AECOM is seeking submissions for its second Urban SOS ideas competition. This year’s competition is focused on “Transformations,” specifically, in seven cities worldwide. AECOM says many of the world’s major cities are now undergoing deep changes, which present both opportunities and challenges for improving “the quality and tenor of built environments, the effectiveness of infrastructure and the responsible stewardship of ecological interactions.”
Competition entrants are asked to propose a design or planning initiative that will help a major city address transformation. AECOM writes: “Responses can range from a strategic framework to a surgical micro-response. Entrants should demonstrate a holistic approach to expressing these transformations. Designs should show a connective language that can embrace many or all aspects of the site. They should express a language of built form that ties together land, community, buildings, ecology, infrastructure, economic and social activity to strategically transform your site.”
Entrants must submit a site redevelopment plan in one of seven cities:
- Beijing, China
- Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Istanbul, Turkey
- Phoenix, USA
- Port au Prince, Haïti
- São Paulo, Brazil
AECOM says responses will be judged based on a set of criteria:
- Response directly answers stated question for chosen city
- Clear strategy for how proposal will affect larger city’s transformative state
- Clear sense of how proposed design will affect transformation of site
- Holistic approach to design that fully embraces site
- Appreciation for interdisciplinary thinking beyond traditional practice
- Creativity and innovation
- Feasibility and viability
- Ability to communicate ideas in a clear, interesting and compelling manner
“The most successful responses will be those that are well-presented, combining the points of view of more than one discipline — architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, economics, planning, ecological science, etc — and are realistically able to be implemented given pre-existing, city-specific antecedents, conditions, socio-economic and politico-cultural realities.”
The top four finalists (or teams) will travel to Barcelona to attend the World Architecture Festival from November, 3-5, 2010. Some $20,000 in prize money is available, but hard to get considering more than 1,000 applicants sent in ideas for last year’s competition.
The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students at all levels of higher education in all countries of the world. Entrants must be enrolled in a certified degree program during the Autumn 2010 term.
Applications are due by July 31. Five semi-finalists will then be announced in early September. Learn more and apply.
