Borders are spaces of transition—thresholds between areas with different characteristics. Whether political and imposed through human agency, or natural and made manifest through geographical features, borders have been, are, and will continue to be a staging ground for civilization’s greatest challenges. As urbanization pushes human activity towards Earth’s hinterlands, and existential threats such as—but not limited to—nationalism, warfare and climate change make geopolitical agreements more precarious, how we choose to choreograph and intersect these liminal spaces will reveal much about our priorities.
This international design ideas competition—the second in the CBDX Series—asks, How can designers intervene in borders? What logics of territory are necessary to mediate between areas on either side of a divide? Is it about “or”? Perhaps “and”? Perhaps neither? Perhaps both? And as advancements in technology further shorten distances and render immaterial previous restrictions across space, What even is the future of borders? How do we design borderlands?
Thus, this competition asks entrants to consider the opportunities, challenges, and complexities latent within borders and propose new paradigms of operation and entropy.
OPEN TO ALL: STUDENTS AND PROFESSIONALS; INDIVIDUALS AND TEAMS.
Brief
The CBDX: BORDERLANDS International Design Ideas Competition asks entrants to:
Choose any type of border anywhere on Earth—political, natural, landscape, fiat, geometric, maritime, relic, or atmospheric;
Choose a topic or friction that presents a programmatic opportunity, challenge or complexity; and,
Design a place, structure, thing, system, process, or relationship that positively impacts the agents (human or otherwise) that are affected, influenced, or are in proximity to that border.
Schedule.
Competition Launches + Registration Opens: March 22, 2021.
Submission Page Opens: May 1, 2021.
Submission Deadline: June 21, 2021 @ 11:59pm MDT (Calgary time; GMT-6).
Winners Announced/Exhibition Launches: September 8, 2021.
Publication Launches: Fall 2021.
Registration
Early (March 22 - April 30, 2021): $30 CAD (students); $60 CAD (professionals). Regular (May 1 - June 21, 2021): $40 CAD (students); $80 CAD (professionals)
Awards
$6,000 CAD total prize money
- 3 winners to each receive $2,000 CAD and a certificate; work will be published in the inaugural CBDX issue, and will be featured in an exhibition of the competition’s selected entries.
- 12 honorable mentions to each receive a certificate; work will be published in the inaugural CBDX issue, and will be featured in an exhibition of the competition’s selected entries.
- up to 35 finalists to be be featured in an exhibition of the competition’s selected entries.
Title
CBDX: BORDERLANDSType
Competition Announcement (Ideas)Website
Organizers
Submission Deadline
June 21, 2021 12:20 PMVenue
University of Calgary, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape: City Building Design LabPrice
Early (March 22 - April 30, 2021): $30 CAD (students); $60 CAD (professionals). Regular (May 1 - June 21, 2021): $40 CAD (students); $80 CAD (professionals)