Design Competition

Stop making architecture for humans, for a second
Imagine our cities without non-humans
Or one without humans
And think of a less of human-city and ponder
Has it ever really been about humans?

We are pleased to invite all members and friends of the AA to take part in the Architecture for Non-humans Design Competition. This is a joint public programme in collaboration with Japan House London who are currently hosting the Architecture for Dogs exhibition at their gallery in Kensington.

Selected works will be built by the AA Digital Prototyping Lab and physically installed in Bedford Square together with replicas from the Architecture for Dogs exhibition by four architects and a designer: Atelier Bow Wow, Kengo Kuma, MVRDV and Kenya Hara. This means you can be anywhere in the world and still have your winning design fabricated and installed to be part of the show.

The installation of the works will form a Playground for Non-humans outdoors at the corner of Bedford Square during Open Week in Term 1 (2nd-8th November). We will host a round table discussion and a programme of events and workshops in collaboration with AA LAWuN around the same topic during that week.

The competition recognises unique ideas that make us aware of the importance of non-human inhabitation in its various and diverse forms across the city environment, with the aim to materialise playful concepts and inspiring visions to trigger a discussion around alternative models of urban living that embraces today’s challenges.

We hope to gather and document a wide range of ideas and ways in which we observe, recognise and reimagine the city and it's architecture today. All the submitted ideas, drawings and models will form part of our online exhibition Playground for Non-humans.

The Brief
The brief asks for the design of objects or instruments and tools that may demonstrate:

• Playfully scientific responses to the one of the many complex issues the city faces
• Critical commentaries that mirror the unseen nature of the city overlooked by the human lens.

Guidelines:
There are no restrictions with regard to programme or size, barring that we need to fabricate this in the AA Digital Prototyping Lab but that could be a scale model if needed. Think about how your object can be built or assembled in a small timeframe.
The objective is to provide maximum freedom to the participants to engage with the project without constraints.

Submission requirements:

• Fill out this form with your personal information and 300-word concept statement
• A3 PDF file 3-pages in landscape orientation of your concept images and drawings including plans, sections, and conceptual illustrations with indications of its scale and materiality. Assembly diagrams or 3d models detailing how your proposal can be built are encouraged.
• Participants are encouraged to submit all the information they consider necessary to explain their proposal.

Schedule.
Deadline for the submission: EXTENDED to 18 October at midnight
Shortlisting: 19 October 2020
Final selection: 21 October 2020
Winner(s) announced: 24 October 2020
Fabrication 21–30 October 2020
Exhibition of winning proposals, Architecture for Dogs roadshow & online gallery of submissions: 2–8 November 2020

The competition judge(s).
Shortlist selection – A panel, chaired by Mark Morris and Shin Egashira
with Manijeh Verghese, Liam Green, Angel Lara Moreira & Henry Cleaver, Catherine du Toit and Belinda Flaherty
Finalist(s) Selection: Toyo Ito.

Image: Cedric Price Architects, Ducklands proposal, Hamburg, 1989–1991, montaged site map. Courtesy Cedric Price fonds, Canadian Centre for Architecture.