The Mies van der Rohe Foundation has launched a competition to support the Pavilion Workplace project, a competition of ideas is calling for European architects, designers and students with the aim of reflecting on work spaces.

This competition is organized by USM and ADEYAKA BCN, with the collaboration of Herman Miller and Tecno with the aim to generate a framework for reflection on how they are, or how they can be in the future offices and places where people carry out their professional activity, using the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion as the place to develop the proposals.

The Barcelona Pavilion, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich has been studied and interpreted exhaustively while it has inspired the work of several generations of architects. This time, Pavilion Workplace challenges participants to think about how the pavilion could be adapted to a working space, using the wide range of pieces of furniture provided by the organizers.

The 3 winning projects will be reproduced with VR technology and will be able to be visited virtually during an award ceremony to be held on 6th June 2019 at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion. The winners will receive a piece of furniture and a trip for two people to the headquarters of one of the sponsors.

Participants should register before April 17, 2019. All details can be seen in the Pavilion Workplace website. In addition, find the relevant information below for the competition details.

Objective

The competition is being held with the aim of generating a framework for reflection on the current state of offices and places in which people carry out their professional activities, and what they might be like in the future. The Barcelona Pavilion will be used as the site for developing these proposals.

Pavilion Workplace will make available to the participants a wide range of pieces of furniture for work spaces, from the manufacturers USM, Herman Miller and Tecno, in order to develop their proposals.

The Barcelona Pavilion, an emblematic work of the Modern Movement, has been exhaustively studied and interpreted as well as having inspired the oeuvre of several generations of architects. It was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich as the German national pavilion for the 1929 Barcelona International Exhibition.

Participants

The competition is directed at European professionals and students from the field of architecture, design and interior design, who are interested in reflecting on work spaces and offices. Participation is open to both professional studios and any individual under their own name.

Those who have direct family ties to any members of the judging panel who make the selection of the proposals are excluded from participating.

Prizes

The jury will select 9 proposals as finalists, of which 3 will become the winners.

The 3 winning projects will be reproduced with VR technology and will be able to be visited virtually during the awards ceremony to be held on 6th June 2019 at the Barcelona Pavilion. There will also be a video made for each of them which recreates the VR experience. The finalists will be given a gift.

In addition to this, the winners will receive a piece of furniture and a trip for two people to the headquarters of one of the sponsors (Münsingen, Switzerland; Melksham, UK; Milan, Italy). The trips will be made to and from European countries.

Entries

Participants must register via the Pavilion Workplace website and fill out the online form before 17th April 2019 at 23:59 GMT + 2, with the following information:

• Name and surname of the contact person
• Email and telephone number
• Profession
• Country

Registration is free, can only be done online and will only be valid if the required documentation is handed in before the deadline stated in the rules.

By completing the registration, the author permits their proposal to be shared via any means and format by the participating companies and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe.

Conditions

The projects must be carried out in the pavilion space, without altering its architecture. In other words, maintaining all the original elements, without adding any fixed architectural element, such as walls, for example.

The graphic resources necessary for the development of the proposals are available for download on the website.

Participants are invited to study the catalogues of the manufacturers, to get to know their products and to use them to develop their proposals.

The project must include, as its principal foundation, elements and compositions from USM, complemented with pieces from Herman Miller and Tecno.

It should be noted that the pavilion is already fitted out with all necessary facilities for comfort.

Material to be handed in

The project must be presented on one single, horizontal, A2 panel (1.700 x 1.200 px / 72 dpi / max 8 Mb) in .jpg format.

The panel should be sent via email before 24th April 2019 at 23:59 GMT +2 to the following email address: [email protected]

The panel should include all the graphic information necessary for the adequate definition and interpretation of the proposal: plans, photomontages, info graphs, perspectives or any other graphic expression which defines the project, will be accepted. The panel should also include a brief text explaining the project.

Each proposal will be presented along with a slogan to represent it, that will be placed on the upper right-hand side of the A2 sized panel.

In order to guarantee the impartiality of the jury, the projects will be presented anonymously. Therefore, the panel which is handed in cannot contain the names of the authors and must only be identified by their slogan.

All participating projects will be published on the website after the publication of the jury’s verdict.

The jury

The jury will comprise a renowned, highly acclaimed professional, a representative from USM, a representative from ADEYAKA BCN and a representative from the Fundació Mies van der Rohe Barcelona.

The jury will evaluate the architectural quality of the adopted solutions, the choice of furniture, its originality, and the possibility of adapting the proposals to the challenges of the future. The jury’s decision will be revealed at the awards ceremony on 6th June 2019 at the Barcelona Pavilion.

Calendar

Competition launch: March 25, 2019

Last day for entries and queries about competition procedures: 10.04.2019 at 23:59 GMT +1 – 

Registration date: April 17, 2019

Last day for receiving proposals: April 24, 2019

Awards ceremony at the Barcelona Pavilion: June 6, 2019

Queries and clarifications

Any queries or clarifications regarding competition rules or procedures should be put forward before 10th April via email, to the following address: [email protected].

All images courtesy of Pavilion Workplace website

> via Mies van der Rohe Foundation