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- Background to the project
- Participants
- Content and purpose of the project
- Registration / Criteria for participation
- Euregional collaboration
- Objectives & target groups
- Schedule
Background to the project
Every year, six centres of learning in the Euregion Meuse-Rhine turn out hundreds of graduates in architecture and urban planning. Many, having received their degrees, up and leave the Euregion to seek their fortune elsewhere.The Euregional Architecture Prize (EAP) – which has been awarded by SCHUNCK* (formerly Vitruvianum) annually since 1991 and which in 2010 celebrates its 20th anniversary – provides a reliable indicator of the power and potential generated each year amongst these designers (more than 550 graduates per year).
What has become of these young talents and their fellow alumni? How have they progressed and what opportunities present themselves in other countries? How can the Euregion promote the integration and autonomy of young architects? These are just a few of the questions that SCHUNCK* aims to answer.
Participants
We are glad to present to you, the participants of the exhibition:
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- SzturHärterArchitekten GmbH
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- anorak
- Philippe Dirix Architect - DKFS - Gagat interntional - hanenberg & huhs aachen wien - schulz & schulz - SML Architekten - De Gouden Liniaal Architecten bvba - SPECIMEN architecture - hugo11 - FAR frohn&rojas |
Content and purpose of the project
What’s special about ‘ROOTS’ is the link between the presentation podium and the ideas competition.The presentation podium consists of a website, an exhibition and a series of lectures.
The website will show the different paths followed by the designers who graduated from one of the six academies in the Euregion Meuse-Rhine over the last 20 years. The exhibition and the series of lectures are specifically aimed at up-and-coming talent and at creating new opportunities for them.
Furthermore, participants will be offered the chance to take part in an ideas competition for a SCHUNCK* Pavilion. A cash prize will be awarded for the best design.
The project consists of the following five stages:
- Registration + selection
- Ideas competition
- Exhibition
- Series of lectures + debate
- Website
Registration + selection > In order to bring about as wide as possible an interest in participation, designers will be contacted directly and advertisements placed in a number of international journals. Candidate designers may present finished work (or completed designs) which expresses their individual vision with respect to architecture, urban planning, landscape and interior.
An international panel of experts will appraise the work submitted and select the best design studios for participation. The exhibition will focus attention on new talent.
Registration was free of charge and was possible via www.architecture-roots.eu (ended 15 April 2010).
More information on the terms and conditions of participation, the evaluation criteria and closing date can be found under ‘Registration / Criteria for participation’.
Exhibition > The exhibition will give younger studios in particular the chance to present themselves to a wider public. Each participant will be given a flexible exhibition module in which to present their design. The results of the competition will form part of the exhibition.
Series of lectures/debate > A number of lectures will be held for the duration of the exhibition at which selected studios will be given the opportunity to present themselves. These lectures will be held both in SCHUNCK* in Heerlen as well as in the Ludwigforum in Aachen and Z33 in Hasselt. The concluding debate, about the quality of architecture, tendering regulations in Europe, and the prospects for new studios in the three countries, will take place in SCHUNCK* in Heerlen. The following questions will be raised in this respect: What are the differences between the three neighbouring countries? What are the future prospects for new design studios? What is policy in the other European countries? How is the design discipline developing at the moment?
Website > The complete project will be publicised via the website. Via the website, it will be possible to consult information about studios participating in the exhibition, view a selection of entries submitted, as well as read about the supporting programme. Once the project has been completed, the website will remain as a digital publication and accessible online.
Registration / Criteria for participation
Designers who between 1991 – 2009 attained their degree certificate in architecture or urban planning at one of the six academies/universities in the Euregion Meuse-Rhine and are now working independently, can participate.
[**Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Fakultät für Architektur (Germany), Provinciale Hogeschool Limburg, Dep. Architectuur, Hasselt (Belgium), Fachhochschule Aachen, Fakultät für Architektur (Germany), Hogeschool Zuyd, Academie van Bouwkunst Maastricht (The Netherlands), Institut Supérieur d’Architecture Saint Luc de Wallonie Liège (Belgium), Institut Supérieur d’Architecture Lambert Lombard Liège (Belgium)]
Registration was free of charge and was possible via www.architecture-roots.eu (ended 15 April 2010). Here you can - in a standard format - put together your studio portfolio. This information will be used by the assessment panel to make its selection, but also for publication on the website during the project and after its completion.
This information will be used by the assessment panel to make its selection, but also for publication on the website during the project and after its completion.
In addition to the selection for the website, a separate group of young talented designers will be selected for the exhibition in SCHUNCK*.
Evaluation criteria for entries:
Participants will be selected on the basis of a number of predetermined criteria. This is intended to provide a level playing field, not to be restrictive.
- Originality: special, creative, experimental, stimulating designs, which draw the eye, provide inspiration and lead to new ideas in technique/construction.
- Multidisciplinary way of working: collaboration of architects with other professional disciplines, artists, researchers.
- Sustainability: attention to the problems of climate change, water management, energy conservation and recycling.
Euregional collaboration
Through collaboration with organisations in the Euregion Meuse-Rhine, the ‘ROOTS’ project will be placed in as wide as possible a context. To this end, SCHUNCK* in Heerlen, the Ludwigforum in Aachen and Architectuurwijzer/Z33 in Hasselt have decided to join forces and set up projects around the theme of promising new architectural talent.At the opening for example, a shared series of lectures and debates will take place at three locations, namely in Heerlen, Aachen and Hasselt.
At the turn of the year (2010/2011), a follow-up project is planned at Architectuurwijzer in Hasselt where a selection will be made from the participating studios in ‘ROOTS’ and ‘WestArch’ (and others) for a design competition in the form of workshops and work studios.
This will enable international exchange and transfer of knowledge, and thus provide an insight into the design culture, the working fields and the design practice of young design studios in the three adjoining countries.
Objectives & target groups
The ‘ROOTS’ project has been set up by SCHUNCK* to gain a clearer picture of the educational level of the academies/universities and the market mechanisms at play, and thus promote opportunities for up-and-coming architectural talent.
The unique combination of a podium and competition and the broad approach jointly adopted by the three neighbouring countries in the Euregion will bring about a unique project. Not only should the project show the development and the potential of designers in the Euregion Meuse-Rhine, it will also attempt to provide them with better access to the working field. Many young architects are currently unable to compete for tenders because of the high costs involved. “Roots” aims to open up the horizon and have the construction world share in new insights of the up-and-coming generation who have begun to question current trends and tendering procedures.
Another aim of the project is to show the differences between the markets. The playing field for promising new talent is not always level everywhere, but often the problems they face in neighbouring countries are similar. Which countries in Europe offer a favourable climate to young talent? How is this achieved and how are upcoming generations being challenged? What is the added value of this to society and the environment we live in? These are the key questions and they will play an important role in the peripheral programme in particular (series of lectures and debates).
Schedule
| Registration | before April 15th 2010 |
| Announcement of selection | May 2010 |
| Submission for ideas competition | 1st of July 2010 |
| Exhibition | September to November 2010 |
| Series of lectures | September to November 2010 |
| Website | online from September 2010 |