This post is brought to you by the University of Calgary School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape

This international design ideas competition—the first in the CBDX series—asks, What does a city for all look like? How does it operate and function? How can it come into being? What place, structure, thing, system, process, or relationship must be forged to engender a more just and equitable ‘city for all’? And in particular—this is perhaps the most crucial question—the competition asks, How are these aims navigated by, through, and with the current uncertainty wrought by the ongoing global pandemic and the long-term existential threats of environmental degradation and climate change? 

This is the year a wide-ranging set of inequities—that have always been there—have been brought to bear. The only difference is that now a significantly larger percentage of the public, and wider society, has become aware of how urgent addressing these issues are. As various movements have demonstrated, such as Black Lives Matter, the time to act is now. 

Thus, this competition asks entrants to consider how matters of equity and activism, ecology and environment, and health and wellness might converge—and unfold—within our future cities. 

OPEN TO ALL: STUDENTS AND PROFESSIONALS; INDIVIDUALS AND TEAMS. 

For complete competition details click here. 

Brief: The CBDX: CITIES FOR ALL International Design Ideas Competition asks entrants to: 

1. Choose a non-fictional site on Earth this could be an entire city itself, a neighborhood, a block, a building, a street, an alley, a bus stop
2. Choose a non-fictional human client(s) that has been under represented, under valued and/or under-addressed in prevailing/dominant design discourse
3. Design a place, structure, thing, system, process, or relationship that increases the inclusion, belonging and equity of your client within the context of your site while keeping in mind the twin challenges of the pandemic and climate change as opportunities for your design to unfold.

Registration 

• Regular (November 1st - December 31st, 2020): $40 CAD (students); $80 CAD (professionals).

Awards: $6,000 CAD total prize money 

• 3 winners to each receive $2,000 CAD, a certificate, publication in the inaugural CBDX issue, and exhibited in a curated exhibition of the competition’s selected entries. 
• 12 honorable mentions to each receive a certificate, publication in the inaugural CBDX issue, and exhibited in a curated exhibition of the competition’s selected entries. 
• Up to 35 finalists to be exhibited in a curated exhibition of the competition’s selected entries.

To learn more about the University of Calgary School of Architecture and Planning click here.