Visualize yourself as Jerry crafting your secret abode: KEEPING TOM OUT!! Or SpongeBob Square Pants living underwater in a Pineapple house? Or what if you get to live in Howl’s Moving Castle - floating around in the air, run on the ground, and reorganize based on the location? Can you feel that dinosaur-driven Stone Age vibe from the Flintstones? Can you visualize the peculiar evil lair of MojoJojo atop the Volcano Mountain, or the giant-sized vault of Mr. Scrooge from Ducktales?

Cartoon shows defined our childhoods and the way we perceived the world. The architecture of cartoons reminds us of dreamy eclectic environments that create joy and wonder. The built environment in these shows were/are directly connected to the personality and vibe of the characters dwelling in them. The buildings were life-like and had their own emotional quotient. Though being very distant from reality, they encouraged the viewers to immerse in the surreal experience and enjoy the ‘plausible impossible’, a term coined by Walt Disney referring to the unique ways cartoon can make impossible feats seem real. The artistic/architectural freedom exercised in the cartoons were the very first design inspiration to us. They galvanized the thought process towards a quixotic fantasy path and created a sense of liberation among us. 

As we grow up and come to terms with the bleak reality around us, we tend to give up on our childhood fantasies, the imaginary, romantic and abstract built environments we planned to create and live in. We become slaves to the methods and notions of the world and try to fit in as much as possible. On the other hand, the only lesson that the cartoons and their environments taught us was to ‘STAND OUT’. Be distinct, loud, weird or colorful, but stand out and create a lifelong impression on the viewer/user’s mind.

‘Toon House’ is a design competition, an appeal to the inner child, inviting all the people to ‘Design your Favorite Cartoon Character’s Shelter.’ The notion is to contemplate a space, separate from our conditioning as designers.  

Toon House is an attempt to save our weak creative impulses and to broaden our horizon of possibilities. The basic premise is to visualize and identify the needs of the character. The concept revolves around the world, lifestyle, theme and habits of the chosen cartoon character from ANY animation studio in the world. For instance, ‘Elsa’ from ‘Frozen’ might want tons of ice sculptures in a cold room whereas ‘Popeye’ could need a structure built out of spinach cans, and ‘Sadness’ from ‘Inside Out’ might want low-spirited and a gloomy environment

Toon House aims to invigorate the nostalgia and create the ‘architecture that defined you as children.’ The competition is an exercise to maximize the creative potential of the participants and a means to navigate around the ‘greys’. Creativity needs to be free from the limitations of everyday logical thought processes. As designers, you need to be intuitive and rediscover the raw creativity you had as a child and integrate those qualities in your designs now!

Awards

Winning participants will receive prizes totaling INR 2,00,000 with the distribution as follows:

First prize- INR 1,00,000/- + Certificate 

Second prize- INR 60,000/- + Certificate

Third prize- INR 40,000/- + Certificate

10 Honorable mentions

Winners and honorable mentions will be published on our website and other international architecture magazines and websites partnered by us.

Registration & Timeline

The competition is open to everyone in the world (architects, students, engineers etc.). You can participate individually or in a team. A team can have a maximum of three members only.

Standard registration: 10th January 2021 – 10th March 2021

• International Participants: 60 EUR + Taxes (per team)

• Indian Participants: 1800 INR + Taxes (per team)

Late registration: 11th March 2021 – 9th April 2021

• International Participants: 80 EUR + Taxes (per team)

• Indian Participants: 2100 INR + Taxes (per team)

Submission deadline: 10th April 2021

Result: 5th- 8th May 2021

*All deadlines are 11:59 PM- 00:00 IST (India)

Participants may register by filling the registration form and submitting it with appropriate payment through our secure payment gateways at www.archasm.in.

The participants will receive their teamcode within 48 hours of completing the payment successfully.

Teamcode will be sent primarily to the email address provided to PAYUMONEY/PAYPAL.

Discount

15% discount for 5 teams and above. 

Download the competition brief here. Read more about the competition on this page. 

Top images courtesy of Archasm

> via Archasm