POST+ CAPITALIST CITY I Shop
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SHOP [Get, acquire, need, satisfy]„I did not know that there were no tomatoes in winter, until i got into a bio supermarket. The lady explained to me that winter is not a tomato season. I was ashamed to not have known that.“ (customer in Europe) As China’s rise of financial power, we find the nowadays-largest shopping mall there in the city of Dongguan. As everywhere in the world, the huge big box contains no windows, no connection between inside and outside, but a thousands of offers and promises for a better life. The whole family can spend their free time inside without a notion of time. Each family member can find his personal pleasure, according to the size of the wallet. But the rise of the mall seems to be more or less finished in the western world. With the notion of sustainability and the growing precarity in all parts of society people start to begin to search for alternatives and local food markets return to be pleasurable events. With the increasing demand for regional goods we start questioning also the origin of our products; how does the food chains work globally, what are the carbon footprints of our products? Not to forget our questions relating to the development of genetically modified food. The cry for attention of individual products grew according to the quantity of the markets. Visually we start being unaware of what is advertisement and what is information. Product certificates make it even harder to know if they represent a common interest or if it does not come from the producer itself. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Before we become blind from visual stimulation and things we don’t “need”, we ask ourselves: Can we find new ways of getting to know products and use them? Obviously advertisement and mass-consumption are children of the capitalist system, and with them – more lately – the obsolescence programmed of our every day objects, pushing not only in consuming more but also in creating massive waste. Aren’t there any other ways to produce and consume than the way we are used to now? In the last centuries we have discovered the advantages of global exchange of goods, but what if we would take a step back and see what we really need: What is it we really need? What could be the concepts for new alternatives? Does our foodculture has to be inevitable linked to consumer culture? Do we necessarily still need to have everything at every time? And finally: What are the possibilities for our cities? Apart from the “urban gardening”, what could be transformed spatially to change towards a conscious behaviour of shopping and consumption culture? /////////////////////////////////////// Download the Submission Guideline
Submission requirements //////////////////The scale of the project is up to you! One can think about a global solution for urban conditions on a world scale whereas others would rather talk about their own street corner! Both are interesting! The only rule: it must be urban and prospective, according to the main thesis. The selection criteria will consider the final design proposal as the hypothesis taken by the entrants. As this competition tries to develop critical and concrete ideas to a hypothetical situation, the entrants are invited to define the context (political, economical and geographical, including if needed a time schedule) in which their proposal has to be related to be credible and optimized. Utopias as dystopias can be considered, as long as the proposals permit to bring original ideas and thoughts according to the statement.
First competition //////////////////////////Launching date: 1st of April 2012 The participants are asked to provide: - up to 5 single A3 images (horizontal – 300 dpi – jpg) representing their ideas in the most efficient way. These images can be collages, maps, plans, pictures, diagrams, 3D representations or any other graphical tool. Each of them must be a unique document, independent and self-explanatory. No special layout is demanded, each sheet contains one scheme / image only.
- a simple text (up to 800 words) has to be attached, in .txt format, explaining the choices and the particularities of the specific site chosen if needed, the prospective context in term of time and space (economically, politically, socially‚…), and the concept of the related project. This text can be in English, French or German. This text will include the title of the project. - an abstract/resume of the text (up to 200 words), in .txt format, resuming your main idea and concept in ENGLISH. This abstract will include the title of the project. Each document shall not exceed the size limit of 5 Mo. The submissions are due digitally through the link provided to the participants by email after registration and payment of the registration fees.
Jury /////////////////////////The Jury is composed by the editorial board of Collage Lab and at least one additional invited personality (architect, artist, curator or philosopher) with significant influence on architecture and urbanism and specific interest on the current topic reliable to their current work. The invited jury is to be determined.
Prices ///////////////////Entry fee: 30 Euros / submission
Honorable mentions may be provided as special prices depending on our generous partners and sponsors.
Rules //////////////////All submissions must respect strictly the anonymity and not contain any names, symbols, logos or any signs permitting to recognize the identity of the entrant. Any submission not respecting this basic rule will not be considered as a valid proposal and therefore be excluded from the competition. The submitted files must be named after the registration code chosen by the entrants (2 Letters – 3 Numbers. Example: AA000) as following: code_text.txt Entries must not have been published or proposed previously to any other competition. Collage Lab reserves the right to modify the submission requirements at any time: GO TO: - SUBMISSION - |
