Pedro Gadanho is the Curator of Contemporary Architecture in the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Since he joined MoMA in 2012, he curated the exhibition 9+1 Ways of Being Political and is responsible for the Young Architects Program. Previously, he divided his activity between architecture, teaching, writing and curating. Gadanho holds an MA in art and architecture and PhD in architecture and mass media. He is the author of Interiores 01-‐010 and of Arquitetura em Público,a recipient of the FAD Prize for Thought and Criticism in 2012. He was the editor of BEYOND bookazine, writes the ShrapnelContemporary blog, and contributes regularly to international publications. He curated Metaflux at the 2004 Venice Architecture Biennale and exhibitions such as Post.Rotterdam, Space Invaders, and Pancho Guedes, An Alternative Modernist. He was also a chief curator of ExperimentaDesign between 2001 and 2003. Amongst exhibition layouts, galleries and refurbishments, his designs included the Ellipse Foundation in Lisbon, and the widely published Orange House, in Carreço, Family Home, in Oporto, and GMG House in Torres Vedras.
Culture & Society Competition Brief
by Pedro Gadanho
There is currently a need for a redefinition of architectural practice insofar as the financial crisis has had an effect of leading us in general to question our approach to social and cultural positions. Architects, designers and artists are conscious again of the political implication of their activity, and how they can use their specific knowledge to create a disruptive new reality, far away from the one established in the past recent years. The subversion of market values and the renewed interest in the raison d'être of different cultural projects can be helpful to define new viewpoints based in our current social contradictions. At the same time, these involve the fascinating possibility of [re]constructing the system from its basis. How does this change affect daily cultural life in our cities? How are cities and citizens adapting to these new economic models and reacting to the constant changes we’re living through?
MONEY deals with society by transforming the notion of collectivity and connectivity, among other issues. The relationship between money and society is strong; and clearly it also has implications on education and on the way we exchange knowledge. The emergence of new education tools as MOOCs, on-line courses, etc. allow free access to education in order to produce so-called “better societies”, but what do we have when these new ways of learning and exchanging are also part of a bigger monopoly? Are we repeating the same old models with new names?
Keywords social money, culture, bitcoin, education, informal exchange, technology.
Building Without Money | Create a Space for Cultural Exchange
Con dinero y sin dinero... yo hago siempre lo que quiero...*
Competition Brief
Are we able to design without money as we know it? Can we envisage a practice of architecture that finds its rewards through unconventional forms of compensation? As other cultural producers, can architects be seen as initiators of communal projects for which, besides contributing the design skills and problem-solving capacities, they can also research and concoct alternative sources of funding?
In the past years, we have witnessed the emergence of experimental currencies such as the bitcoin, as well as new forms of economical exchange and trade, such as crowdfunding, social money, micropayments, or time banks, all of them based on the trust and support of a given network. Coming from the fields of design and urban transformation, can thesecurrency experiments and moneyless service exchanges be harnessed as catalysts for change? Can they be envisaged as an integral part of new forms of practice?
The way we interact as citizens in this potentially new economic scenario is transforming how we use public space, how we make use of digital tools, and how we create new physical and virtual territories for our own activities and aspirations. Simultaneously, these new forms of interaction can also lead us to explore different forms of compensation for design labor, just as they allow us to find new funding sources for initiating specific architectural projects or broader radical urban interventions.
Given these ideas, the competition asks for conceptual strategies and architectural expressions that may represent a new space for cultural exchange that can be built without money. Proposals are to be design-based and conceived for a location chosen by participants. Proposals must devise innovative financing models supporting the conception and construction of programs that, while based on prototypes of the urban market – from flea markets to produce exchange sites, from specialized bazaars to hacker’s forums –, can also be understood as promoters of cultural exchange.
Submission Contents Description
Participants must define
The location of the project considering that this should be a public space.
The architectural program and its design expression.
The conception and building process since its firsts stages (ideas, how to build it, timeline).
Participants must send
Panels/ drawings | conceptual drawings, technical drawings, sections, plans, renderings, perspective drawings or axonometric drawings in any scale. You are encouraged to append detailed drawings, photographs of models, other charts and texts written in English that describe your project and define the questions that your project addresses and the approach as well as the direction your project takes on the topic.
Report/ text | Your submission should include an explanation of your design that is no more than 750 words long, printed in 12 point type or larger. Paste this same text in the upload box.
Additional materials (optional) | Please note that we have the intention to publish the awarded entries in a publication containing augmented reality technology, so we also welcome additional materials that match the criteria described below under Additional contents format requirements. However, submission of these contents is not obligatory, nor shall their submission/non submission influence the evaluation process.
Detailed List of Submission Contents
Obligatory contents |
Report | Each entry is to submit a text that describes the proposed scenario, location, program and development process of a new space for cultural exchange. Not to exceed 750 words. This text will be pasted in the upload box during the submission process.
Panels | Drawings - 3 panels [format A2 vertical or landscape, in 300 dpi]
Main Board | Representative board - 1 board [format A2 vertical or landscape, in 300 dpi]
Thumb image | 1 Image [900 x 900 px] – jpg
Representation should concern the proposed strategy, space or building, and the economical and territorial implications of the project in time.
Additional contents format requirements (optional)
Images | JPG or PNG 512x512 pixels minimum. 500,000 pixels maximum. PNG should be saved with transparency in order to use Alpha Channel.
Video | A 30-45 segs-lenght video MP4 or MOV(with H.264 codec) or as FLVs when they have an alpha channel. Ratio: 16:9.
3D Models | Basic 3D models and small scenes. 3D model support is based on the Collada format (v1.4 or v1.5.).
Notice
Maximum total file size is 30 MB. Be aware of the size of your files. Files that do not meet the specified requirements will not be taken into consideration.
Accepted file formats JPEG and PDF (except for the augmented reality content).
ID registration number for each entry will be obtained during upload/payment process (and automatically used to name each electronic file of design entry (e.g. TS0000.jpg)).
All entries will be displayed on the competition's website.
Please do not include your names in the competition files since this is anonymous competition.
References
Hacker-driven production of space as sites of cultural exchange.
Practices of reuse and recycling supported by digital networks, such as Superuse or Basurama
Practices of open source translated into specific architectural languages.
DEADLINES AND COMPETITION FEES
Launch | 9 December 2013
Registration from | 9 December 2013 to 21 January 2014
Submission Deadline | 21 January 2014
Early Bird Fee | 375 HRK | 50 EUR | from 9 December 2013 to 7 January 2014 |
Late Bird Fee | 565 HRK | 75 EUR | from 7 January to 21 January 2014 |
Competition Package Fee | 750 HRK | 100€ | includes all 3 competitions |
Cycle Package Fee | 1125 HRK | 150€ | includes all 3 competitions + Unconference |
All entries must be uploaded on the official server before the deadline.
REGISTER
Registration is free of charge.
PAYMENT
After registering and prior to uploading your entry you'll have to go through the payment procedure.
SUBMISSION
Submission / entry upload link will become avaliable upon payment proceedure execution.
Društvo
