize, as well as a custom one-week survival kit, including a backpack. 2nd place winners get an emergency kit stocked with one-week of supplies, and 3rd ...

Last chance to register for the ChiDesign CADE competition is August 19

2015-08-13T15:28:00-04:00

There's less than a week left to register for the ChiDesign CADE competition. Late registration closes next Wednesday, August 19.

As learning spaces become more open and communally oriented, the Chicago Architecture Foundation launched the competition seeking design ideas of a Center for Architecture, Design and Education (CADE), as a means to explore possible models for future educational facilities.

Competitors must incorporate the following into their CADE designs:

a new headquarters, visitor center and exhibition spaces for the CAF
a new headquarters for the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)
a design and allied arts high school
flexible learning spaces for out-of-school-time youth programs

Late registration deadline: August 19, 2015
Submission deadline: September 9, 2015

The competition jury — who will evaluate all proposals as well as select the first, second and third prize winners — features:

Stanley Tigerman, Tigerman McCurry Architects
David Adjaye, Adjaye Associates...

Don't forget to register for the first ChiDesign competition by August 7!

2015-07-29T10:37:00-04:00

The registration deadline is almost here for the first ChiDesign ideas competition to design a Center for Architecture, Design and Education (CADE). As learning spaces become more open and communally oriented, the Chicago Architecture Foundation launched the competition as a means to explore possible models for future educational facilities.

Competitors must incorporate the following into their CADE designs:

a new headquarters, visitor center and exhibition spaces for the CAF
a new headquarters for the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)
a design and allied arts high school
flexible learning spaces for out-of-school-time youth programs

Registration deadline: August 7, 2015
Submission deadline: September 9, 2015

The competition jury — who will evaluate all proposals as well as select the first, second and third prize winners — features:

Stanley Tigerman, Tigerman McCurry Architects
David Adjaye, Adjaye Associates
Monica Ponce De Leon, MPdL Studio
Billie Tsien, Tod Williams Billie...

Chicago Architecture Foundation launches first ChiDesign CADE competition

2015-07-21T14:01:00-04:00

The Chicago Architecture Foundation's inaugural ChiDesign competition is accepting idea submissions for a different type of educational facility entitled the Center for Architecture, Design and Education (CADE).

Participants must incorporate the following into their designs:

a new headquarters, visitor center and exhibition spaces for the CAF
a new headquarters for the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)
a design and allied arts high school
flexible learning spaces for out-of-school-time youth programs

Are you up for the challenge? Be sure to register by August 7, 2015 and submit your entries by September 9, 2015.

Starting this October, CAF will host a major exhibition featuring a selection of submissions during the first Chicago Architecture Biennial. The exhibition will run from October 1, 2015 to January 3, 2016. The exhibition aims to spark dialogue on the design of a Center for Architecture, Design and Education in Chicago, as well as highlight the city’s legacy of arc...

Laka launches 2015 competition: Architecture that Reacts. Register now!

2015-06-02T14:40:00-04:00

Public arts initiative Laka has launched their 2015 competition: Architecture that Reacts. The ideas competition invites architects, designers, engineers, biologists, and interdisciplinary teams worldwide to submit their interpretations of the theme: Architecture that Reacts. Like a living organism, architecture that reacts is responsive and highly adaptable to often unpredictable circumstances and its users' current needs.

Sign up now during the early registration period until July 1, 2015 for a fee of US$50. Regular registration lasts until October 1, 2015 ($75), and late registration ends on October 20, 2015 ($100). All project submissions are due on October 31, 2015 (23:59 UTC).

Three cash-prize winners and special mentions will be announced on December 1.

The competition jury features:

Maria Aiolova (Architect, Educator, LEED AP, Assoc. AIA): Co-Founder of Terreform ONE
Chris Bosse (Architect, Educator): Co-Founder of LAVA
Giacomo Costa (Artist, Photographer): Author of The Chronicl...

Tristan da Cunha + RIBA accepting redesign ideas for remote fishing/farming community

2015-05-04T19:23:00-04:00

Tristan da Cunha is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about 1,750 miles southwest of Cape Town. Described as the remotest inhabited island in the world, Tristan da Cunha is internally self-governed and actually consists of four islands: Tristan (the main island), Nightingale and Inaccessible, and Gough Island. A tiny fishing/farming population of less than 300 people known as Edinburgh of the Seven Seas -- or locally as "The Settlement" -- permanently resides on the main island. In time for the island's 200th Anniversary in 2016, the Tristan da Cunha community is ready for a redesign to ensure a more self-sustainable future.

Earlier this year, the island's Government called upon RIBA to organize an international two-phase ideas competition to seek cost-effective schemes that would improve the quality and energy efficiency of Tristan's houses and government buildings. Additionally, the strongest ideas would enhance the island's agrarian systems to support grazing and grow...

The Next Helsinki shortlist demonstrates that a new Guggenheim isn't the only option

2015-04-21T18:02:00-04:00

The controversy surrounding the Guggenheim Helsinki has made the project a hot topic in recent years. While the large response to the Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition is already widely known, is a new Guggenheim Museum truly what Helsinki needs? This is the burning question of The Next Helsinki counter-competition organizers, who describe the Guggenheim franchise as "the cultural equivalent of Starbucks". Organized by Checkpoint Helsinki, Terreform and G.U.L.F. (Global Ultra Luxury Faction), architects, designers, urbanists, and environmentalists worldwide submitted their alternative ideas on how the site can be transformed to best meet Helsinki's cultural, spatial, and sustainability needs.

The call for ideas drew in 217 international entries from 40 countries on five continents, according to architect Michael Sorkin, who chaired the jury. In the end, the jury shortlisted eight entries they deemed as outstanding ideas -- which are not necessarily refined and final proposals. (...

University of Maryland grad students envision redevelopment plan for New Orleans neighborhoods

2015-04-10T18:26:00-04:00

Founded by Gerald D. Hines, the annual Urban Land Institute Hines competition challenges multidisciplinary graduate student teams from North American universities to propose a comprehensive redevelopment program for a designated U.S. metro area. The ideas competition is set up as a design exercise with no plans of implementation, but the hypothetical situations of the brief are largely based on actual urban development and redevelopment scenarios, so students get to test their design skills in relevant real-world issues. What student wouldn't be motivated by that?

For its 13th edition, the competition focused on the Tulane/Gravier and Iberville neighborhoods in downtown New Orleans that were affected by Hurricane Katrina.

2015 ULI Hines finalists (starting on the L, clockwise): Harvard University: “Tremé 2.0”; University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee and University of Wisconsin - Madison: “Quartier Vert”; Harvard University: “Claiborne Grove”; University of Maryland: “The Crossing”

The comp...

2014 Chicago Prize winners envision the Obama Presidential Library

2015-02-13T18:06:00-05:00

Although an American president has the right to having a dedicated Presidential Library, it's no surprise that the museum-library-shrine typology can spark debate and criticism regarding its true civic purpose. As plans for the Barack Obama Presidential Library appear to slowly take shape, the Chicago Architectural Club organized the 2014 Chicago Prize ideas competition that invited architects to send their own speculative designs of the Obama Presidential Library. The latest competition aimed to initiate further discussion on how the presidential library typology can be reimagined.

At the end of the competition, the jury (listed at the bottom) selected two winners and three honorable mentions:

↓ WINNER: Zhu Wenyi, Fu Junsheng, and Liang Yiang

↓ WINNER: Aras Burak Sen

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

↓ Design Team: Dániel Palotai

↓ Design Team: Drew Cowdrey and Trey Kirk

↓ Design Team: Ann Lui and Craig Reschke

To find out more, click here.

2014 Chicago Prize Jury:
Andy Metter (Epstein); Brian Lee (SOM); ...

Don't forget to register for YAC's Rome Community Ring competition

2014-12-22T18:14:00-05:00

Late registration began today for Young Architects Competitions' Rome Community Ring. If you want a chance to win, make sure to register by January 19, 2015 and submit your entries by January 26, 2015.

Students and professionals are encouraged to share their ideas on how to revive one of Rome's historical treasures, the 19th-century Forte Portuense, into a new cultural space for public recreation. Proposed designs must also include room for potential urban development. Built between 1877 to late 1881, Forte Portuense is one of several military fortresses and has remained preserved since military authorities abandoned the site in 1967.

Winners and cash prizes totaling €15,000 will be awarded when the competition ends in March 2015. An awards ceremony and exhibition will follow.

For more important competition details, click here.

Previous YAC competitions:

Wine Culture Centre

Post-Quake Visions

CALL FOR ENTRIES: What do you think the Obama Presidential Library should look like?

2014-11-17T21:51:00-05:00

The Chicago Architectural Club launched its 2014 edition of the Chicago Prize ideas competition this past weekend: design the Barack Obama Presidential Library! From the lively discussion (if not frenzy) surrounding a Barack Obama Presidential Library possibly being built, the Chicago Prize invites architects and designers to send ideas of how the U.S. Presidential Library building typology should be reinvented.

The Chicago Prize 2014 competition aims to spark debate on the typology of the presidential library. Speculative proposals will fulfill functions like housing a collection of artifacts and documents relating to the president’s life while also providing educational infrastructure and framework for outreach and community programs.

Entries are due by January 10, 2015. The winner will be announced and exhibited at an opening event at the Chicago Architectural Foundation in February 2015.

Now's the time to bring the best of your clever ideas to the table.

A look at the results of the CANactions 2014 “User-generated Kyiv” competition

2014-07-10T14:27:00-04:00

Ukraine's largest architectural event CANactions held its 2014 ideas competition, whose theme was "User-generated Kyiv". Based on reinforcing the valuable idea that a city is shaped by its citizens, the competition sought architectural ideas to help Kiev further develop towards the ideals of creativity, peace, justice, and of course, happiness.

Here's a look at the three top-prize winning entries:

Pictured above: 1st prize: connecTABLE by Anna Dobrova, Dima Isaiev, Dasha Zaichenko,Daryna Bagachuk, Anna Kamushan (Vienna, Austria).

2nd prize: POP-UP KIEV by Polina Timofeeva, Galyna Tolkachova, Pavel Bartov (Perm, Russia).

3rd prize: Reload the symbols by Kateryna Bokatova and Frederic Vincent (Bordeaux, France).

Head over to Bustler for more details.

Winning ideas announced for the Hormuz Bridge International Competition

2014-02-24T17:50:00-05:00

The results are out for the Gulf Architecture Biennial's Hormuz Bridge International Competition. The open ideas competition invited entrants to propose designs for a bridge or other connective structure to link both sides of the Hormuz Strait in the Persian Gulf. Three winners and four honorable mentions were awarded. Eighteen additional entries will be included in the first volume of Gulf Architecture Biennial and publically displayed.

First Prize: XXXXXX02 or The Frozen Leviathan by Matteo Mannini

Second Prize: A CITY FOR THE STRAIT: The Hormuz Federation by Edourad Champalle

Third Prize: Backbone of Strait of Hormuz by Chien Bang Wong

Honorable Mention: Global Security Pipeline by Nick Axel

Honorable Mention: Jeser El Amwaj by Dhaval Gadani, Louis Peragallo, Christian Pereda

Honorable Mention: Rail Reef by Triple O Studio

Honorable Mention: Moses Highway by Andriy Vyshnevskyi, Vitaliy Kozlov, Bogdan Krutsko, Orest Galan

Learn more about each proposal on Bustler.

Royal Adelaide Hospital Design Competition winning entries

2014-01-02T20:33:00-05:00

South Australia's Office for Design and Architecture hosted the Royal Adelaide Hospital Design Competition in a process to redesign the historic Royal Adelaide Hospital site, which will be vacated by 2016. The jury awarded one First Prize and a joint Second Prize. Thousands of public voters picked a People's Choice Award, and a Students Competition winner was also awarded.

Designs from the competition will formulate the site's strategic framework and masterplan.

Here's a glimpse of the three prize-winning proposals (videos included below):

First prize: SLASH with Phillips/Pilkington Architects

Second prize and People's Choice Award: NICE Architects with Mulloway Studios:

Second prize: Bonhag de Rosa with Taylor Cullity Lethlean

Winners of the London Cinema Challenge re-imagine the movie venue

2013-12-19T19:31:00-05:00

Have a seat and grab some popcorn, the results are out for Combo Competitions' London Cinema Challenge. Limited to only their imaginations, designers from all disciplines created their own movie-viewing spaces set on Central London's Newman Street. Entrants also had to include a unique twist in their submission.

Three winners and four honorable mentions were selected:

First prize - Cine'stival by Etienne Fabre and Jean-Emmanuel David

Second prize - Symbiotic Venue by Nada Alqallaf and Jaime Sevilla

Third prize - Peep(le) Show by Shuping Liu and Jackie Krasnokutskaya

Click the thumbnails below to see the Honorable Mentions.

H Architecture’s winning proposal for the Sejong Public Housing Development

2013-12-16T18:49:00-05:00

New York-based H Architecture sent us their winning proposal for the Sejong 2-2 M2 Block Public Housing Development competition. In celebrating its 50-year apartment building history, the Korea Land and Housing Corporation opened a call for ideas for its new 77,000m2 housing development in Sejong City, South Korea.

H Architecture's proposal -- done in collaboration with Haeahn Architecture -- revolves around an open, versatile "not-to-define" concept as a response to the typical rigid approach of public housing design.

"Relocation of the D. Maria Pia Bridge" proposal by Bandeira/Ramalho calls attention to urban regeneration policies

2013-10-22T16:14:00-04:00

In a recent international call for ideas to regenerate the Aurifícia block in Oporto, Portugal, architects Pedro Bandeira and Pedro Nuno Rumalho figuratively and literally made a monumental statement in their proposal to dismantle and relocate the decommissioned D. Maria Pia Bridge into the city center. The defunct bridge is described as a work of art and potential landmark that will revitalize the cityscape of Oporto. Although the architects didn't place in the competition, their proposal still makes a forward statement by tossing out the traditional idea and function of a bridge and it also brings attention to the failure of urban regeneration policies.

Below is a more detailed project description written by and received from freelance architect and journalist Ana Laureano Alves:

"Two architects, Pedro Bandeira and Pedro Nuno Ramalho proposed the relocation of the Eiffel’s D. Maria Pia Bridge to the city center, exposing its actual uselessness (not in use since 1991) and dras...