In this competition, we encourage participants to come up with visionary concepts for a vertical farm in the urban context - only 1 drawing, absolute freedom of scale. 

Designers are asked to design a vertical farm integrated into the urban fabric, while providing a sustainable solution. By focusing on the food production in the urban environment, designers can also come up with innovative and creative solutions to problems such as space limitations and environmental degradation. Urbanization is rapidly changing the face of our cities, and with it, the challenges in producing food for a growing population. Vertical farming offers a unique solution to these challenges by utilizing limited urban space to produce crops in a sustainable and efficient manner. This competition aims to inspire architects and designers to develop innovative and visionary designs for vertical farms within the urban context.

How can the design of the vertical farm maximize crop yields and minimize environmental impact? What technologies and materials should be used to make the vertical farm sustainable and efficient? How can the vertical farm be integrated into the existing urban fabric? 

Vertical Farm aims to answer those questions with a particular focus on food production in the urban context. 

Eligibility

Non Architecture Competitions are open to all human beings, from every age and cultural background, working in groups or individually. Teams can be formed by a maximum number of 4 people. The registration fee is paid per team, regardless of how many members form it. Personal information of all the team members can be uploaded during the submission procedure of the final drawing.

Evaluation

The core values of the competitions are:

- Effective communication of the design qualities through the drawing 

- Originality of the design 

- Relevance to the building function addressed by the competition.

These values will lead the selection of the finalists’ projects and they will be used by the jury as a guideline in their decision.

Jury

The jury will be composed by a pool of platforms and experts specialized in the theme addressed by the competition. They will act as partners in the competition and final jurors of your work. The jury members are the following:

- Kasmir Jolma, Founder of Jolma Architects, Architect & Planner

- Ruben Bergambagt, Co-Founding Partner of Superimpose Architecture 

- James Martin, President and CEO in Lemna Environmental Technologies

All jury members expressed their formal commitment in reviewing shortlisted projects and selecting winners according to the awarding criteria expressed in the brief.

Prizes

Non Architecture Competitions will award only one winner, selected by the jury collectively, and 7 honourable mentions.

WINNER (1 PRIZE) / 1.000 euros*

/ Publication in the Non Architecture Competitions books and website 

/ Reviews in digital magazines and several architecture blogs 

HONOURABLE MENTIONS (7 PRIZES) 

/ Publication in the Non Architecture Competitions books and website

EDITORIAL PICK (Up to 6 Prizes)

/ Publication in the Non Architecture Competitions book and website.

FINALISTS (UP TO 36 PRIZES) 

/ Publication in the Non Architecture Journal

SPECIAL PRIZE 

The organization might establish additional special prizes and awards during the competition development and in the evaluation phase. 

*Taxes will be deducted and retained by overall prize amount. The prize will be taxed as professional income or other sorts of income according to Italian law, with a range from 20 to 30% according to winners’ country of residence. 

Note: The appearance on the involved architectural platforms are subject to the agenda and availability of the external platforms involved.

Calendar

01 March 2023: Competition launch

01 - 31 March: Special registration period (40€*)

01 - 30 April: Early registration period (55€*)

01 - 31 May: Regular registration period (70€*)

01 - 30 June: Last minute registration period (100€*)

15 June: Submission opens on our website

30 June 11:59 PM: Submission closes

24 - 28 July: Winner announcement

* +22% VAT. The timing always refers to Central European Time (CET). To avoid confusion, please check the countdown on the competition page.

Read further details in full Competition Brief and Non Architecture Competition's website. 

Top image courtesy of Non Architecture Competition.

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