Dotting the global landscape, decommissioned military installations are leaving their mark – symbols of triumph, pride, pain and the unforeseen consequences of military aggression. These abandoned structures and ghost towns disrupt neighborhoods and split entire communities.
Architecture for Humanity is hosting the 2011 Open Architecture Challenge – [un]restricted access – a design competition that will re-envision the future of decommissioned military space. This is an open invite to the global design and construction community to identify retired military installations in their own backyard, to collaborate with local stakeholders, and to reclaim these spaces for social, economic, and environmental good.
Learn More and Register
Please review the Frequently Asked Questions for clarifications.
The Mission
The 2011 Open Architecture Challenge: [UN] RESTRICTED ACCESS asks architects and designers to partner with community groups across the world and develop innovative solutions to re-envision closed, abandoned and decommissioned military sites. The six-month competition requires designers to work with the communities surrounding these former places of conflict to transform oftentimes hostile locations into civic spaces built for the public good.
Download the design brief (PDF)
Who's Representin'?
More than 130 teams from 45 countries have already entered the competition: Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Kenya, Kosovo, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Mozambique, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America, Venezuela and Vietnam. If your country is not on the map, it should be. Time to enlist!
Entrants will be asked to identify a site in or near their community and develop a design concept for that site. The only rule is: It must be an abandoned, closed (or scheduled for closure) or decommissioned military site. If you cannot find a local site, you can choose a site identified by Architecture for Humanity:
Site 1: Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, Guantánamo Bay (Cuba)* Gitmo Here
Site 2: NSA "East Bank", New Orleans, LA (USA)
Site 3: Johnston Atoll, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands (USA)
Site 4: Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS), Tustin, CA (USA)
Site 5: Flak Towers, Vienna (Austria)
Site 6: Marine Corps Air Station MCAS), Futenma, Okinawa (Japan)
*Currently not decommissioned but scheduled for closure.
Schedule
| Dates | Competition Schedule* |
|---|---|
| October 18 2011 | Challenge Launch |
| April 15 2012 [Extended!] | Registration Ends |
| May 01 2012 | Submission Deadline |
| June 01 2012 | Semi-Finalists Announced |
| June 29 2012 | Winner + Finalists Announced |
| Fall 2012 | Exhibition of Entries |
*Dates subject to change. All registered teams will be notified, and promotional documents and media channels will be updated to appropriately reflect updates.
Jury
The design competition will be judged by an international, inter-disciplinary panel of experts in various fields, such as experts in base realignment processing, real estate and building professionals, former world leaders, and members of communities that have experienced a base closure or site demilitarization.
Prize
More than $5000 in prizes to be announced. Three designs will place and one design will be awarded the prestigious Founders Award.
Why This Challenge?
Every other year, Architecture for Humanity's Open Architecture Challenge brings international attention to issues in the built environment affecting the health, prosperity and well-being of underserved communities. This year’s Open Architecture Challenge will focus on helping communities reclaim abandoned, closed and decommissioned military sites.
Dotting the global landscape, decommissioned military installations leave their mark. They are symbols of triumph, pride, pain and the unforeseen consequences of military aggression. These abandoned structures and ghost towns disrupt neighborhoods and split entire communities.
While these sites are often laid to waste, Architecture for Humanity sees them as opportunities of global proportion. In the US alone we will spend billions of dollars of taxpayers’ funds to do environmental remediation on the 12 millions square feet of US military space scheduled to close this year. Can we use this opportunity to bring economic stability to areas deserted by closed bases?
This year marks a milestone: in the United States alone more than 235 military sites are scheduled for closure or realignment. The U.S. military is under orders to downsize 5% of its entire infrastructure on or before September 15, 2011 in accordance with the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) ruling. The ruling will force the relocation of more than 125,000 military personnel and their families.
Globally we see opportunity at every site. Can we re-envision the more than 750,000 abandoned bunkers that pepper the Albanian landscape? Is there a second life for the recently bombed Libyan military strongholds? Can we use environmental diplomacy to re-imagine Guantanamo Bay Detention Center? Is there a way to turn abandoned bases in Afghanistan into places of learning?
The 2011 Open Architecture Challenge will seek to provide solutions to these unanswered questions and will re-envision the future of decommissioned military space. This is an open call to action – the first of its kind. Architecture for Humanity will ask the global design and construction community to identify retired military installations in their own backyard, to collaborate with local stakeholders, and to reclaim these spaces for positive social, economic, and environmental change.
This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
'Take Your Base' and Sponsorship Opportunities
We're continuing our recruitment of individuals and organizations who are ready to accept the mission of sponsoring the complex yet rewarding task of successfully transforming previously conflicted sites into civic spaces. If you are ready to enlist your financial resources in service of this greater good, please give us a call at 415.963.3511 or send us an email to challenge_at_architectureforhumanty.org
About the Open Architecture Challenge
The Challenge is hosted once every two years on Worldchanging, an open-source community developed by Architecture for Humanity. Design teams from all over the world compete to design and build the winning scheme. Support from sponsors and implementing partners funds the construction of selected designs. All of the designs are shared freely via Worldchanging and made available for future use.
Past Challenges
2009 Open Architecture Challenge: Classroom of the Future
2007 AMD Open Architecture Challenge: Digital Inclusion
About Architecture for Humanity
Architecture for Humanity is a charitable organization that seeks architectural solutions to humanitarian crises and brings design services to communities in need.
For more information, please visit: http://architectureforhumanity.org
Logo by Habi Girgis, winner of the [un]restricted access Identity RFP
[un]restricted access Identity RFP
Got a Question?
Contact us or leave a comment below!
Site Map
Precedents Page
Sample Sites Page
- Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, Cuba
- Naval Support Activity "East Bank", New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
- Johnston Atoll, US Minor Outlying Islands, North Pacific Ocean
- Marine Corps Air Station Tustin, California, USA
- Flak Towers, Vienna, Austria
- Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan
Identity Competition
Comments
When you refer to a 'site near you' you do mean one of the sites on the map which is closer to my location or we can propose a new site?? ..or both????
Both work. Thanks for your interest, and good luck!
You say, "The only rule is: It must be an abandoned, closed or decommissioning military site." Is it possible to choose a military site which should/will be closed in near future, such as the ones in Jerusalem or Cyprus?
Hi Publika
Yes, if there have been discussions of the sites closing, it qualifies! Ie, we're working with Guantanamo and Okinawa, whose decommissioning processes are still exist only in meeting rooms.
Just wondering before deciding to assign time and effort to this project - thanks!
Yes. The more people who enter, the greater the prizes.
At the moment it is $2500, $1500 and 2 $1000 prizes... If we double the entrants, we double the prizes.
Hello! I need to know something, I'm a architect formerly based in Venezuela, but now I'm living in U.S by the motive of studying English language. What kind of fee is applicable for my participation?
Regards.
Peter.-
If a military space has be decommissioned but ownership has been handed over to the state park system does it still qualify as long as the site has not be re-purposed or designed for new use?