TerraViva Competitions launches TACTICAL URBANISM NOW! 2021, a new edition of the architecture competition that puts the focus on the transformation of public space all over the world. 

Prizes up to 7.000 € will be awarded to the winners selected by an international jury panel composed by, among others, Arturo Mc Clean (Miralles Tagliabue EMBT), Liz Wreford (Public City), Francesco Garofalo (Openfabric), Hannah Klug (Intuy Lab). 

Brief

Over the last decade, cities all around the world have experimented with a wide range of urban transformations through colourful, flexible and light interventions. Nowadays, it has become more and more common to come across these type of projects in both, small towns and metropolises. 

Tactical Urbanism proposes an innovative design approach that aims to achieve long-term regeneration with short-term strategies. In certain cases, due to the positive impact that these interventions have generated in the urban realm, projects that were once thought of as temporary have now become permanent.

Working at the scale of a street, a block or a building, tactical tools have the power to improve liveability citywide. Similar to the way acupuncture inserts needles into one part of the body to boost the well-being of the entire organism, these type of projects can actually lead to positive changes in an entire neighbourhood. 

Prizes & Mentions

• 1^st Prize: 3.000€
• 2^nd Prize: 2.000€
• 3^rd Prize: 1.000€
• 4 Golden Mentions: 250€ each
• 10 Honourable Mentions
• 30 Finalists

Guidelines

The challenge of this competition is to reinterpret what is commonly known as traditional public spaces, such as parks, streets, playgrounds and squares, with a strategical vision capable of providing them with new features of multifunctionality and flexibility. 

Tactical design can be considered as an instrument for carrying out experimental projects of high communicative value, aimed at improving public spaces or even creating new ones from scratch. Today, the challenge is to design inclusive and accessible spaces, capable of reflecting the diversity of the infinite categories of potential users and encouraging citizens to "Live Together". 

Participants are therefore invited to explore and experiment with innovative strategies, original ideas and unconventional concepts. The key point is to be able to think out of the box in order to imagine lively and attractive urban scenarios which guarantee permanence, interaction and variety of uses.

Scalability and modularity can be fundamental aspects to be taken into consideration when developing the concept. How many different of activities can be carried out in the same place? How could an urban void be radically transformed in order to foster social interaction? 

Be creative and explore all the possibilities to imagine a new kind of public space! 

Requested Material

Competitors have to submit two A1 panels (59,4 x 84,1 cm) landscape oriented + a brief text describing the proposal (up to 250 words). Panels must contain all the necessary graphic information to explain the project in the best way possible (title, diagrams, sketches, 3D visualizations, plans and sections, collages, model photos, etc.). All kinds of graphic representations will be accepted.

Jury

Arturo Mc Clean | Miralles Tagliabue EMBT (Barcelona, Spain)

Liz Wreford | Public City (Winnipeg, Canada)

Francesco Garofalo | Openfabric (Rotterdam, Netherlands)

Nasrin Mohiti Asli | Orizzontale (Rome, Italy)

Hannah Klug | Intuy Lab (Lima, Peru)

Greg Corso | Sports (New York, USA)

Nathalie Eldan | Atelier Nea (Paris, France)

Sojung Lee | OBBA (Seoul, South Korea)

Schedule

Competition Opening December 13th (2021)

59 € “Early” Registration Ends December 28th     

89 € “Standard” Registration Ends March 4th  

119 € “Late” Registration Ends March 18th  

Submission Deadline March 18th

Results Announcement April 26th (2022)

Download full competition brief here. 

Requirements / Eligibility

The competition is open to students, architects, designers, urbanists, engineers, artists, makers, activists and anyone interested in the transformation of the contemporary urban space. Participants can join the competition either individually or with a team.

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More information about the competition can be found on the official competition's website. 

Contact: [email protected].

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