“BRIDGING”: Yongxin Old City Wenxing Bridge Renewal Plan 
Sponsor: Yongxin County People’s Government, Yongxin, China
Media support: Urban Environment Design (UED) magazine
Type: International, ideas, one-stage
Language: English
Fee: None
Eligibility: Students and design professionals
Timetable:
1 September 2020 – Registration deadline
15 September 2020 – Submission deadline
Q&A will only be responded to via the below email address.
Site:
Located on the western border of Jiangxi, Yongxin County is a famous general county in the country and the center of the Hunan and Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Base. Yongxin embodies its unique gene of “rich humanity, red history and beautiful ecology”. However, the development of the old city, like many other counties in China, is facing numerous issues such as slow economic development, lack of industrial vitality, gradual brain drain, urgent needs to improve the infrastructure and city’s appearance. Therefore, how to protect, inherit and take full advantage of Yongxin’s rich and unique cultural resources and historical genes are both challenging and promising for the development of Yongxin in the new era.
In this context, taking the features and culture of Yongxin Old City as the carrier, guided by design, culture and art, Yongxin Old City has carried out practical operation to solve difficulties as well as future-oriented renovation and transformation through events, communities and industries. Attaching a spatial value to Yongxin Old city via culture revival, environmental improvement, affluent life and model setting. The city will finally realize its renewal plan through the endeavor such as creating an old city regeneration model, reviving the old city’s culture, reconstructing the ancient city ecological circle, consolidating the ancient city industrial foundation.
Awards:
1st Prize – 300,000RMB (before tax, about USD42,000)
2nd Prize – 200,000RMB (before tax, about USD28,000)
3rd Prize – 100,000RMB (before tax, about USD14,000)
Note: The prize-winning entries will have the opportunity to negotiate for their implementation in Yongxin County.
Jury: To be determined Design Challenge:
“BRIDGING” Yongxin Old City Wenxing Bridge International Design Competition not only aims to connect the physical space on both sides of the river, but also focus on connecting the old city culture and people’s life, linking the new and old urban areas, and activating the blocks and landscape belts on both sides of the river.
The competition takes “BRIDGE-COMPLEX” as the theme, transcends the conventional “bridge” functions of transportation and tourism, strives for the “bridge” design with a variety of possibilities and implementation. “Building” (refers to Linjiang Building) as an important node will be integrated, linking the life and space of both banks, further would enrich the modern typology content of “bridge”. The competition focuses on promoting the old city’s renewal plan with the mode of “BRIDGE-COMPLEX”, creating a new local “bridge” life of the old city, taking it as the generator of urban spirit and cultural life, cultivating new urban characteristics, and providing rich and vivid new perspectives, new stages and new highlights for the future life of the old city. For more information and to enter:
wenxingbridge.chinabuildingcentre.com/en_index.html
Email: wenxingbridge@chinabuildingcentre.com
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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/
Night view of the memorial tapestry from Independence Avenue, with Gehry’s sketch of the Normandy cliffs.
Explaining the contributions of a World War II hero and later President of the United States on a very modest site on Independence Avenue just off the Washington Mall is tantamount to asking an author to describe the life of this person in no more than one paragraph. But on September 17th, after a long and bumpy journey, lasting almost 20 years and navigating a warren of the DC approval processes and public scrutiny, the Eisenhower Memorial finally was dedicated and opened to the public. Designed by Frank Gehry, it has received mixed reviews, the majority being more positive. But most have pointed out that the memorial is more impressive at night than in full daylight. This is due primarily to the illumination of an almost block-long metallic tapestry—featuring a sketch by Gehry, which depicts his interpretation of the cliffs of the Normandy coastline where the Americans landed on D-Day. Read more…
Professional winner: Brooklyn Bridge Forest (image © Pilot Projects Design Collective)
While looking for new adventures on a visit to New York City, friends suggested that I take time to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge—certainly a New York icon. For those intending to undertake this trek across the bridge for the first time, the bridge consists of layers, with a large platform for pedestrians on top of a lower level for cars and the metro system. Traversing this connection for the first time between Manhattan and Brooklyn is not just about getting from one place to another, but experiencing a great scenic view of both boroughs and occasionally interacting with other bridge crossers. As for the latter, they provide a flavor of the city’s demographics, as opposed to similar experiences one might have of the city’s inhabitants when riding the city’s subway system. Read more… Another Competition for Moscow’s Expanding Subway Network
Image © Zaha Hadid Architects
Even under Stalin, Moscow subway stations represented the crown jewels of the city’s projects when it came to design. In more recent years, the emphasis placed on modern design in the city’s expanding metro rail network has resulted in some major new projects, and this year’s competitions for two stations was no exception: the Klenoviy Boulevard Station 2 won by Zaha Hadid Architects (London), and the Prospect Marshala Zhukova station, won by the ASADOV Architectural Bureau (Moscow). Read More… Hangang District Urban Design International Master Competition
1st place entry by Dominique Perrault Architecture (image ©Dominique Perrault Architect)
China’s planning priorities for their urban areas experienced a sharp turn after the post-Mao reforms took place. During the early post-WWII period, when Soviet influence in the early urbanization of China dominated, industrial development took precedence over all other issues, with heritage, conservation, residential planning, and the amenities associated with it, being almost entirely neglected. Read more…
Winning design by ©Moreau Kusunoki /Genton
Although one might normally assume that local firms participating in a competition might have a clear advantage over foreign competitors, this has seldom been the case: just see Sydney’s Opera House, won by a Danish architect, and Toronto’s City Hall, won by a Finn—as evidence that well devised competition briefs as adequate documentation can create a level playing field for potential competitors, regardless of their location.
Read more… |
