http://ilbi.org/resources/competitions/livingcity/brief.html
The Living City Design Competition:
Visualizing the Future of Civilization
The gleam of an heroic Act
Such strange illumination
The Possible's slow fuse is lit
By the imagination
- Emily Dickinson
Imagine a truly sustainable future
Imagine a socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative civilization
Imagine what tomorrow might hold for humanity if we rise to meet the challenges of today
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> Unleash Your Imagination
> Prizes
> Entry Requirements
> Competition Rules
The International Living Building Institute℠, in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, invites the world’s most talented and daring designers, planners, artists and animators to create a new global vision: a breathtaking, compelling model for the future of civilization. Unleash the power of your imagination to envision a city capable of thriving through the centuries.
Only when we have clearly envisioned the future we must create, will we have the courage to light “the Possible’s slow fuse”.
Our Living City Design℠ Competition is grounded in our belief that we already have the technical tools and collective wisdom we need to achieve true sustainability. But before we can bring our cities into balance with the ecosystems they inhabit, we must understand what that balance would look like.
This is where you come in.
Each Living City Design℠ Competition team will envision a city that meets all of the Imperatives of the Living Building Challenge℠ 2.0, including its specific requirements for density, shading, urban agriculture, transportation, energy and water use. The end result must be rooted in solid ecological and architectural principles and explicitly aligned with the Living Building Challenge 2.0.
Like the Living Building Challenge itself, any Living City Design℠ visualization must address the lived experience of the city’s inhabitants. The beauty of the city and its sustainability must be visible throughout the urban ecosystem. Each entry must thoroughly incorporate the rules of the Living Building Challenge 2.0 document, and as a result must:
- Demonstrate a rich street life based on pedestrians and public transportation
- Demonstrate new green city infrastructure for water and waste;
- Demonstrate a net zero energy and water community; and
- Demonstrate agriculture imbedded into the community.
First Prize
- Cash Award of $75,000
- Press coverage by Metropolis Magazine web site (metropolismag. com). Metropolis retains the additional right to cover the contest and award in its print magazine
- Feature article in Trim Tab (cascadiagbc.org/trimtab), Cascadia Green Building Council’s quarterly electronic magazine for transformational people + design.
- Two tickets to Living Future 2011 where the winning awards will be presented.
Second Prize
- Cash Award of $25,000
- Press coverage by Metropolis Magazine (on web site with option of article in print magazine) and in Trim Tab
- Two tickets to Living Future 2011.
Building Reuse Award
This award focuses on the best example of the city of the future that gracefully preserves and respects the historic context of its community and the existing built fabric in 2010. The award will be chosen specifically by representatives from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
- Cash Award of $25,000
- Press coverage by Metropolis Magazine (on web site with option of article in print magazine) and in Trim Tab.
- Two tickets to Living Future 2011.
People's Choice Award
Selected by the popular vote.
- Press coverage by Metropolis Magazine (on web site with option of article in print magazine) and in Trim Tab
- Two tickets to Living Future 2011.
Living Building Community Choice Award
Selected by registered members of the Living Building Community
- Press coverage by Metropolis Magazine (on web site with option of article in print magazine) and in Trim Tab
- Two tickets to Living Future 2011
To be eligible for consideration, all contest entries must comply with the following guidelines.
Submision Due Date: February 1, 2011
Audience: Living City Design Competition entries should both inspire and inform. The Competition is meant to provide powerful but readily accessible models of truly sustainable cities. Members of the general public should be able to view the visualizations and come away with a clear sense of how each city would look, feel and function. At the same time, entries must be grounded in real technology and presented with sufficient information to be useful to skilled designers, engineers and planners. The winning entry should be so compelling that current members of the green building movement will want to devote themselves to achieving its vision.
Eligible Community-Subject Types: Contest teams may choose to base their models on either medium density communities (towns or re-purposed now walkable suburbs) or higher density urban cores based within the density and solar rights requirements of the Living Building Challenge 2.0. These decisions must be explicitly aligned with the Living Transect categories as defined on page nine of the Living Building Challenge 2.0 Standard:
Medium Density :
L3. Village or Campus Zone: This is comprised of relatively low-density mixed-use development found in rural villages and towns, and may also include college or university campuses. (F.A.R. of 0.1 – 0.49); and
L4. General Urban Zone: This is comprised of light- to mediumdensity mixed-use development found in larger villages, small towns or at the edge of larger cities. (F.A.R. of 0.5 – 1.49)
Higher Density:
L5. Urban Center Zone: This is comprised of a medium- to highdensity mixed-use development found in small to mid-sized cities or in the first ‘ring’ of a larger city. (F.A.R. of 1.5 – 2.99)
L6. Urban Core Zone: This is comprised of high-to very highdensity mixed use development found in large cities and metropolises. (F.A.R. ≥ 3.0)
Medium: All entries must be photo-realistic, three dimensional computer renderings rooted in a particular place and relevant to that place’s resources. (For example, Portland 2035 will not look like Phoenix 2035.) The winner will allow a broad audience to contemplate an inspiring and persuasive vision of a sustainable city in the not-toodistant future. Each entry must be based explicitly on Version 2.0 of the Living Building Challenge, and must demonstrate how the realized city would meet each Imperative.
Each entry must include:
- Signed, completed entry form
- Two 24” by 36” color boards (landscape orientation) presented as digital files in PDF format at 300 dpi. Total combined files size is 15 MB. These boards are the visual summary of the transformation each team envisions for its selected city. At a minimum, boards must include:
- Carefully chosen images demonstrating current conditions in the selected city. Images should be of size and clarity sufficient to present a “before” summary.
- Five to ten color computer renderings from various vantage points. (Street-level and aerial views must both be represented.
- Sufficient visual information to clearly communicate your design intent.
- Adequate annotations to guide viewers through the visualization.
- A narrative of between 1000 and 1250 words that describes the project and articulates the strategy for achieving Living City status based on the Living Building Challenge 2.0. All entries must be in English.
- An abstract statement of no more than 150 words.
- Annotated system diagrams that demonstrate the flows in the city based on the seven Living Building Challenge™ Petals (Site; Water; Energy; Health; Materials; Equity; Beauty). Each of the diagrams must be packaged as an individual PDF of no more than 3 MB formatted and as no more than two 11” by 17” pages. Contest teams are encouraged to creatively express their conceptual approach to the Beauty and Equity Petals.
- (Optional) Animated fly-throughs in flash format (.flv) or Quicktime are encouraged.
We strongly encourage the formation of interdisciplinary competition teams. We invite you to collaborate with professions not usually included in design competitions. Consider including biologists, climatologists; public health experts, educators and urban activists along with designers, engineers and planners. Ensure that everyone is versed in the Living Building Challenge 2.0 so that solutions align with the standard.
There is no limit on the number of entries a given organization may submit, but all entrants must pay the full entry fee and each entry must meet every contest requirement to be considered. People from any country are eligible.
Entry Fee: All Living City Competition teams must be members of the Living Building Challenge Community (ilbi.org/community). A submission fee of $500 per entry is required from professional firms, $100 by students and currently unemployed individuals submitting outside of a firm.
Inquiries: Contact: competition@ilbi.org
Please see our Living City Design Competition for complete contest rules, conditions and eligibility requirements.
