The Laka Foundation is calling registrations to its Laka Competition 2021: Architecture Reacts competition. 

The subject of the competition is architectural, urban, technological, or product design that is capable of dynamic interaction with its social, natural, or built surroundings. 

The main focus of the competition is on solutions developed through a process of changes and adjustments. The winning projects from the previous editions often took advantage of disciplines such as robotics, mechanics, digital fabrication, biodesign and biofabrication, computational design, materials science, bioarchitecture, social sciences, industrial design, mobility, and more. The participants are free to decide the project’s location, scale, size, and program.

World Architecture Community is official media partner of the competition and will be bringing you the latest news about the competition. 

Image © Monika Kalinowska & Denys Karandiuk

Jury

Jury is presented on the website of the competition. The previous panels have been joined by among others: Nathalie de Vries (Architect, Urban Planner, Co-founder of MVRDV), Hani Rashid (Architect, Designer, Educator, Co-founder of Asymptote, Head of Studio_Hani Rashid), Daan Roosegaarde (artist, innovator, founder of Studio Roosegaarde), Emma van der Leest (biodesigner, product designer, founder of the BlueCity lab), Qun Dang (Architect, Principal Partner at MAD Architects), Maria Aiolova (Architect, Educator, LEED AP, Assoc. AIA, Co-founder of Terreform ONE), Tobias Wallisser, Chris Bosse, Alexander Rieck (Architects, Co-Founders of LAVA Laboratory For Visionary Architecture), Carlo Ratti (Architect, Engineer, Founding Partner of Carlo Ratti Associati, Director of the MIT Senseable City Lab), Paul Clemens Bart, Marvin Bratke (Architects, Co-founders of BART//BRATKE), Alberto T. Estévez (Architect, Educator, Founder of ESARQ/UIC), Camilla Siggaard Andersen (Architect, Urban Innovation Consultant, Educator), Peter Kuczia (architect, initiator and curator of the Design that Educates Awards) and more renowned designers and educators.

Schedule

The submission of designs is available all year round. The competition is divided into phases. The winners are selected each month. You can select the phase you want to join (and join more phases with the same or with different projects). Each phase has its separate panel of juries and the timeline. From each phase, the laureates will be selected and promoted on the channels of the Laka Foundation. The registration fees (specified on the website) support the statutory activity of the Laka Foundation (host, non-profit).

Schedule of Laka 2021 (phase 01)

Registration started in August 2020

Registration until October 15, 2020

Submission deadline: October 16, 2020

Jury deliberation: October 2020

Winners’ announcement: November 1, 2020

Image © Monika Kalinowska & Denys Karandiuk

Awards

Main prizes and honorable mentions will be selected. The 3 winning entries (main prizes) of each phase will be nominated for the Design that Educates Awards (in the category of Responsive Design), presented on the website of the Laka Competition, mentioned on the social media channels of the Design that Educates Awards, and invited to present their designs during the online meeting with editors of the Laka Perspectives. 

Laureates of main prizes and honorable mentions will receive the certificates and banners for online promotion. Nominations are an additional channel of access to the awards.

Image Protocell © Monika Kalinowska, Denys Karandiuk

Invite friends

Please invite your friends to join the competition, help us to spread the word about the idea of architecture that reacts, and receive free access to the Laka Competition 2021 (without registration fees). On the website of the competition, you will find a contact form, where you can share info about the competition with your friends, and receive your coupon. The regular registration fees are specified on the website and are separate for students and professionals. All registration fees and donations are spent on the further development of the awards.

Join

Laka invites everyone interested in the mission of the competition to submit their ideas. The participants are free to decide the project’s location, scale, size, and program and are encouraged to look for interdisciplinary solutions. Participants may submit multiple projects; each entry must be registered separately. There is no limit as to the number of participants per team. Individual entries are allowed. Interdisciplinary teams are encouraged to join.

Evaluation Criteria

Entries will be evaluated based on the criteria of (1) overall idea and implementation; (2) an ability to respond to social, economic, or environmental changes; (3) the design’s level of social and environmental engagement; (4) a relationship to a specific social, natural, and built context; (5) the design’s level of flexibility and adaptability; (6) an innovative use of technology and sustainable systems; and (7) the design’s level of self-sufficiency.

The host of the Laka Competitions is Laka Foundation (nonprofit)

Top image © Monika Kalinowska & Denys Karandiuk

All images courtesy of the Laka Competition

> via Laka Reacts