SPACE FOR DESIGN 2018 - Visions of universal accessibility of urban spaces

SPACE FOR DESIGN 2018 - Visions of universal accessibility of urban spaces now is over!

Fondazione per l’architettura / Torino in collaboration with Ordine degli Architetti Torino and the Focus Design OAT are launching an international design contest open to architects, designers and university students of the Schools of Design and Architecture, on the accessibility and universal use of the historic centre urban spaces in the Turin metropolitan area.

"Universal material and immaterial accessibility" is the core theme of the contest. The theme will be addressed with special attention to "Cultural Heritage", understood in its broadest sense and including the tangible and intangible heritage of our historical centers.

EUROPEAN YEAR OF CULTURAL HERITAGE 2018

"The aim of the European Year of Cultural Heritage is to encourage as many people as possible to discover and get involved in the cultural heritage of Europe and to strengthen the sense of belonging to a common European space. Cultural heritage shapes our identity and our daily life. It is not only literature, art and objects, but also the craftsmanship learned from our ancestors, the stories we tell our children, the food we enjoy together and the films we watch to recognize ourselves. Cultural heritage carries universal value for each of us, for communities and societies. It is important to preserve it and pass it on to future generations. We might think of heritage as "something of the past" or static, but in reality it evolves through our way of relating to it."

Cultural heritage is highly diversified, it includes:

• TANGIBLE GOODS
- for example buildings, monuments, artifacts, clothing, works of art, books, cars, historic cities, archaeological sites.

• INTANGIBLE GOODS
- practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills, and related tools, cultural objects and venues, to which people attribute cultural value. This includes language and oral traditions, performing arts, social practices and traditional crafts.

TARGET AREAS

Competitors will be asked to contextualize the theme of universal accessibility and usability focussing attention on "two target areas", very different in terms of characteristics and dimensions, but homogeneous, consistent and representative of the historical city centre of Turin and of satellite towns belonging to the larger metropolitan area around it:

• Via Po, Turin
• the street leading up to the Castle in the historic centre of Moncalieri

Proposals are expected to provide an innovative vision through the analysis of the hubs and the definition of the relevant tangible and intangible Design and Process strategies (land use, urban furniture, lighting, pedestrian or vehicle accessibility, signage and communication, information systems, apps ...).
The goal of this design contest is to collect non invasive concepts that can tackle the real urban challenges, enhance the intrinsic qualities of the context, correct criticalities, for high quality, effective and feasible design projects. Good design can thus be the foundation of concrete, useful solutions for the whole community. It can tackle and overcome difficulties that traders, hotel owners and citizens in general encounter daily, through an innovative approach to space and accessibility.
The “fruition of the physical space" thus takes a key role with reference to some specific features of the two pilot sites, but even more so in relation to users, citizens, children, the elderly, people with disabilities who should have access through innovative, direct, simplified methods as well as a new experiential approach (interpreting the meaning of concepts like design for all, creativity, sensoriality).

Participants will also be asked to design a material aid for accessibility and direct use, for all citizens, of public spaces and shops with steps or architectural barriers. The Contest Rules prompt special and critical design attention to it and provide for the award of a special cash prize, awarded by the Turin Chamber of Commerce.
These concept proposals should also be offering universal solutions, ideally applicable to any urban historical context with similar issues in terms of accessibility of heritage buildings, museums and cultural heritage sites, or more specific ones such as for example, the use of shops, hotels or other physical places in our metropolitan areas.

Competitors are expected to add value through an approach aimed to reduce both construction costs and annual maintenance and management costs.

The concept proposal shall include the following:

• Descriptive and technical report in a one page UNI A4 vertical format, illustrating the guiding criteria with diagrams and images, the choices made with respect to the brief set in the Contest Rules and the type of intervention proposed. • Table 1 - The vision (the theme of universal accessibility, open-ended aproach) UNI A1 vertical format, using the layout attached to the Rules, containing graphics, images, short captions and whatever may help describe the Vision model of: process, system, communication, ideally applicable to any urban historical context. The competitor is free to choose the table composition as well as the most suitable scale.
• Table 2 - Via Po, Turin UNI A1 vertical format, using the layout attached to the Rules, with graphics, images, short captions and whatever may help describe the Vision model of: process, system, communication, applied to the target area of via Po in Turin’.
• Table 3 – Street leading up to the Castle in the historic centre of Moncalieri UNI A1 vertical format, using the layout attached to the Rules, with graphics, images, short captions and whatever may help describe the Vision model of: process, system, communication, applied to the study area ’the street leading up to the Castle in the historic centre of Moncalieri’.
• Tables n. 2 and 3 might also include the concept for a material aid for accessibility and direct use, for all citizens, of public spaces and shops. The latter will be awarded a special prize by the Turin Chamber of Commerce CCIAA.

In the concept proposed, special attention should be paid to communication, given the aim is of reaching a diversified audience and not only the subject-matter experts.
The report and the 3 tables must be submitted in 4 PDF files (1 file per document). All files (report and tables) must be printable (300 dpi in the original format) and each of them should not exceed 5MB.
The 4 PDF files (report and 3 tables) will be collected in a single folder named ELABORATI (CONCEPT DOCUMENTS) and marked with a random alphanumeric code of 8 characters, to guarantee anonymity (_XXXXXXXX).

The Judging Committee, after excluding the concept proposals that do not comply with the Rules herein, will evaluate the admitted proposals against the following criteria:

• 1 / ACCESSIBILITY AND UNIVERSAL MATERIAL AND IMMATERIAL FRUITION - 50
The concept proposal provides a Vision models for process, system and communication, ideally applicable to any historical urban context, while providing practical and useful solutions for the community and all its possible users: children, the elderly, people with disabilities.

• 2/ VISION FOR INNOVATIVE AND SIMPLIFIED USE - 25
Tangible and intangible Design and Vision strategies delivering an innovative vision of the context.

• 3 / SUSTAINABILITY - 25
Cost-efficiency - both construction and annual maintenance and management costs.

The 2018 edition of the competition is structured as a format moving towards "Torino Design of the City 2018", to be held in Turin from 12 to 21 October on the topic of "the accessible city". The works will be selected by the Jury and the winners awarded and presented to the city during an exhibition held in the framework of the the Design Week. In this regard, the organization reserves the right, at a later stage, to request the files of the boards selected for the exhibition with captions in English.
On the occasion of the October events, or after them, some prototypes of the selected and winning concepts will be presented to the public, in collaboration with partners. Also in this case, the organization reserves the right to request more detailed materials for their production at a later stage.

There is no entry fees to partecipate in this contest!

Who can participate? ⇣

This International Design Contest is open to architects, designers and university students of the Schools of Design and Architecture, on the accessibility and universal use of the urban spaces of the historic centres in the metropolitan area of Turin.

Tags ⇣

Official website ⇣