Silicon Alley Design Competition: Upgrade of the Nanjing Tobacco FactorySponsor: Nanjing Zhongshan Asset Management Group Co., Ltd. Organizer(s): Southeast University; People’s Government of Xuanwu District, Nanjing; Nanjing Science and Technology Bureau Type: open, international Languages: English, Chinese Fee: None Timetable: 15 December 2019 – Submissions deadline 20 January 2020 – Final review Awards: 1st prize – $50,000 2nd prize – $20,000 3rd prize – $10,000 10 Honorable mentions Design Challenge: In 2019, Nanjing put forward an important goal of developing city “silicon alley” and building a new famous city. Derived from Manhattan, New York, “Silicon Alley” is a borderless science and technology park gathering Internet-based and mobile information technology enterprises. Unlike the Silicon Alley which is an innovative technology park built on the edge of city with complete supporting high-end service, the Silicon Alley is a street block of innovative technology industry which mainly focuses on upgrading stock space. Nanjing’s envision to build up a city “Silicon Alley” will promote Xuanwu district as a core area to renovate old factories and campuses, inject new vitality to the scientific and teaching resources of high-learning institutions in the downtown, and build a city “Silicon Alley” with compactness, supplementary functions, improved structure, college-enterprise convergence, integration of industry and the city, and promote active innovation and start-ups. The city “Silicon Alley” represents the development pattern and industry layout of a city from upgrading to innovation. In particular, the design industry represents the important development momentum of “Toward Future, Leading Innovation”. Adhering to this philosophy and based on the historical experience and unique advantages of the forte of architectural design of Southeast University, Nanjing Xuanwu District is committed to gathering quality design resources at home and abroad to Xuanwu’s city “Silicon Alley” with the design industry as its core component. Centering on this goal, five plots around Sipailou Campus of Southeast University (former site of Central University), including old Nanjing Tobacco Factory, Court Plot of Xuanwu District, and Technology Park of Southeast University, are committing to form an innovation industry belt around Southeast University gathering design industry. With the long history of Sipailou Campus of Southeast University and its surrounding area, significant sites of China’s modern architectures and representative cultural relics, and manifestation of the convergence of Chinese and western culture, it carries the important missions of inheriting essence from the history and facing future and aligning with the international practice so as to improve space quality, upgrade industry functions, consolidate and gather resources, and build up an innovative downtown from within the great environment of urban development. Based on that, Xuanwu District selected old Nanjing Tobacco Factory as the start-up project of the innovation and design industry belt around Southeast University and host the global design competition of upgrading old Nanjing Tobacco Factory. The competition is themed on “City Silicon Alley, Design towards Future”. Domestic and international architects and designers are invited to create their works on the former site of Nanjing Tobacco Factory. The park is positioned as a design & start-up park which mainly focuses on architecture design. At the same time, it will also serve Nanjing citizens to build a new business card as a design industry cluster, an urban emerging cultural street, and Nanjing Xuanwu silicon alley. The theme of the design works should be integrated into the urban environment space where they are located, and embody the perfect unity of originality and individuation, so as to achieve a harmonious symbiosis of artistry and design, express the design foresight and highlight the cultural connotation at the same time, so as to improve the quality of living environment and create a better life with design. For more information: http://www.aki.com.cn/zscssj/?from=&d=&l=en |
The Makasiiniranta South Harbor Competition
Helsinki South Harbour and Tori Quarter Suomen Ilmakuva Helsinki. Image credit/ Tietoa Finland, Janne Hirvonen
As a prelude to a competition for the design of a new Architecture and Design Museum to be located in Helsinki’s South Harbor, the City of Finland staged an open competition to establish a roadmap for the future redevelopment of the Makasiiniranta harbor area, the last old harbor area to be transformed for public use in Helsinki. The competition for the museum is scheduled to take place later this year; but the entire surrounding area has come up with a plan to review improvements for the entire harbor environment.
Read more… Young Architects in Competitions When Competitions and a New Generation of Ideas Elevate Architectural Quality  by Jean-Pierre Chupin and G. Stanley Collyer published by Potential Architecture Books, Montreal, Canada 2020 271 illustrations in color and black & white Available in PDF and eBook formats ISBN 9781988962047 What do the Vietnam Memorial, the St. Louis Arch, and the Sydney Opera House have in common? These world renowned landmarks were all designed by architects under the age of 40, and in each case they were selected through open competitions. At their best, design competitions can provide a singular opportunity for young and unknown architects to make their mark on the built environment and launch productive, fruitful careers. But what happens when design competitions are engineered to favor the established and experienced practitioners from the very outset? This comprehensive new book written by Jean-Pierre Chupin (Canadian Competitions Catalogue) and Stanley Collyer (COMPETITIONS) highlights for the crucial role competitions have played in fostering the careers of young architects, and makes an argument against the trend of invited competitions and RFQs. The authors take an in-depth look at past competitions won by young architects and planners, and survey the state of competitions through the world on a region by region basis. The end result is a compelling argument for an inclusive approach to conducting international design competitions. Download Young Architects in Competitions for free at the following link: https://crc.umontreal.ca/en/publications-libre-acces/ Vltava Philharmonic Hall Design Competition  View to Concert Hall from bridge ©BIG Classical music is still part of a vibrant musical scene in Prague, with at least four principal venues hosting concerts, ballet and opera. As a modern European city, the only missing venue from these choices is a state of the art concert hall. Other European neighbors have also recently staged competitions for such projects: Munich, won by Cukrowicz Nachbaur Architekten of Bregenz, Austria; Belgrade, won by AL_A of London; and Vilnius, Lithuania, won by Arquivio Architects of Spain. It should be noted, however, that one of the most important competitions for a concert hall, not only in Europe, but the world, was the 1961 Berlin Philharmonic hall competition, won by Hans Scharoun (below). It was the interior of that building, in particular, that served as a model for many others that followed, one of the first being Los Angeles’ Disney Hall by Frank Gehry. Read more… Budapest’s Nyugati Rail Station Competition  Image courtesy Budapest Development Agency ©Grimshaw Completed in 1877, Budapest’s Nyugati Railway Station has witnessed many of the twists and turns of Hungarian history: the Austro-Hungarian Empire, revolutions of post-World War I and 1956, and various shades of expansion and shrinkage in their territory. Its important location in Europe’s history as a contested land in southeastern Europe has not only served as a path for armies of conquest, but as a matter of great interest for major powers. Amid all the changes it has experienced, Hungary, and Budapest in particular, has retained a fascination for outsiders, making it one of Europe’s high profile tourist attractions. Read more… A Quest for that Elusive Connective Formula  First Place: Pedestrian perspective from Parliament – Zeidler Architecture in association with David Chipperfield Architects How do you find a common thread that can connect an eclectic collection of buildings, visually as well as physically, all located within a one-block site, located just across from Canada’s Parliament building in Ottawa. To identify this common thread that could tie everything together, the client turned to a design competition for answers. With the aid of consultants, [phase eins] from Berlin and experts from Canada’s’ own Université de Montréal’s School of Architecture, the client turned to an invited international format to finally settle on six teams that could rethink the site. Read more… Vilnius Railway Station and Public Square Competition  Vilnius Station competition Image: ©Zaha Hadid Architects In European cities, recent history has seen their central railway stations become the subject of upgrades, or totally new projects, many of them springing up in Eastern Europe. In most cases, the focus on this phenomena occurred several decades after earth-shaking political events. In Germany it was the construction of a new main central station (Hauptbahnhof) shortly after the reunification of Germany and Berlin. in Estonia, and now Lithuania, it has occurred after the independence of those countries in conjunction with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. And in Hungary, it was the subject of a recent competition encompassing a large area surrounding the station. Read More… |