RIBA International Student Design Competition for a Music Studio in HaitiRIBA International Student Design Competition for a Music Studio in Haiti Sponsors: John McAslan + Partners, Allied London, Wyclef Jean and his charity Yele Haiti Type: Open, international student, two-stage Language: English Eligibility: all international students of architecture and recently qualified graduates Registration Fee: None Awards: A prize fund of £1,000 will be available for the Jury Panel to apportion amongst the finalists at their discretion Timeline 29 January 2010 – Deadline for receipt of written questions 4 February 2010 – Memorandum in response to questions 9 March 2010 – Registration deadline 12 March 2010 – Deadline for receipt of design proposals 15 March 2010 – Review of Stage 1 22 March 2010 – Selection of Finalists 29 March 2010 – Finalists notified 12 April 2010 – Interviews with finalists 19 April 2010 – Announcement of result Jury: Final Jury Wyclef Jean Hugh Locke, President of Yele Haiti John McAslan Technical Jury Adrian Campbell, Arup Philippe Leon, Executive Architect in Haiti Andy Meira, John McAslan + Partners James Porter, RIBA Competitions Background: John McAslan + Partners has established a new RIBA international student design competition for a music studio in Cite Soleil (Port-au-Prince), Haiti, on behalf of Wyclef Jean and his charity Yele Haiti. Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, with the majority of Haiti’s 8 million residents living on less than US$1 per day. Unemployment is close to 80 percent, and more than half the population is under 21 years old. Yėle was founded by the Haitian-born, Grammy-Award winning musician and record producer Wyclef Jean, formerly of The Fugees. Yėle Haiti is a grassroots movement which aims to raise global awareness for Haiti and transform the country through the regeneration of forgotten neighborhoods and programs in education, sports, the arts and environment. As Goodwill Ambassador to Haiti, Jean’s enduring passion is to help his country’s youthful population to rebuild their nation. Design Challenge: Yéle Haiti is building a 1000 sq.ft. music studio in the slum of Cité Soleil that will combine the recording of music and radio programming with vocational training, micro-enterprise opportunities and job creation for at-risk youth in that area. The studio is a joint venture between Yéle Haiti, Sak Pasé Records (Wyclef Jean’s own record label) and Radio Boukman, a popular community radio station in Cité Soleil. The joint venture arrangement will be committed to using music and radio to promote development and social issues. Wyclef Jean said, “Music is what I live, breathe and sleep. Where I come from, music is not just notes. It is a way of survival. That’s how important the Yéle Music Studio is. Building this project in Cité Soleil is a matter of life and death.” John McAslan said, “John McAslan + Partners has been working with Wyclef Jean’s charity Yéle, the Clinton Global Initiative and other organizations in Haiti for a number of years. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, so built projects like the music studio are essential in helping to generate an ongoing income for the community. Our hope is that young architects from around the world will be inspired to create some fantastic designs for the music studio and by doing so, help to provide a better future for Cité Soleil’s young people. Submission Requirements: Two No. A3 sheets in landscape format (2 paper color copies). Models will not be accepted in Stage 1, however images of models may be included on A3 sheets. Additionally a CD-ROM containing PDF’s of the A3 less than 1Mb each along with publicity images of proposal (up to 3) for use in the printed and electronic media. These should be in JPEG format, with low and high resolution, 72 and 300 dpi. For more information, go to: http://architecture.com/competitions |
Completed IMEX by Tuck Hinton Architects. Photo courtesy Anecdote It is not often that we look back to a competition that occurred three decades ago that was also covered in detail by COMPETITIONS (Vol. 4, #4; pp. 14-27). What made the Chattanooga IMAX different back in 1994 was that the article covering that competition was authored by Prof. Marleen Davis, then Dean of the University of Tennessee’s School of Architecture and a member of the jury panel. This was not just a short article, covering the high points of the competition with a few talking points about the winning design. This 4,000+ word document also described in detail the jury’s observations about all the finalists, including the honorable mentions—one of the few times we have gained such a detailed glimpse in this country from the inside of the competition process. Read more… Preparation and Organization of Design Competitions [phase 1] Benjamin Hossbach / Christian Lehmhaus / Christine Eichelmann 210 × 230 mm, 192 pp. over 600 images softcover ISBN 978-3-86922-316-2 (English) ISBN 978-3-86922-240-0 (German) Dom Publishers €48 in EU (For price abroad, see below) Founded in 1998 in Berlin, Phase 1 has been a principal player in the organization and facilitation of design competitions, not only in Germany, but abroad as well. The accomplishments of the firm have been well documented in three volumes—The Architecture of Competitions—beginning in 2i006. Whereas these books mainly focused on the results of the competitions they have administered, the present work, Fundamentals of Competition Management, takes one from the very beginnings of the competition process to its conclusion. The authors envisioned the publication as “three three books in one: one „blue book“ with example projects, one „yellow book“ with statements and the „white book“ with the actual guideline to competition management.” Although there have been a number of handbooks covering the administration of designcompetitions a study covering the entire process in such detail is a welcome addition to the the literature in this field. As a contribution to this important democratic process that has yielded exceptional design for decades, this volume is not only valid for Europe, but a current overview of the process for those globally who wish to raise the level of design by virtue of a design competition. -Ed Foreign institutions wishing to obtain a copy of the book will recieve a discount to cover the cost of foreign shipping. To obtain a copy for that offer, go to: [email protected] Winning entry by Luca Poian Forms Image ©Filippo Bolognese images Good design seldom happens in a vacuum. And so it was with an international competition for a new mosque in Preston, U.K. A mid-sized city of 95,000, and located in Lancashire near the west coast and almost equally distant from London and Glasgow, Preston has a storied past, going all the way back to the Romans and the late Middle Ages, where it was the site of significant battles. During the Industrial Revolution, the city prospered, and it was not until after World War II that Preston experienced the British version of the U.S. Rust Belt. In the meantime, the city has experienced an upswing in economic activity, with an unemployment rate of only 3%. Aside from the appearance of new industries, the city has benefitted from the establishment of Central Lancashire University (CLU), which employs over 3,000 faculty and staff, and, as such, is one of the regions major employers. Any new university requires new facilities, and one of the most outstanding examples of this at CLU was the new Student Centre and Plaza, a result of a 2016 RIBA-sponsored competition won by Hawkins/Brown Read More
Changdong Station winner – image ©D & B Partners Architects
Whereas international competitions for real projects have become a rarity lately, Korea is a welcome exception. Among the plethora of competition announcements we receive almost weekly, several have ended with foreign firms as winners. But the history of welcoming international participants does go back several years. One notable early example was the Incheon Airport competition, won by Fentress Bradburn Architects (1962-70).
Among the more recent successes of foreign firms was the Busan Opera House competition, won by Snøhetta (2013-) and the Sejong Museum Gardens competition, won by Office OU, Toronto (2016-2023).
Read more… 1st Place: Zaha Hadid Architects – night view from river – Render by Negativ Arriving to board a ferry boat or cruise ship used to be a rather mundane experience. If you had luggage, you might be able to drop it off upon boarding, assuming that the boarding operation was sophisticated enough. In any case, the arrival experience was nothing to look forward to. I recall boarding the SS United States for a trip to Europe in the late 1950s. Arriving at the pier in New York, the only thought any traveler had was to board that ocean liner as soon as possible, find one’s cabin, and start exploring. If you were in New York City and arriving early, a nearby restaurant or cafe would be your best bet while passing time before boarding. Read more… Helsinki Central Library, by ALA Architects (2012-2018) The world has experienced a limited number of open competitions over the past three decades, but even with diminishing numbers, some stand out among projects in their categories that can’t be ignored for the high quality and degree of creativity they revealed. Included among those are several invited competitions that were extraordinary in their efforts to explore new avenues of institutional and museum design. Some might ask why the Vietnam Memorial is not mentioned here. Only included in our list are competitions that were covered by us, beginning in 1990 with COMPETITIONS magazine to the present day. As for what category a project under construction (Science Island), might belong to or fundraising still in progress (San Jose’s Urban Confluence or the Cold War Memorial competition, Wisconsin), we would classify the former as “built” and wait and see what happens with the latter—keeping our fingers crossed for a positive outcome. Read More… 2023 Teaching and Innovation Farm Lab Graduate Student Honor Award by USC (aerial view) Architecture at Zero competitions, which focus on the theme, Design Competition for Decarbonization, Equity and Resilience in California, have been supported by numerous California utilities such as Southern California Edison, PG&E, SoCAl Gas, etc., who have recognized the need for better climate solutions in that state as well as globally. Until recently, most of these competitions were based on an ideas only format, with few expectations that any of the winning designs would actually be realized. The anticipated realization of the 2022 and 2023 competitions suggests that some clients are taking these ideas seriously enough to go ahead with realization. Read more… |