Homemade Dessert, in cooperation with the Liepaja City Council, invites you to participate in the third international architecture vision competition on Karosta, Latvia: War Town Microtecture. Aims of the competition are listed in detail after the break.
From the Architects:
“Objects (…) become collective architectures when they are part of an interaction between object-place-users, from which actions result.” (Marcos Rosa, in Microplanning: Urban creative practices).
Karosta translates as War Port (or Navy Harbor). It is located in the west of Latvia, in the city of Liepaja. Karosta used to be a secret military town for the Russian Empire, and later on for the Soviets. As Latvia regained its independence in 1991, the Soviet army had to leave Karosta. As a consequence, the population dropped dramatically from 25 000 to 6 000 inhabitants and the town has fallen into a state of partial despair.
To cover all scales of Karostas urban revitalization plan, this time Homemade Dessert asks you to focus on Karosta's small-scale architecture forms – playground areas, bus stops, benches and information signs, in order to develop a consistent concept to reinforce and reflect the identity of the Karosta.
An essential aspect of good urban design is the capacity of the objects (no matter the scale) to become more than mere objects. They must be dependent on their relationships so as to complete an articulating scheme. As such there is no specific area of intervention. Those objects are supposed to be placed around the town, accordingly to your understanding of relationships they produce.
More information on site restrictions, design proposal requirements and design proposal recommendations can be found in the competition brief available for download on homemadedessert.org
Jury:
Indulis Kalns – Liepaja city head architect, Latvia
Alona Martinez – lecturer, School of Architecture, University of Plymouth
Dr Louis Gyoh – architect and academic, RIBA, MCIOB, FRSA, United Kingdom
Ardzuna Sinaga – associate at AECOM Asia Pacific
Gemawang Swaribathoro – architect, OMA, Hong Kong
Andrejs Edvards Rauchut – 2010 Cooper Union graduate, associate professor at RISEBA and a Fulbright grant recipient
Rajiv J. Fernandez – architectural designer, Tamarkin Co, USA
Mandy Too – architectural executive – DPA, Singapore
Allison Schwartz – architectural designer, MA Architects, USA
Agata Piet – PhD student, Faculty of Architecture, Wroc?aw University of Technology, Poland
Simon McGown – project designer, Morphosis Architects, USA
Collin Anderson – writer, architect, Renzo Piano, France
John Simons – designer, KPF, USA
Prizes
1st prize – US$ 1000
2nd prize – US$ 700
3rd prize – US$ 300
+ 6 honourable mentions
The winners and honourable mentions will get international art and design media coverage and featured on the Homemade Dessert website.
Schedule
Registration: OCT31, 2013 – MAR12, 2014
Closing date for registration: MAR12, 2014 11.59pm GMT
Closing date for submission: APR13, 2014 11.59pm GMT
Evaluation: APR13 – MAY1, 2014
Announcement of the winners: MAY1, 2014
Fees:
Registration fee: US$ 40
Eligibility: Competition is open for all. No professional qualification is required. Design proposals can be developed individually or by teams (4 team members maximum).
Competition: War Port Microtecture
Organized by Homemade Dessert
Location: Karosta, Latvia
Website: homemadedessert.org
