c o n t i n u i t y & c h a n g e

international competition for students in architecture

Registration deadline: 20 April 2010
Architectural Schools Jury deadline: 20 October 2010
Deadline for submission of projects: 30 October 2010

Ageing places, buildings and natural environments require delicate interventions. There are two frequently used approaches: subtle changes acting as a neutral background to highlight valuable building features; or broad changes permeating the place, establishing a dialogue between old and new features, possibly creating a new interpretation. There is however a further type of approach, one that empowers the place.

Many ageing buildings loose their character and are forgotten; similarly some entire areas, for various reasons, do not keep up with the times and fall out of fashion. These are the places we must address through architectural intervention generating empowerment, giving them an “upgrade”.
There are previously overlooked areas which can be empowered by an inspired architectural intervention. Subsequently, an upgrade may help communities by providing architectural support to answer their needs.

The modern era developed a preference for fractured progress. Displeased, rightfully or not, by the development and evolution of art, people have proved themselves willing to initiate radical changes, introduce new rules, reverse almost anything, and ultimately invent new universes. And more than once, cultural movements fused with or became companions of political ones. Denying almost everything that had occurred until then, new movements were introduced as the “real art” portraying a new version of the perfect world. But for a culture to exist and mature, one crucial ingredient is essential: CONTINUITY. Only continuity over generations offers a culture the chance to survive historical changes. Continuity however does not mean imprisonment in one point of time but perseverance and trust in a value system.

Continuity does not follow fashion trends and neither aims, emphatically or arrogantly, to alienate them. Novelties are not a nuisance to a culture. Instead, they are - precisely through continuity - easily assimilated and accepted. Therefore the continuity of one culture means a permanent transformation, without an extreme departure from everything that existed before. - No architect thinks that a building that they design would ever become an artifact; on the contrary, all architects believe that they are creating buildings that would always house life. Buildings are permanently changing, according to the lives of people and communities they accommodate. Yet within the changes there is a consistency that ensures CONTINUITY.

Organizers
AEEA European Association for Architectural Education
UAUIM “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism Bucharest, Romania
Exclusive sponsor: Lafarge Romania

Competition Rules

Language
English is the official competition language

Eligibility
The competition is open to all students in architecture enrolled in an education institution affiliated or not to AEEA. The entry projects can be designed individually or in groups under the tutorship of an architectural school professor.

Registration
Filling in the provided competition form will register each entry.
The competition form once filled will be emailed to the competition secretary no later than the Deadline announced in the competition schedule.
Filling in and sending - via email - the provided registration form confers the student/group of students the quality of recorded participation. Each participant will generate an entry code made out of 6 digits (numbers and letters). The registration form, in a word format with .doc extension, will be named, saved and emailed with this entry code.

Visit www.uauim.ro/en/upgrade/ for further details on entry content and format.

Final Jury Members
1. Francis Soler, France - President
2. Francis Nordemann, France – AEEA
3. Loughlin Kealy, Ireland - AEEA
4. Mairie Henry, Ireland - ACE
5. Alexandros Tombazis, Greece
6. Emil Barbu Popescu, Romania - UAUIM
7. LAFARGE Representative

Competition Manager: Francoise Pamfil, Romania - UAUIM

Note None of the professors that tutored the entry projects can be a Jury member or competition manager.

Questions and Answers
Competitors may address questions to the international competition secretary, by email, at competition-aeea2009@iaim.ro. They will also receive (at the sent email addresses) the list of all received questions and answers provided by the international competition manager.

Prizes
1st place: 6000 Euro
2nd place: 4000 Euro
3rd place: 3000 Euro
10 Mentions: 1000 Euro each
The Jury has the right to convey these prizes or to distribute the prizing fund in another agreed manner.

Schedule
Deadline for sending questions: 20 February 2010
Deadline to answer questions: 20 March 2010
Deadline for registration: 20 April 2010
Architectural Schools Jury deadline: 20 October 2010
Deadline for Projects arrival at organizers: 30 October 2010
Results announcement: February 2011

Further Information:
University of Architecture and Urbanism “Ion Mincu” Bucharest
18-20 Academiei Street, 010014
Bucharest, Sector 1, Romania
eMail: competition-aeea2009@iaim.ro
web: www.uauim.ro/en/upgrade/