Call for submissions to Social Architecture: Open Political Spaces

Young architects are invited to submit short films for the young architect competition Social Architecture: Open Political Spaces. This competition is being organized by the Space Coordinator in partnership with Seoul Metropolitan City, Korea.

Social Architecture has been investigating current challenges including post-Covid-19 architecture (2020). And climate change since it was first started by the Space Coordinator in 2020 as part of the Seoul Metropolitan City Architecture Promotion Program (2021).

Here, it is assumed that politics can be altered by architecture. We intend to examine and debate the potential for political spaces that respond to the open society of today, reflect the current, and influence political practices.

Call for submissions to Social Architecture: Open Political Spaces

Political spaces have drawn the attention of the Korean public due to the opening of Cheong Wa Dae, the former executive office and residence of the president of South Korea, as well as the upcoming construction of the new National Assembly branch in Sejong City, the country’s de facto administrative capital. However, political spaces haven’t typically been a popular topic in architecture, either due to their longevity, universal similarity, or the fact that they haven’t altered much throughout the centuries. Moreover, we believe that by bringing attention to the existence and character of political spaces. This request will inspire architects to reconsider and reinterpret current architecture used as platforms for political actors and to suggest novel ideas ranging from minor interventions to visions for the future.

Anyone with an architecture bachelor’s degree who graduated in September 2007 or later is eligible to apply for the call. The Seoul Metropolitan City Mayor Award and a total of 15,000,000 KRW are given to the winners. Additionally, events will be planned both online and offline to introduce chosen works.

Concerning Space Coordinator

Jang Yoongyoo, the founder of Unsangdong Architects Cooperation and a professor at Kookmin University, established Space Coordinator in 2008 to support both architects and artists. We think that confrontation can be productive. As a forum, we assemble many viewpoints and ideas to encourage multidisciplinary dialogue.

A young architect competition called Social Architecture has been run by it since 2020 in collaboration with Seoul Metropolitan City. It started a brand-new Instagram-based architecture competition series in 2022 called Space Coordinator that was accessible to everyone, even non-majors, who were interested in the edition’s theme, which was Seoul this time around. Selected pieces were displayed in the Future Architecture exhibition that it co-organized with the Architecture Design Institution of Korea and held at the Total Museum in Seoul. Ten architects from five different countries were invited to attend.

Submission

The address for entries is the space coordinator. projects [@] gmail.com.

An original short film in FHD, MP4, 16:9, application, and diploma are required submission materials.

Please use our website to get the application and Open Call Guidelines.

-Short films should be no more than five minutes.

Prize and advantages

The Mayor of Seoul Metropolitan City Award will be given to all winning projects. And they can be exhibited at both online and offline architectural exhibitions.
1st place, 10,000,000 KRW (1 individual or team)

2nd place, 3,000,000 KRW (1 individual or team)

3rd place, 1,000,000 KRW, awarded to two people/teams