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17th Shelter International Design Competition

Sponsor: Shelter Co., Ltd

Type: Open, international, student

Location: Japan

Languages: Japanese, English

Eligiblity: Applicants must be under-graduate or post-graduate students at universities or at tertiary institutions (as on September 11, 2015).Tertiary institutions include: junior colleges, colleges of technology, and other relevant vocational schools.

Entrance Fee: None

Awards:

First Prize: ¥2,000,000 ($16,250 USD)
Second Prize: ¥500,000 ($4,062 USD)
Third Prize: ¥100,000 ($812 USD)

Timeline:

11 September, 2015 – Submissions deadline

Design Challenge: Theme – Freeing Architecture

Let us think about architecture freely.
Expand your perspectives of architecture as flexibly and as broadly as possible, beyond the stereotypes of what architecture is considered to be.

The society that we live in is gradually changing, now accepting a diverse array of values. In such respect, it is becoming increasingly difficult for preconceived building types and functions to respond to our current circumstances.

As architects we need to listen carefully and humbly, to the voices of people who are in need of architecture. Perhaps for a moment we should set aside the generalities of archi-tecture such as common practices, categorization, and style, and begin to reconsider ar-chitecture from afresh – as if contemplating in a world where all concepts of architecture are absent.

Thinking about architecture freely, does not mean the creation of building forms that in-dulge in the self-expression of the architect. Rather, it is to think sincerely about the roles and conditions of architecture that are currently sought after and are in need.
To do so, one should perhaps begin by considering what it means to think freely, and whether or not architecture should incorporate past customs and conventional values. One should ask themselves, who architecture is for, whether it is for everyone or for a specific individual. Conceivably then, it is necessary to think of architecture’s constraints and allowances, of how it relates respectively to the past, present, and future, or its rela-tions to the masses and to the individual, and further its considerations of humans and all other aspects as notions of equal importance.

For more information, go to: http://www.shelter.jp/compe/2015/eng/index.html

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