For a second year the Costa del Sprawl ideas competition seeks creative solutions to improve the social, urban, and architectural situation in some of Costa del Sol’s sprawling neighbourhoods. This year’s competition is focused on the theme of ‘identity’ and invites participants to imagine a piece of architecture, whether building or space, which could be adopted as a model of contemporary vernacular architecture specific to the area of Riviera del Sol, and act as a precedent for the future planning and development of the neighbourhood.
Andalucía contains an exciting variety of vernacular and contextual architecture which has grown throughout its tumultuous history and within its diverse landscapes. From the labyrinthine streets of medieval fishing towns and gleaming white walls of hillside villages, to palatial citadels and capitals of once mighty empires, the architecture of Andalucía tells a compelling story and creates a strong sense of place and identity.
This sense of identity and reflection of context has all but vanished from contemporary architecture in Andalucía, and this is most notable in the sprawling neighbourhoods of the Costa del Sol which communicate little more than the capitalist speculation which lead to their existence. Nonetheless, this condition now forms a part of the area’s history and provides the point of departure for any future architectural, urban or planning projects.
It is this point of departure which forms the basis of the ideas competition. Participants are asked to produce a design which communicates their idea of contemporary vernacular architecture for Riviera del Sol. Designs can be can be experimental or based on the tried and tested, but they must all look towards the future as well as take into consideration the social, cultural, topographic, climatic, urban and architectural context of Riviera del Sol in a holistic manner.
More specifically, you are asked to design a building, a fragment of a building, or a space which could be used to influence and shape the future of architecture and planning in the neighbourhood of Riviera del Sol. The designs should be located on the piece of land between Calle Jose Rivero and Calle Severiano Ballesteros as identified on the map. It is up to you to decide how much or little of the site you use and the location of your design upon it. The scale and typology of the design is also free for you to decide as the focus of the competition is to imagine a new vernacular, although this should not be interpreted merely as a stylistic study; the way in which your design is inhabited, the atmosphere of the spaces, and the materials and manner in which it is constructed will all be taken into account in the judging process.
Site location: 36.503037, -4.701398
Submission requirements:
This competition is open to everybody. To enter, each team/individual should submit a single A3 PDF named [project title].PDF and completed project submission form by email to costadelsprawl@gmail.com before the deadline of 23.59 GMT on Thursday 31sth August 2016. The combined size of attachments should not exceed 5mb. Submissions can be in English or Spanish.
Dates:
Deadline for entries 23.59 GMT Thursday 31st August 2017
Selected designs announced Thursday 7th September 2017
Exhibition including shortlisted designs Saturday 16th September 2017 – Monday 9th October 2017
Winner announced Monday 9th October 2017 after judging and public vote
Judges and Prizes:
Shortlisted designs will be exhibited as part of the Costa del Sprawl exhibition at La Cala de Mijas municipal gallery where they will be presented to local residents, council representatives and neighbourhood associations who will vote for a winning entry.
Judge 1: Daniel Rosbottom, Co-Director of DRDH Architects, London
Judge 2: TBA
Judge 3: TBA
Due to the cost of the exhibition and current lack of sponsorship we are unable to provide financial prizes for the winning entries of the competition. The winning designs will be published and promoted in all subsequent articles and publications regarding the exhibition at local, national and international level.
Competition Registration and Resources:
To gain access to the competition submission material and further design resources please register your team name and email below in order to be sent a download link.
Questions:
Questions are welcome and should be sent to CostaDelSprawl@gmail.com or asked in the comments below.
More background information on the Costa del Sprawl project can be found in the following document: ISSUU
Peter Zumthor Therme Vals inspired T-shirts
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Sorry for the naivety, but the “team name” to be sent at the time of registration is the name of the people who make it or a general name to preserve their identity?
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Hi Camille. The ‘team name’ can be any name you want which covers the entire team. On the final submission form you are asked to provide the names of the team members but that information isn’t necessary to register. I hope this helps.
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Hello, I have some questions about the competition.
1. Is there any CAD files of the site? We don’t know the dimensions and grades of the site. As you would appreciate, they’re needed for the size and location of our design.
2. It would be great if we had a map legend of site photos with shooting points, view angles and photo numbers. Thank you, there are lots of photos. But we can’t be sure where they show us.
3. When will the prizes be announced ? Will it be a money prize or nonmonetary one ?
Thank you for your help.
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1. No, there are no CAD files for the site. While consideration for the immediate context of the site is welcome in all submissions, dimensional precision is not a factor which will be considered in the judging of the competition. The site was selected as a ‘host’ for the competition which is more concerned with finding designs to act as an exemplar precedents for contemporary vernacular architecture in the area.
2. Following on from the answer to question 1, the purpose of the photos was to provide a more general overview of the character of the site as a precise response to this location is not necessary. However, I will work on such a legend as I agree that this would be useful for all entrants.
3. We are currently in discussions with sponsors regarding this matter. At this time I cannot promise that there will be a monetary prize. We hope to make an announcement on the prizes very soon.
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We have doubts in the format and amount of documents we ought to present. We read it is supposed to be one A3, is that all? Can we present more A3? Other size is accepted? What is the aproximate definition on the contest proyect?
Thank you very much!
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The project should be communicated on a single A3 sheet. There are three main reasons for this. One is that we want to present as many designs as we can in the exhibition we will be holding in September and the space we have is limited. Another reason is that the designs should be easily readable for the general public and those without an architectural education, therefore we hope the single A3 sheet encourages concise communication of the designs. The final reason is that we are unsure at present of what prizes we will be able to offer other than exhibiting the best works and we feel it is not fair to ask people to work on multiple pages of work without what we deem to be fair reward.
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Hello! We are looking forward to further information about selected designs and judges. We see some dates have passed and we wanted to ask wether the contest has been cancelled or posponed, or maybe señected designs have been sent a private e-mail. Thank you very much
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