LOST ARCHITECTURE – [En]VISIONING NEW CITY SQUARES

IMPORTANT NOTICE !!!

22 SEPTEMBER 2014         REGISTRATION DEADLINE EXTENDED !!!

26 SEPTEMBER 2014         Project submission deadline

3 OCTOBER 2014              Final winner announced

TAW - TIRANA ARCHITECTURE WEEK 2014 - [EN]VISIONING FUTURE CITIES  [15 September - 12 October 2014] and POLIS University together with the Ministry of Culture of Albania are launching an Open International Competition themed “Lost Architecture – [En]Visioning New City Squares” and is inviting young students and architects up to 40’s to propose solutions for the public space of the Pyramid Square in Tirana.

You are invited to visit the official website of  Tirana Architecture Week 2014 - [En]Visioning Future Cities: www.tiranaarchitectureweek.com and for those who are interested to participate in the competition can visit the official website: http://lostarchitecture.tiranaarchitectureweek.com/

Good Luck!

INTRODUCTION

The Ministry of Culture of Albania and Tirana Architecture Weeks invite young students and architects up to 40’s in an open international competition for concept designs. Participants are invited to propose solutions for the spaces of Pyramid Square in Tirana– an emblematic location, formally a symbol of Communist Heritage in Albania and present day with no future and identity, where most of the significant historical periods of the city overlap the organic origin to the authoritarian regime entering in 20 years of transition. A solution for their harmonious coexistence is yet to be found.
This document describes the terms and conditions of the competition, defines the objectives for the participants and details the characteristics of the site. All submitted projects shall be reviewed by an international jury, in which representatives of the Ministry of Culture and other notable experts will be part of the committee.
The jury shall select three finalists.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The competition is international, open and anonymous.

PARTICIPANTS

The competition is open for Albanian and international physical persons either individually either in form of group which number shouldn’t overpass the number of six.
Not eligible for participation are persons who are members of the jury or are in relations with the Promoter or with members of the jury.

FEES

ENTRANCE FEE IS: 25 EURO PER TEAM

COMPETITION REQUIREMENTS

AIMS
The main characteristic of Tirana’s city center is its monumentality to represent the image of rebirth of the country. Administrative, institutional, cultural functions are concentrated along the boulevard. A pure modernist architecture is used to build the Pyramid, in order to function as Mausoleum of the Albanian Dictator Enver Hoxha. After the hall of the communist party there have been many discussions about what the future of this monument should be: some wanted to change its function, some thought it should be demolished, some others decided that the monument should be preserved. The goal of this competition is to provide a strategy for harmonizing all these layers of history into an actively functioning, attractive and distinctly contemporary space by re-envisioning the Pyramid Square as a part of an active system within the city.
The international competition for Pyramid Square is also part of the strategy of the Ministry of Culture to re-activate the ghost spaces of the Communist Past.

OBJECTIVES

Propose a concept design for the activation of the Pyramid Square by adding new functions. Participants should only present their conceptual solutions not technical ones. provide
access for pedestrians to the site and connect the area with the rest of the city establish spatial and logical links between the site and its context (via underground or above ground structures, information design, paving patterns or other). Physical or programmatic connection to a wider system in the city.

TIMELINE

JULY 2014                    Competition announced/ Registration Begins

AUGUST 2014              Deadline for submitting questions and answers. The answers to the frequently asked questions will be published on this web

22 SEPTEMBER 2014         REGISTRATION DEADLINE EXTENDED !!!

26 SEPTEMBER 2014         Project submission deadline

3 OCTOBER 2014              Final winner announced

COMPETITION PACKAGE

Upon registering and payment of the registration fee, each participant/team will be able to download a package containing a CAD file of the site (indicating the actual site boundaries) and context photographs.

JURY/JUDGING CRITERIA

The jury will be in charge of establishing the key points that this project needs to address based on the site, brief, and guidelines, and evaluate each project accordingly. As part of the design process we recommend that each team takes the necessary time to and guidelines site as well as other case study projects that might relate to the brief in hand to determinate what aspects of the project are the most unique and therefore need to be addressed and successfully solved to achieve a good result. Remember that this is an ideas competition, an opportunity for experiment and explore the limits of architecture.

PRIZES

1st place      - 1.000 € [+publication in the FORUM A+P magazine]

2nd place    - 750 € [+publication in the FORUM A+P magazine]

3rd place     - 250 € [+publication in the FORUM A+P magazine]

Also two honorable mentions will be awarded for categories: innovations and sustainability.
Winning projects and honorable mentions will be published in a special issue of Forum A+P and will be displayed at the Tirana Architecture Week Exhibition.

INTELLECTUAL & PROPERTY RIGHTS

Participants in the competition guarantee to Tirana Architecture Week the originality of their proposals and the grant Tirana Architecture Week unhindered exercise of the intellectual and property rights over them. Once submitted to Tirana Architecture Week the proposals will become freely available for online publication on www.tiranaarchitectureweek.com and other websites chosen by Tirana Architecture Week.

More information for those interested participating in the competition:  http://lostarchitecture.tiranaarchitectureweek.com/

Questions: [email protected]