UNDIP is excited to announce EPOCH45: a multidisciplinary student and young professionals planning competition. EPOCH45 seeks spatial solutions for the next phases of development of the new capital city of Indonesia, Nusantara (IKN).

This open ideas competition acts as a catalyst for reimagining entrenched planning paradigms within the dynamic landscape of Kalimantan. EPOCH45 invites participants to explore the concepts of Evolutionary Planning and envision pathways of incremental development for Nusantara from an administrative core in 2025 to a self-reliant and robust “Forest City” of 2 million people by 2045.

EPOCH45 is an initiative by UNDIP and MARS Architects, lead by prof Wiwandari Handayani, guest lecturer Dr. Neville Mars, with Dr. Rukuh Setiadi, and Hon. Prof. Dr. Bambang Susantono.

In Brief

EPOCH45 seeks new strategies for the integrated development of IKN Capital City for the year 2045. Emphasis is on designing the expansion towards an inclusive “Forest City” — a landscape where jungle and metropolitan functions are symbiotic. The existing administrative core will need to expand in two stages from the current settlement to an urban constellation of 1 million by 2035, to a metropolitan region of 2 million people by 2045. Spatial integration is critical to achieve a vibrant metro region that encompasses 70% diverse jungle by 2045, on what is currently an Acacia and palm oil plantation. The competition unfolds across 3 scales, and asks for: 1. a regional vision that lays out the infrastructural, economic, agricultural and ecological backbone of IKN, 2. town planning of one or more districts, indicating urban fabric, typologies, and transit systems, 3. articulation of the block and street level, including possible architectural impressions, which illustrate how regional and district plans work together and manifest at the scale of its inhabitants.

These goals introduce many practical challenges such as walkability and inclusivity, but also opportunities for IKNs business case. For the two stages of its development, basic urban indicators (i.e. built footprint, GFA, FAR, land use, population density, walkability) and performance indicators should support the vision. Ultimately, the proposal must reveal how it engages the landscape over time to achieve a self-sustaining, multifunctional region that unites urban, agricultural, and natural systems. In short, EPOCH45 asks: how can the human habitat and the natural habitat — City and Forest — be planned to become complementary?

Submission / a singular vision

Participants must submit a presentation, driven by a clear spatial concept, presented in 3 parts:

a) Visual Exposé: up to 6 renderings showcasing the design vision.

b) Technical Exposé: plans, section, and system diagrams detailing the evolving spatial proposal.

c) Written Exposé: a 500 word introduction, elucidating the main concepts underpinning the proposal, demonstrating the planning logic, the growth strategy, possible KPIs, and business case.

Deliverables

a) a PDF file of 3 posters in A0 landscape:
- at printable resolution 200-300 DPI, with all images and links embedded.
- written English text and statistics must be integrated within the design of the posters, - using an open type font (OTF) such as Helvetica Neue, at point 13 for the body copy. - it is encouraged to organise the schemes for the three scales—Region / District / Block— one per poster, while indicating correlations.
- it is encouraged to fully cover the background for each A0 poster, for instance using one full spread rendering, with the title, intro, diagrams and additional images superimposed onto it. 

b) a 2 minutes video presenting the scheme with English voiceover: 1920x1080 pxl (MP4, 1080p).

c) total file size per item cannot exceed 130 MB.

d) entries are anonymous and are only marked by the provided code that participants receive on registration. This code should be used as the file name of the PDF and MP4 that are submitted.

Eligibility

Epoch45 is an open ideas competition, calling for multidisciplinary teams of around 3 to 6 members consisting at least half of students, academics, or young professionals (graduated after 2020), who can reflect on the general themes listed below. International collaboration is encouraged.

1. Regional and City Planning / Landscape Urbanism 2. Nature- Based Solutions / Infrastructure Planning / Energy, Water and Environmental Engineering / Resilience 3. Geography / GIS / Climate Adaptation, 4. Ecology / Reforestation / Ecosystem Services / Biodiversity / Permaculture 5. Sustainable Architecture / Housing / Material science / Life Cycle Design 6. Economic Sustainability / Community Planning.

Registration

- Send an email to [email protected] by end of day 17 January 2025 with “team registration” as the subject line.

- include the names and emails of each team member, and designate one contact person. 

- provide a brief description of your team’s educational institution / affiliation.

- Teams will receive a link to a personal google drive folder to upload entries and an entry code to be used as the file names of final submissions.

Prizes

a) The 5 winning teams will be able to present their project to the IKN planning committee.

b) The top 5 entries are invited to present their schemes at the second Forest City Conference to the authorities of IKN.

c) Three cash prizes will be offered: USD6,000for the winning team, USD 3,000 for the second team, and USD 1,000 for the third team.

d) Top 5 entries will be showcased in an urbanism exhibition in Rotterdam or Venice — TBC.

Data base / Lecture series / QnA

Maps of IKN, data sets, and a suggested reading list is made available on a google drive: here.

- Questions can be posted on the site, or sent to [email protected] until 17 February 2024.

- These will be addressed in person by email, or on the website, or more generally during the lectures.

- An online lecture series will be on offer delving into the themes at hand. Details will become available on the website. 

Timeline

Announcement: 17 Aug 2024

Registration Opens: 17 Aug 2024

Registration Closes: 17 Feb 2025

Submission Deadline: 1 March 2025

Winner Announcement: 31 March 2025

Uploading

Upload final entries to the dedicated google drive by end of day, 1 MARCH 2025. A link to your team’s folder will be provided after registration.

International Jury — TBC

An international jury of 9 leading urban scholars and landscape professionals will evaluate entries.

Bambang Susantono — president

Winy Maas — MVRDV

Henk Ovink — Commission on the Economics of Water 

Pedro Camarena — LAAP + UNAM

Arief Rabik — Indo Bamboo

Sofian Sibarani — URBAN +

Daliana Suryawinata — SHAU

Eric Frijters — FABRICations

Bindu Lohani — Distinguished Adjunct Board Member AIT

Lecture Series

Online Introduction of related themes

During October, November, December a weekly ten part online lecture series will delve into the topics at hand. Details on the website.

Speakers:

Michelle Provoost // CRIMSON / On New Towns

Arief Rabik / Indo Bamboo / Community Based Forestry Objectives

Lior Steinberg + Barend Koolhaas / The future of mobility and the streetscape

Winy Maas / MVRDV / Scenario based planning and quanEtaEve modelling

Erik Frijters / FABRICations / Urban Metabolism

Pedro Camarena / LAAP + UNAM / Geopark CDMX

Ben Milbourne / RMIT / Diverse-City

Sofian Sibarani / URBAN + / IKN Phase 1

Neville Mars / MARS Architects / Intro + Summary

Download the competition brief from here: EPOCH45.pdf. 

Top image courtesy of EPOCH45.

> via EPOCH45

architecture competition