A HOUSE FOR LADY GAGA

The more she hides, the more she exposes. And vice versa.

We reflected on the strange dialectics between hiding / exposing, as illustrated by Lady Gaga. Quite often she seems to want to hide away… her hair, her masks, her veils, betray a very high interest in hiding, in concealing…

Even her use of umbrellas, when outside it is sunny…!?

And the fact that quite often she hides her face behind her hand, when photographed (as if she is guilty of something, almost like Adam in the famous painting by Masaccio “Adam and Eve banished from Paradise”), does show the same thing… and the meaning of her video Paparazzi seems to be the same: an intense. almost neurotic questioning of the violation of privacy that contemporary life seems to be unable to avoid.

She probably does not want to end her life like Princess Diana or like the main character of “Das Parfum.”

But the price of fame is high, quite often! Sometimes tragically high!

So we are tempted to believe that she displays her legs,and sometimes even more intimate parts of her body in order to detract attention from “the other side,” her head, her eyes, her thinking and her feelings, and by extension, her mind and her soul… a strange duality / dichotomy.

But the incredible inventory of her facial expressions does testify about an unending attempt to hide away, as if she is ambivalent about her relationship with society. We are reminded of that strange short story by Albert Camus where the main character, a famous painter, leaves to society his last painting, a visual testament consisting of a single word, written with his own blood: Soli ary, (an ambivalent linguistic construct meaning either solitary or solidary depending on what letter - “t” or “d” - the viewer chooses to fill in the empty space with).

And perhaps for a pop artist it is even more difficult, this dilemma. Not to speak about a “star.”

Let’s explore this dilemma in A HOUSE FOR LADY GAGA.

A HOUSE WITH VERVE / NERVE. A FRAGILE HOUSE. A WHIRLING HOUSE. A SINGING HOUSE. A DANCING HOUSE. A SUICIDAL HOUSE. A HIDING HOUSE. A REVEALING / EXPOSING HOUSE. A BAROQUE HOUSE. A TRAGIC(?) HOUSE. A BI-SEXUAL HOUSE. A LACED HOUSE. A MUSICAL HOUSE. A RED HOUSE. A HOUSE WITH A COIFURRE. A VICTORIAN HOUSE. A BLOODY HOUSE. A PLASTIC HOUSE. A HOUSE NAKED DOWN BELOW. A BURLESQUE HOUSE. A HOUSE DIFFICULT TO PIN DOWN. A HOUSE OF UNENDING FASHION STATEMENTS. A CHAMELEONIC HOUSE. A HOUSE CONTINUOUSLY REINVENTING ITSELF. A RHYTHMIC HOUSE. A VEILED HOUSE. AN EXUBERANT HOUSE. A CRYING HOUSE. A HOUSE ON CRUTCHES. A HOUSE WITH DARK GLASSES. A HOUSE OF LEATHER. A HOUSE WITH PROSTHETICS. A CHIC HOUSE. A LONELY HOUSE. A BLUE HOUSE. A HOUSE IN THE CROWD. A SHINING HOUSE. A HOUSE WITH A STRANGE HAT. A GREEN HOUSE. A HOUSE WITH TATTOOS. A HOODED HOUSE. A HOUSE WITH WILD HAIR. A MASKED HOUSE. A MODERN HOUSE LOOKING BACKWARDS. A HOUSE WITH HEAVY MAKEUP. A TENT HOUSE. A NOSTALGIC HOUSE. A SCREAMING HOUSE. A HOUSE NOT YET A HOUSE. A HOUSE MORE THAN A HOUSE. A HOUSE FOR A NOMAD. A TENTACULAR HOUSE. A SCRATCHED HOUSE. A SCRATCHING HOUSE. A HOUSE ON THE RUN. A HOUSE UNFINISHED. A WILD HOUSE. A SCENTED HOUSE. A HOUSE ON HIGH HEELS. A FRIGID HOUSE. A SENSUAL HOUSE. A HERMAPHRODITE HOUSE. A HOUSE WITH A PENIS. A HOUSE WITH A VAGINA. A HOUSE UNABLE TO SAY EVERYTHING IT WANTS TO SAY, THIS IS WHY DANCING AND SINGING AND PARADING UNENDINGLY, FASHIONABLY, GLAMOROUSLY, CRAZILY, CONTRADICTING / OPPOSING EVERYBODY AND EVERYTHING. A PRIMITIVE HOUSE. A SOPHISTICATED HOUSE. THE HOUSE OF THE FUTURE…? THE HOUSE OF THE PAST…? THE BEGINNING OF A HOUSE…? THE END OF A HOUSE…? AN ELECTRONIC HOUSE…? AN EARTH HOUSE…? A HANDMADE HOUSE…? A PREFABRICATED HOUSE…? A GALACTIC HOUSE…? A BUBBLE HOUSE…? A PINK HOUSE…? A FREAK HOUSE…? A MONSTER HOUSE…?

A HOUSE FOR LADY GAGA.

Please send us ANY work, ANY size and ANY format that responds to the theme. You can send your work to icarchgallery@yahoo.com. There is an entry fee of 30E (15E for students) payable by PayPal through the registration section of our website. The registration deadline is July 1st, 2010. The deadline for submitting your work is August 1st, 2010. We will display all the works received on our website: http://www.icarch.net. It is our intention to invite Lady Gaga to be part of the jury that will evaluate the projects received. And we hope that if one proposal matches “her essence and her spirit,” (as apparently the dress that Armani designed for her did), she will build it! We are almost sure of it! We suggest you choose a real location for your proposal, since we think that this potential client will be quite able to build anywhere in this world. Let’s get Lady Gaga interested in architecture! We think she might enjoy our provocation very much, since architecture is supposed to be “fr
ozen music.” So let’s bring together Dance and Music and Architecture through an adventurous, forward looking and exciting house for the ever changing Lady Gaga!

Thank you,

ICARCH Gallery

Call for Papers: Terrain Vague: The Interstitial as Site, Concept, Intervention

This collection of essays will focus on terrain vague—marginal, semi-abandoned space in or along the edge of the city—as abstract concept, specific locale, and subject of literary, architectural, or otherwise artistic intervention.

Ignasi de Solà-Morales defines terrain vague as land in a “potentially exploitable state but already possessing some definition to which we are external,” or “strange places” that “exist outside the city’s effective circuits and productive structures” (119, 120). Gil Doron similarly defines “landscapes of transgression” as derelict sites where “nature has started to reconstruct the built or (now) ‘ruined’ environment. . . . space[s] that opened in the dichotomy of what we perceive as city and nature” (255).

We are particularly interested in responses to the idea, as expressed by Luc Lévesque, that “‘terrain vague’ offers a counterpoint to the way order and consumption hold sway over the city. Offering room for spontaneous, creative appropriation and informal uses that would otherwise have trouble finding a place in public spaces subjected increasingly to the demands of commerce, the ‘terrain vague’ is the ideal place for a certain resistance to emerge, a place potentially open to alternative ways of experiencing the city.”

We invite submissions from a range of fields, in particular literature, architecture, ecocriticism, urban studies, cultural geography, the visual arts, and film studies. Suggested topics may include:

Site and situation
Forms of documentation
Contextual definitions/theorizations
Urban wilds
Transgression and recreation
Urban natural history
Environmental justice
Interventions

Please send abstracts of 300 to 500 words, accompanied by a brief bio, to site.situation@gmail.com. Inquiries are welcome.

The deadline for abstracts is 1 June 2010.
Completed essays will be due on 1 February 2011.

Manuela Mariani, The Boston Architectural College
Patrick Barron, University of Massachusetts, Boston
“That zero panorama seemed to contain ruins in reverse, that is—all the new construction that would be built. This is the opposite of the “unromantic ruin” because buildings don’t fall into ruin after they are built but rather rise into ruin before they are built.” Robert Smithson, “A Tour of the Monuments of Passaic, New Jersey”

References
Doron, Gil. “The Dead Zone and the Architecture of Transgression.” City: Analysis of Urban Trends, Culture, Theory, Policy, Action 4.2 (2000): 247-63.
Lévesque, Luc. “The ‘Terrain Vague’ as Material—Some Observations.” http://www.amarrages.com/textes_terrain.html
Solà-Morales, Ignasi. “Terrain Vague.” Anyplace. Ed. Cynthia Davidson. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995. 118-23.
Smithson, Robert. “A Tour of the Monuments of Passaic, New Jersey.” Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings. Berkeley: U of California P, 1996.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION

The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ) wishes to build a new pavilion on a site adjacent to its present complex on the Plains of Abraham in the heart of Quebec City. In order to choose the most significant project, it is organising an international architectural competition under the aegis of the Ordre des architectes du Québec (OAQ) and the government of Quebec. This competition will observe the OAQ’s Guide des concours d’architecture with respect to both the manner in which it is held and its rules for fairness. The firm chosen to carry out the mandate must in addition conform to Quebec legislation, with respect in particular to that concerning the exercise of the architectural profession. The construction of a new pavilion for the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec promises to be decisive both for its intrinsic novelty and for its opening onto the urban space of the Grande Allée. The MNBAQ is looking for an unhesitatingly contemporary gesture which will transcend the heritage nature of its environment. When the project is complete, the Museum will be notable for having architectural components dating from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. In this context, the new pavilion will enable the institution to enter the future by combining cutting-edge technology and a sustainable development approach. Architectural firms with experience in a related field who wish to meet the challenge launched by the MNBAQ can obtain all the information necessary to participate in the competition at the web site http://www.mnba.qc.ca. The competition will be held in French, the official language of Quebec.

Deadline for the submission of candidacies is 21 August 2009 at 3:00 p.m., local time

Louise Amiot, architect
Professional Adviser
International Architectural Competition
Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
Parc des Champs-de-Bataille
Quebec City QC G1R 5H3 Canada
agrandissement@mnba.qc.ca

July 1, 2010 – Entries are now open in the USD 2 million competition for projects and visions of sustainability in building and civil engineering works; landscape, urban design and infrastructure projects; and materials, products and construction technologies.

The Holcim Awards is an international competition of the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction. The competition celebrates innovative, future-oriented and tangible sustainable construction projects and visions from around the globe and provides prize money of USD 2 million per three-year competition cycle.

The main category of the competition is open to architects, planners, engineers, project owners, builders and construction firms that showcase sustainable responses to technological, environmental, socioeconomic and cultural issues affective contemporary building and construction. Projects are eligible for the competition if they have reached an advanced stage of design and construction (or commercial production in the case of materials, products and construction technologies) had not started before July 1, 2010.

The Holcim Awards also seeks the visions and ideas for the “Next Generation” category which is open to student projects created within university programs at final year bachelor level or above (including master’s and PhD).

The third Holcim Awards competition cycle is currently open for entries until March 23, 2011.

Website

Following the success of last years competition to redesign MPs’ housing (Common of Houses: No Expense Spared) we are launching a new competition called (Common of Houses: Electoral Reform) which asks designers/ artists to redesign the voting system.

One of the main reasons MPs advise that Electoral Reform shouldn’t happen is that it will confuse our little minds and we’ll never understand the forms. We thought it time that we looked at things from a different point of view. If creatives ruled the world, what would the forms look like?

That’s where we need your creative minds, how would you redesign the system?

It could be through redesigning the voting forms for the current system, designing forms for one of the alternative systems or could be coming up with your own system altogether.

For example:

•You go in and there is a rack of dulux style colour charts in the voting booth. One for each party and the different shades represent how strongly you like the party. You rip it at the colour you feel comfortable and stick in the ballot box
•You are given a dating style questionnaire with a hundred questions in which you have to say how you feel on a range of different topics. A computer checks your answers against pre-completed forms by the leaders of the various parties and counts your vote against the party you most closely match up with.

The competition is being run in partnership with The Drum Magazine and the Vote for a Change campaign. The main prize will be decided by a public vote on prize nominations from the entrants.

For full details of other prizes, judges and to read the competition brief, please visit: http://www.commonofhouses.co.uk or contact info@commonofhouses.co.uk

Imagine a truly sustainable future.
Imagine a socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative civilization.
Imagine what tomorrow might hold for humanity if we rise to meet the challenges of today.

Unleash Your Imagination
The international living Building institute, in partnership with the
national Trust for Historic Preservation, invites the world’s most
talented and daring designers, planners, artists and animators to
create a new global vision: a breathtaking, compelling model for
the future of civilization. Unleash the power of your imagination to
envision a city capable of thriving through the centuries – one that
will heal the land and prove that the human species can in fact live,
in the words of E. o. Wilson, as ‘part and parcel with creation’.

We have inherited and reproduced a built environment based on
the catastrophically flawed premise of unlimited resources and
infinite room for expansion. our infrastructure isolates us from the
ecosystems we inhabit; what James Howard kunstler has described
as a “Geography of nowhere” blinds us to the specificity of place.

If we are to respond effectively to the environmental crisis we now
face, we must begin by radically reimagining our neighborhoods,
towns, villages and cities.

Only when we have clearly envisioned the future we must create,
will we have the courage to light “the Possible’s slow fuse”.

Download the brief

http://ilbi.org/resources/competitions/livingcity/main

Architecture+Philosophy 2011
Boston University, Department of Philosophy
Boston, MA
April 9-10, 2011

Thinking about architecture has long been an enterprise of philosophers and architects alike, but in recent years there has been a growing divergence between them over terminological and methodological issues.  Philosophers charge architects with mishandling texts and architects charge philosophers with mishandling buildings.
 
But there are also other divisions among contemporary architectural theorists themselves.  Some theorists concern themselves with the human experience, with ethical and poetical questions, and with sensory and aesthetic explorations of architecture and its environment.  Other theorists are bent on treating architecture as a form of knowledge that takes shape as a formal and socio-political practice through tools such as language, algorithms, and diagrams. Still other theorists see their task as navigating among these sometimes quite distinct approaches.

Keynotes

Dr. Alberto Pérez-Gómez :: Saidye Rosner Bronfman Professor of the History of Architecture
McGill University :: School of Architecture

Dr. Karsten Harries :: Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor of Philosophy
Yale University :: Department of Philosophy

Call for Papers

The Boston University Department of Philosophy invites submissions from professionals and graduate students in philosophy, architecture, and other related discplines. Topics may be from any point of view, including the so-called phenomenological and critical, modern and postmodern, postcritical and projective, and urban and sustainable approaches to architecture.

The Architecture+Philosophy 2011 conference aims to provide an arena for careful clarification of current trends in architectural thought. Send complete papers (3,000-5,000 words) with a 150 word abstract, formatted for blind review, to architecture.philosophy@gmail.com by January 15, 2011.

Please visit http://philarch.wordpress.com for more information.

Submission information for project consideration
Deadline: rolling
Note: the committee selects projects quarterly for presentation in New York Designs. Please submit material by March 1, June 1, September 1, and December 1 for consideration in the following quarter.

2010 New York Designs Committee
Andrew Berman, Stella Betts, Phu Hoang, Joe MacDonald, Anne Rieselbach, Linnaea Tillett, Shawn Watts, Claire Weisz, Barbara Wilks, and Stephen Yablon

Call for Submissions
Architects, landscape architects, engineers, and other designers are invited to submit projects to the Architectural League’s New York Designs series. Projects of all types at any scale, either built (completed within one year of submission) or under construction in New York City, are welcome. Quality is the sole criterion for selection.

New York Designs recognizes accomplished built work in New York City. If your project is selected, League staff will work with you to develop an appropriate presentation, most often taking the format of an on-site tour or brief lecture. We invite designers to include project collaborators, such as consultants, contractors, engineers, clients, and others in the project presentation. Submission assumes the accessibility of the space by a group of 20-30 people and availability of the designer to take part in a New York-based program. Travel monies will not be provided.

Submission deadlines
New York Designs is an ongoing project recognition series. You may submit a project at any time.

Submission requirements
Submissions are digital. Please submit a PDF of no more than four pages that includes project images, a written statement not to exceed 250 words, and a brief project description and timeline.

Submissions should be sent to Nick Anderson at anderson@archleague.org. For more information, call 212.753.1722 x13.

League programs are made possible, in part, by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

In any medium, create a spatial response to the competition title. Can you distill your ideas to a single vignette?

http://www.sociodesignfoundation.org

Craft and clearly communicate your idea for a design school that fosters a socially-aware education for its students.

How can a school inspire socially-aware design?

http://www.sociodesignfoundation.org

The future of Competitions - TELL THEM WHAT THEY NEED

Historically the architectural competition has been a testing ground for new ideas. It was understood as a space in which research and development, as well as the creation of critical architectural proposals, were possible. Today, competition architecture has increasingly become a service provision for the jury and a fulfillment of the technical requirements of the brief – in other words, simply what is needed to win the competition.
Needs are generating ideas whereas ideas should be generating needs. The outcome is often predictable and ¬¬¬conventional, stripping competitions of their significance as a critical tool.
Stimulus
- What needs to be changed, and how, in order to make competitions once again a tool for generating new ideas?
- What can be changed to improve the interaction between commissioner, client and end-user in the competition process?
- How do the mechanisms of competitions affect the built environment?
- What is the potential of architecture competitions?

THIS TIME YOU ASK THE QUESTIONS AND YOU GIVE THE ANSWERS

This competition attempts to instigate change by challenging the established in a critical but constructive manner. Join us by contributing the questions not yet asked!
There are no fixed requirements regarding submitted material. Entries could be in the form of a text, manifesto, collage, illustration, SMS, image, fax,  diagram, installation, paper architecture, runners up, brief, historical material, etc. The essential idea is to explore the potential of the architectural competition – it is up to you how to communicate it. Please address the principle question of how to return to a condition where competitions
generate ideas rather than simply deliver solutions. The format and material should be in relation to the concept of your submission.
We challenge experienced architects to take part and share their perspective on the matter.

The jury

- Boris Brorman Jensen (DK), architect, associate professor Århus, Ph.D, Harvard fellow.
- Gary Bates (NO / USA), architect, teacher and curator, founding partner of Spacegroup
- Markus Miessen (GE / GBR), professor, architect, writer, curator, founding partner of nOffice and Studio Miessen.

The entries will be judged anonymously.

Submitted material should reach us by the 1st of November

submission@conditionsmagazine.com
CONDITIONS ANS, Fjordveien 3, 0139 Oslo, Norway
T: +47 97183747
Questions: info@conditionsmagazine.com

1st prize

2.500 eur
Winner & Runner-ups will:
- be published in a special competition issue of CONDITIONS
- take part in a Scandinavian exhibition
- take part in a dialogue how to implement your ideas

Rome Prize 2011

The American Academy in Rome invites applications for the Rome Prize competition.  One of the leading overseas centers for independent study and advanced research in the arts and the humanities, the Academy offers up to thirty fellowships for periods ranging from six months to two years. 

Rome Prize winners reside at the Academy’s eleven-acre center in Rome and receive room and board, a study or studio, and a stipend.  Stipends for six-month fellowships are $13,000 and stipends for eleven-month fellowships are $26,000.

Fellowships are awarded in the following related fields:
- Architecture
- Design (including graphic, fashion, industrial, interior, lighting, set, and sound design, engineering, urban planning, and other related design fields)
- Historic Preservation and Conservation (including architectural design, public policy, and the conservation of works of art)
- Landscape Architecture

Fellowships are also awarded in: Literature*; Musical Composition; Visual Arts; Ancient Studies; Medieval Studies; Renaissance and Early Modern Studies; and Modern Italian Studies
*Awarded by nomination through the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

The application deadline is November 1, 2010

Extended Deadline: 15 November 2010 (additional Fee applies)

For further information or to apply, visit the Academy’s website at http://www.aarome.org or contact the American Academy in Rome, 7 East 60 Street, New York, NY 10022-1001, Attn. Programs.  T: (212) 751-7200, ext. 47; E: info@aarome.org.  Please state specific field of interest when requesting information.

The Rome Prize competition is underwritten in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

In any medium, create a spatial response to the competition title. Can you distill your ideas to a single vignette?

http://www.sociodesignfoundation.org

Philips is looking for individuals, community or non-governmental organizations and businesses who have ideas - ideas for ‘simple solutions’ that will improve people’s health and well-being in a city.

To help translate these ideas into reality, three Award grants totaling €125,000 are on the line. One overall winning idea from any of the three categories outlined below will receive a grant of €75,000, while the two additional ideas will receive grants of €25,000.

There are three Award categories:

1. Well-being Outdoors
Initiatives that will help citizens feel safe in public spaces, as well as initiatives that help create identity and a sense of belonging.

2. Independent Living
Initiatives that will help the growing number of elderly people living alone to feel secure and comfortable in a city and/or enable longer living at home with appropriate access to healthcare.

3. Healthy Lifestyle at Work and Home
Initiatives that will support a healthy body and mind, whether through a person’s surroundings or via other essentials such as exercise, sleep and diet.

Detailed criteria for entries and online submissions for the Philips Livable Cities Award can be found at http://www.philips.com/because. The deadline for submission is 5pm CET on October 28, 2010. The winners will be announced at an Award Ceremony that will take place in April, 2011.

http://www.because.philips.com/Home/AboutAwards

Overview:
Architecture is defined by connections: the method and the material by which an assembly is developed to create enclosure. This process results in an active performative connection, one that is specific and definitive producing an architecture that can be built through iterative means. REPEAT asks that you look first at the connection and then - through repetition - define the whole. In brief, by evaluating the design process from this perspective, what emerges?

Awards:
The winning entry will be built, exhibited and subsequently given to the winner. The design and fabrication of the piece will be paid for in full by TEX FAB and installed to coincide with the TEX-FAB exhibition REPEAT, in February. NO design fee will be paid.

Honorable mentions will be awarded at the discretion of the Jury. All mentions will be exhibited at the REPEAT exhibition in Houston, Texas in February 2011

Deadlines:
Registration + Submission //
JUNE 16, 2010         Competition registration begins
AUGUST 16, 2010     Questions due to TEX-FAB via email
AUGUST 30, 2010     Question available online
OCTOBER 3, 2010     Submissions due (Midnight) 12:00 AM CST

Jury Review //
OCTOBER 4, 2010     Jury reviews begin
OCTOBER 24, 2010     Jury awards made public

Fabrication //
NOV – FEB, 2011     Winning design is developed, fabricated and installed

Exhibition //
FEBRUARY 11, 2011     Opening Reception for Exhibition
MARCH 25, 2011     Exhibition closes

Jury:
Patrik Schumacher, Zaha Hadid Architects
Marc Fornes, THEVERYMANY
Lisa Iwamoto, IwamotoScott
Chris Lasch, Aranda Lasch
Blair Satterfield, HouMinn

http://tex-fab.net/category/compete/

international design competition: playable10

0: playable10/ defined
1: why?/ healthy + happy kids + grown-ups
2: who?/ professionals, students, children + sponsors
3: what?/ competition categories
4: where?/ what we know so far
5: when?/ competition timeline
6: how?/ make a difference+ how to enter
7: what next?/ outcomes
8: contact

competition structure:
a: playable art
b: playable d-i-y
c: playable site
d: playable kids (completed)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
e. designing for play symposium & award ceremony
f. exhibition

international design competition: playable10 (continued)

0: playable10

Playable10:International Design Competition invites designers of all types from around the world to design playground equipment and spaces that will give a sense of place, wonder and fun so strong that they will entice children, teens and adults outdoors to play. Winners will be selected by a diverse jury that will be announced in mid-2010.

1: why?

Children's health is suffering because the appeal of sitting in front of an electronic screen is winning out over getting outside to play. Conditions such as childhood obesity, diabetes, ADHD, and vitamin D deficiencies (and many others) are on the increase, but their symptoms are lessened and sometimes eliminated by regular outdoor play. The problem is that many playgrounds are without challenges and look the same as every other playground and so a child’s excitement is soon lost, if they even go out there in the first place. Another problem is that manufactured playgrounds can be too expensive for some communities so their children do without. We think there are options for everyone to "win" in this game by building their own play areas with easily found materials, incorporating manufactured equipment in creative ways, building play areas different from any we have ever seen before, and even building a fort in your own backyard.

The idea for Playable10 came from the highly successful 1954 Playable Sculpture Competition put on by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

2: who?

Georgia Tech and the Atlanta Taskforce on Play (ATOP) are organizing the Playable10 competition in a belief that the talent is out there to find the answers to the challenges presented. We want this to be wide open to creative people young and old because great ideas can come from the most interesting places. We are presently looking for sponsors and supporters. ATOP is a 501(C)3 through our fiscal partnership with Park Pride.

3: what?

The categories in the competition are:
a.) Playable Art
b.) Playable Site
c..) Playable D-I-Y
d.) Playable Kids (Completed; Exhibit held March 12-13, 2010)
++++++
e.) awards ceremony + designing for play symposium
f.) touring exhibit (real + virtual)

The criteria are:
• playablity
• originality
• sustainability
• feasibility
• multi-generational
• accessibility
• inspire movement

The prizes are currently:
a.) Playable Art: One (1) winning playspace will be built in Woodruff Park in downtown Atlanta in 2011;
b.) Playable Site: One (1) winning conceptual master plan for play will be presented to the Atlanta Beltline, James Corner Field Operations and Perkins + Will for their review as they develop the Beltline master plan. The winner has the potential to be a great influence on the Atlanta Beltline;
c.) Playable DIY: At least one (1) winning DIY project will be built and the process captured in a documentary/pilot.
(We hope to add some cash prizes at a later date, but the truest reward is making a lasting contribution to the wellbeing of the children of Atlanta and beyond who will benefit from your creativity.)

4: where?

The competition will be held online at www.PlayableDesign.org.

5: when?

june 1........open
october 1........close
november 6........winners
november 6-7........symposium

==================================================
detail:

√ December 16, 2009 ----- PlayableKids competition launches
√ February 26, 2010--------deadline for children’s entries
√ March 10-13 --------------- children’s work on exhibit at the international conference for The Association for the Study of Play (TASP) and The American Association for the Child’s Right to Play (IPA/USA).
√ March 13 ------------------ children’s drawings presented at conference and online
√ March 15-------------------professional competition launches
June 1 -7---------------------open for submissions
October 1 --------------------deadline for entries; 5PM EST
November 6-7 ------------- winners announced at conference on designing for play at Georgia Tech

6: how?

How will this competition make a difference? A report from McKinsey & Co. (“And the Winner Is…” 2009) states that prizes such as this competition achieve the changes sought in as many as seven different ways: by identifying excellence, influencing public perception, focusing communities on specific problems, mobilizing new talent, strengthening problem-solving communities, educating individuals, and mobilizing capital. Utilizing these change levers could ultimately lead to a change for the better in our children’s health.

.............. how do you enter?..............

(Note: registering for the competition and becoming a member of this community website are two different things.)

a.) Register here on playabledesign.org. Registration is $50USD (and $25 USD for students with a copy of a current student ID). Registration will be activated on June 1, 2010 after 5:00PM EST and a registration button will magically appear for you.
b.) Submit your entry: Details will be announced here June 1, 2010 after 5:00 PM EST.

7: what’s next?

A detailed competition packet PDF can be downloaded in early June. It will contain further specifics on each category, the Creative Commons licenses recommended to protect your designs, rules and regulations, etc.

We will continue to provide more information on the different competition categories as we hold meetings with the communities involved. Your questions will be addressed at these meetings. You may send in your questions to info (at) PlayableDesign.org. Submissions will be accepted from June 1 until October 1, 2010.

8: contact

For information on sponsoring the competition or symposium please contact:
Cynthia Gentry
Founding Director
Atlanta Taskforce on Play (ATOP)
cynthia (at) PlayAtlanta.org
404.200.0170

Website

STUDENT COMPETITION PORTO ALEGRE, BRAZIL
http://www.ifhp2010portoalegre.com.br/?p=studentcongress

The International Federation for Housing and Planning (IFHP) and the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) are organizing a World Congress in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on the theme of Building Communities for the Cities of the Future. The congress includes a Student Competition, open for all students in the fields of (landscape) architecture, urban design, urban planning and other related studies. The competition focuses on the area of Morro Santa Tereza in Porto Alegre, and the students are asked to make a proposal for improvement of this area in groups of one up to five students.

The area is beautifully located on a hill with a view on the old city centre and the lake. However, the area lacks an adequate connection with the surrounding neighbourhoods and between parts within the area itself. Besides that, different kind of functions, such as buildings in which different companies in the media and communication branch are hosted, an institution for the poor elderly, a youth prison, a football stadium and high segment housing are very close to places which are informally occupied by low-income households. This situation leads to social tensions in the Morro Santa Tereza.

We ask the students to come with ideas and concepts that respond to this situation, which is illustrated and described more extensively on the congress website. The deadline for submissions is on the 1st of October 2010, after which an international jury will select three winning teams. These teams receive one ticket to Porto Alegre, entrance to the congress and a sum of 1000, 2000 or 3000 euro’s. The winner(s) will be presenting his/her concept at the congress (approximately 800 people), which will take please at 14-17 November 2010.

Herewith we invite you to participate in the Student Competition. Besides the interaction between undergraduate and graduate students from the most diverse places and cultures, and the exchange and building of knowledge, you make a chance to present your work in Porto Alegre. More information can be found on http://www.ifhp2010portoalegre.com.br/?p=studentcongress. For questions, please contact rnycolaas@ifhp.org and congresso2010.ifhp@pucrs.br.

As a celebration of our school´s 10th anniversary and in commemoration of the 200 years of the independence movement in most Latin American countries, ISTHMUS (Escuela de Arquitectura y Diseño de América Latina y el Caribe),  is sponsoring a competition to submit, through creative far-fetched proposals, new images for the Panama Canal.

This construction is one of the modern wonders of the world and one of the most important symbols of our continent. The crossing between the oceans is an exceptional and unforgettable experience.

How can it be enhanced? What can be done to make it even more memorable?

The competition is open to all and has no inscription fees. Up to three proposals of the intervened image of one of the Canal Locks (Miraflores) can be submitted. The image should be accompanied by a short explanatory text.

There are no cash prizes, but an effort is being done to include all the submissions in a final publication, and to obtain funding for awards which will be announced as available.
Deadline October 1st, 2010.

More information: http://disenoentremares.wordpress.com

THE I. GRACE COMPANY, COMMISSIONED PRIVATE RESIDENCES, INC.

AND

THE INSTITUE FOR CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE & CLASSICAL AMERICA
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER
ANNOUNCE THE 2ND ANNUAL $2,500.00 SCHOLARSHIP

The I. Grace Company, Commissioned Private Residences, Inc. (“I-Grace”) and The Institute for Classical Architecture & Classical America (“ICA&CA;”) Southern California Chapter are pleased to announce The 2nd Annual I-Grace Scholarship Supporting Excellence in the Study and Practice of Artisanship and Architecture.

The ICA&CA;, founded as two separate nonprofit organizations in 1991 and 1968, respectively, merged in 2002 as a national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the classical tradition in architecture, urbanism and the allied arts. The organization is a valued educational resource for students of art, planning, and architecture, for design professionals and the general public assisted today by a growing network of regional and local chapters.

I-Grace is a national builder of luxury private residences with offices in New York and Los Angeles. It has been their longstanding belief that it is important to support the design community, with whom they work so closely, through professional organizations and charities.  I-Grace believes this type of classical instruction will benefit the Southern California design community and that an understanding of the fundamentals of classical architecture will benefit an industry professional’s overall skill, whether they are classists or modernists.   

The $2,500.00 scholarship that I-Grace will award applies to the 2011 Winterim Professional Intensive: The Elements of Classical Architecture program at the ICA&CA; national headquarters in New York City.  The scholarhip, which is comprised of two parts, will include $1,500.00 to cover the entire cost of tuition and an additonal $1,000.00 to offset travel expenses to New York City.  The 2011 Winterim session will commence on Friday, January 28, 2011 and will continue through Saturday, February 5, 2011. 
I-Grace is supporting this intensive program in the principles of classical tradition of design to address the growing demand for this kind of training.  The Winterim session focuses on classical design core courses and is taught by professionals from the fields of architecture and the allied arts.  The program is suited for practicing architects who have prior professional training and field experience, as well as students seeking to compliment their professional studies with classes in architectural classicism.  The program is balanced between drawing studios, lectures and discussions, and brief tours throughout New York City, giving students an opportunity to witness this classical tradition firsthand. 

The scholarship is open to all Students and emerging Architects, Interior Designers, or Artisans living and/or working in Southern California. 

The submission deadline for the application is October 1, 2010.  The award announcement will be made in late November or early December of 2010.  Applicants are required to submit the following along with their application:

•  Two letters of recommendation
•  Curriculum Vitae
•  Porfolio with at least six samples of work
•  Personal Statement describing your interest in classical architecture

Equal consideration will be given to all components of the application, so all are encouraged to apply.

Please visit the I-Grace website (http://www.igrace.com) or contact Diane Sipos (diane@classicist-socal.org) for more information.

Lightweight Structures Award 2010

The Association for the Advancement of Lightweight Structures (Verein zur Förderung des Leichtbaus e.V.), based in Stuttgart, announces the 2010 Lightweight Structures Award. This year marks the sixth year of the award, given annually to promote and reward student achievements in the fields of architecture, design, as well as structural, aerospace and mechanical engineering. Design studio projects as well as diploma or master’s theses are eligible for submission. A total of 1200 Euro will be awarded to the winning entries. The award is offered to participants of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Deadline for submission is October 1, 2010. Additional details at http://www.leichtbau-verein.de/de/02leichtbaupreis/index.html.