description | background | submission information | presentation requirements | contact information |
|||
Seeking ideas for the Valley of the SunGet the Competition Brief and Registration Form in PDF Format Click Here to get Adobe Acrobat Reader |
Awards 1st Place $750.00 The number of Honorable mentions will be determined by the jury. |
||
|
Schedule General Registration deadline: August 30, 2001 Student Registration deadline: September 30, 2001 Submissions due: November 30, 2001 Jury Review completed: December 15, 2001 Results published: December 18, 2001 Tentative exhibit start: February 15, 2002 |
Registration information A registration fee of $35.00 for AZVW members and students and $75.00 for non-members will be required per entry. All entrants will be required to complete registration forms. Additional registration forms may be photocopied or requested from the Arizona Vision Weavers. No entries will be accepted unless the required registration forms and fee are submitted by the registration deadline of August 30, 2001 (Not July 15, 2001, as noted in the mailing!). Please indicate on your registration form the nature of your design discipline and professional status (i.e.: student, intern, architect, etc.). |
Jurors John Meunier, ASU Dean of Architecture Vern Swaback, Architect/Planner Anthony Floyd, Architect, Administrator Scottsdale's Green Building Program Frank Henry, Arizona VisionWeavers Joe Kullman of the Scottsdale Tribune |
|
In 1997, Arizona VisionWeavers organized a successful exhibition by 25 architects, which explored ideas for a more harmonious existence with the Sonoran Desert. As a follow up to that effort, this competition is intended to challenge the architectural and planning communities by seeking design and planning solutions that demonstrate the competitors' ideas and thoughts to what is an appropriate Phoenix architectural identity. The goal is to educate and heighten the awareness of the general public about building and living in the Sonoran desert.
The intention of this competition is to deal with both environmental/sustainable issues, and the social implications of continued expansion of the built environment as manifested by highways, urban density, sprawl, air quality and design character. This competition will hopefully provoke a discussion of ideas that will present different concepts and solutions to the perceived challenges of growth in the metropolitan Phoenix area.
The intention is to illustrate solutions that demonstrate an appropriate response to the desert context we live in. Our intense desert sun, hot dry climate, unique flora and fauna, rich history of native cultural and architectural heritage, are all parameters that should be considered whenever we attempt to add to our built environment. Our sun with its intense light, in particular, can be especially inspiring in shaping our buildings and urban spaces. From daylighting to energy and water conservation strategies, from shading devices to a multitude of possible passive and active solar building components, we should be encouraged to create architecture that is uniquely appropriate for the Sonoran Desert. Carefully selecting and incorporating the appropriate technology into our architecture is as critical a consideration as any, in the process of design. It is this balance between responding to the regional aspects of the Sonoran Desert and incorporating the "current" technology that will create architecture of identity. Solutions should remedy the situations created by recent development patterns. The entries should explore alternate planning possibilities and/or architectural qualities that define the regional character. Selected entries will be then published and exhibited as a collection of solutions.
The intent of the program is as follows: To create an architectural/planning solution to an urban site responsive to the desert context that is appropriate to the site demonstrating interpretation of the valley's identity. The project has to be within the urban metropolitan valley and could be:
• Any building type (new or renovated).
• Any planning/zoning/urban improvements (e.g. transportation, infrastructure, density issues).
• Artwork or written document demonstrating an idea/concept.
What makes the Valley of the Sun unique? What are the factors that differentiate it from other southwestern regions or for that matter, the rest of America? Is the architecture that is prevalent in San Diego, Santa Fe or Los Angeles appropriate here in the desert? Should there be a recognizable "Phoenix" architectural character or identity? If so, what would be the determinants that define this identity? Should this architectural character/identity be reflected in city/urban planning? Are the architects and planners appropriately responding to the unique climate, culture and history of Phoenix?
The Phoenix area has been evolving steadily into a community of transplants from all over the world. Each new resident brings with them not only elements of the lifestyle from which they came - be it New York, Chicago, or Philadelphia - but also expectations of what the architecture here in the Phoenix area is or should be. Among the most common reasons for their migration here are: the open space; blue sky; pleasant winter weather; and the natural beauty of the Sonoran Desert. However, by coming here and claiming their "piece" of the desert, they are directly adding to the growing problem of sprawl, pollution, traffic, etc. - thereby inadvertently destroying that which attracted them here in the first place. Typically, they purchase a developer built-house, with poor energy performance, no relation to the desert context or climate, and an aesthetic character more fitting to the Mediterranean coast than the Sonoran Desert.
These are obvious issues that need to be considered when attempting to establish a true architectural identity _ and which are of great concern to Arizona VisionWeavers and the community in general. With the explosion in growth that our community is currently experiencing, it is critical to generate, share and eventually implement, innovative and resourceful ideas if future development in the desert is to occur successfully and responsibly.
• Entry must be the work of the participant(s). While it is encouraged to seek out consultation and research existing precedents, the concept and the development of each entry must be solely the work and effort of the competitor(s).
• Any submissions not conforming to the presentation program requirements and instructions as stated in the program, and determined by the jurors, will not be eligible for prizes.
• All submissions will become the property of the Arizona VisionWeavers. The Arizona VisionWeavers reserves the right to publish and exhibit the any and all the information submitted without obtaining the entrants permission.
• 40" H x 40" W boards (any number and configuration). The presentation must fully convey the essence of the design through the use of plan(s), section(s), elevation(s), axonometric view(s), perspective(s), photograph(s), rendering(s), text, collages and images.
• Three-dimensional models and relief boards beyond ½" thick are permitted. However, the winning entries will have to be compatible and able to be exhibited in a gallery space.
• Any proposed design should be presented graphically in a manner that is sympathetic to our contemporary culture and architecture. All presentations have to be presented in a manner that will allow publishing and reproduction and exhibition in a gallery space.
or, of course, go to www.azvision.com