Mujassam Watan Urban Sculpture Challenge #8

Competition Brief

The Mujassam Watan Urban Sculpture Challenge is back for its eighth edition. This competition is for architects, artists, and designers from all over the world. They need to create sculptures for two places in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. The theme of the challenge this year is “The Inspiration Around You.”

There are two places to choose from. One is Salwa Road. It is a highway that connects Saudi Arabia to Qatar. The other one is the Tharwa Sea Front in Al-Khobar. It is right by the Arabian Gulf. Each place has its unique challenge for the sculpture.

Intent

The competition wants sculpture designs that show Saudi Arabia’s culture, heritage, and what it hopes to achieve. This is part of Vision 2030, a plan for the country that focuses on public spaces and cultural expression in city development.

Public sculptures are not just seen as art here. They are also a way to shape the country’s identity in cities that are changing fast. They help create a sense of pride and shared values in public spaces.

Saudi Arabia’s culture and heritage are key to its identity. The competition aims to find sculptures that reflect this.

Purpose

The main goal of this project is to make the public spaces in Saudi Arabia more interesting with sculptures that are built to last. The best designs will actually be built, not given an award. This is pretty unique because most competitions just give out awards. This one helps make the designs a reality.

This competition started in 2018. It is now in its eighth year, which shows that the people in charge are really committed to making it happen for a long time.

Requirements

This competition is for architects, artists, and people who like to make things. It does not matter where you come from or what you have done before. Students and people who have been working for a time can both join in. You have to pick one of the two places to design something for.

You have to write everything in English when you send it in. You can work with people if you want to. If you are working with a team, you can change who is on your team anytime before you have to send in your work.

If you have already made a design before, you can still send it in. You have to be the one who made it in the first place. You can use computer programs to make pictures. You should make sure you understand the rules about who owns the pictures before you send them in.

Jury

The jury for the edition has not been chosen yet. The people in charge say they will pick the jury members from professionals who know what they are doing. This will happen closer to the time of the competition. The names you see on the competition page now are from past Buildner competition juries, and these people are not definitely going to be on the jury for the 8th edition of the Buildner competition.

For reference s, some of the people who were on the jury for the builder competitions include:

1. Norman Foster – Norman Foster Foundation, Spain
2. Philippe Starck – Designer/Creator, France
3. Farshid Moussavi – Farshid Moussavi Architecture (FMA), UK
4. Alison Brooks – Alison Brooks Architects, UK
5. Lyndon Neri – Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, China
6. Amanda Levete – Founder, AL_A
7. Francine Houben – Founding Partner, Mecanoo, Netherlands
8. Ben Van Berkel – Founder and Principal, UNStudio, Netherlands
9. Amale Andraos – Co-Founder, WORKac; Columbia GSAPP, USA
10. Lucy Tilley – Adjaye Associates, UK
11. Fernanda Canales – Architect, Mexico
12. David Gianotten – OMA, Netherlands
13. Ece Calguner Erzan – Interiors Principal, SOM, USA
14. David Basulto – Founder, ArchDaily, Germany
15. Will Plowman – Partner, Foster + Partners, UAE
16. Patrik Schumacher – Director, Zaha Hadid Architects, UK
17. Manuela Gatto – Director, Zaha Hadid Architects, UK
18. Melodie Leung – Director, Zaha Hadid Architects, UK
19. Elizabeth Whittaker – Harvard GSD / Merge, USA
20. Michelle Kaufmann – Google / Michelle Kaufmann Studio, USA
21. Hilary Sample – GSAPP and MOS, USA
22. Meryati Blackwell – Marlon Blackwell Architects, USA
23. Peter Gluck – GLUCK+, USA
24. Paulo Flores – Director, Zaha Hadid Architects, UK
25. Charles Walker – Director, Zaha Hadid Architects, UK
26. Steven Rainville – Olson Kundig, USA
27. Roberto Bannura – Steven Holl Architects, China
28. Andrew Whalley – Grimshaw, UK
29. Eli Synnevåg – Snøhetta, Norway
30. Jette Hopp – Director, Snøhetta, Norway
31. Julia Murphy – Managing Partner, SOM, USA
32. Stefan de Koning – Partner, MVRDV, Netherlands
33. Doriana Fuksas – Studio Fuksas, Italy
34. Winy Maas – Founder, MVRDV, Netherlands
35. Flora Lee – Associate Partner, MAD Architects, USA
36. Martin Voelkle – Partner, BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, USA
37. Thomas Christoffersen – BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, Denmark
38. Carlo Ratti – Director, MIT Senseable City Lab, USA
39. Micael Calatrava – Calatrava Grace and Calatrava International, UAE
40. Christina Seilern – Studio Seilern Architects, UK
41. Bertrand Schippan – Partner, MVRDV, Netherlands
42. Beatriz Colomina – Princeton University School of Architecture, USA
43. Anupama Kundoo – Architect and Professor, TU Berlin, Germany
44. Moshe Safdie – Safdie Architects, USA
45. Silvana Ordinas – Founder and Partner, Peter Pichler Architecture, Italy
46. Vishaan Chakrabarti – PAU, USA
47. Deborah Berke – TenBerke Architects, USA
48. Julien De Smedt – JDS Architects, Denmark
49. Michael Meredith – Princeton University / MOS, USA
50. Christele Harrouk – Editor in Chief, ArchDaily, Lebanon

None of the above are confirmed jury members for this edition. The actual jury will be published at a later date.

Registration Fees

All fees are subject to +4.5% VAT. Group student discounts are available for 3 or more registrations from the same institution.

Prizes and Rewards

The total prize fund is 50,000 EUR, divided equally between the two sites at 25,000 EUR per site.

In addition to cash prizes, winners receive potential construction and realization of their design, a feature on ArchDaily, an interview and video feature through Buildner’s media channels, and exposure to over 1 million annual website visitors, 800,000 social media followers, and 200,000 newsletter subscribers.

Key Dates

✦ ArchUp Competition Review

The Mujassam Watan Urban Sculpture Challenge number 8 is put together by Buildner. This is a company that runs competitions. We do not know who the judges are for this competition. This makes it hard to understand how they will decide on the winners. The competition is about designing sculptures for spaces in Saudi Arabia. People can submit ideas that’re just concepts, or they can think about how to actually build them. The total prize money is 50,000 euros. This is an amount of money, but it is not a lot considering how much work people have to put into their designs and submissions. For people who enter, the best thing they can get is to add something to their portfolio and maybe get some attention from the media. Who knows, their design might actually get built, which would be a great thing for their career. The Mujassam Watan Urban Sculpture Challenge number 8 is a deal for people who want to design public sculptures in Saudi Arabia.

Final Thoughts

The Mujassam Watan Urban Sculpture Challenge has a track record. It started in 2018. This is its eighth edition. It is one of the architecture competitions that focuses on the public spaces in the Gulf region. Seven editions have been. The results have been published. This makes it more credible than competitions.

The organizer, Buildner, is a known platform for competitions. They have been doing this for 15 years. Have organized over 180 competitions. They work with ArchDaily, which helps winners get noticed in the industry.

However,r the jury for this edition has not been announced yet. People are being asked to register and pay fees without knowing who will judge their work. This is not uncommon in competitions. Its something to keep in mind. You should check if the jury is announced before paying the registration fee.

The fees are also quite high for a competition where you only submit a design. The last-minute tier costs 135 EUR for professionals, plus VAT. This is a lot of money for small studios or independent designers.

If you’re really interested in designing for Saudi Arabia’s areas, this competition has a great format. There are two sites: Salwa Road and the Tharwa Sea Front. Both sites are architecturally different, so choosing a site is a design decision.

Overall,l this is a competition that you can trust. It has a history of happening. Offers real prizes. The only thing that’s not clear is who the jury is.

Registration Deadline

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