The House of Death and Life

Competition Brief

Purpose

A competition known as The House of Death and Life is inviting design submissions and the theme is Sigurd Lewerentz. This very house can be anything, a literal interpretation, a metaphor, an abstract idea, or a symbol, so long as the concepts of life, death, memory, and existentialism are the main points.

Purpose

The contest aims at making the artists mingle with the existential and poetic views related to the architecture. The designers can present their projects in the form of any size and format and they can even go a little wild and explore the architecture out of the box. The works submitted will be made available for viewing online and there will also be a physical or virtual exhibition arranged by ICARCH, where they will be displayed.

Judging

The names of the members of the jury are not revealed to the public. The announcement of the competition does not indicate who the jury is.

Fees

Prizes

Timeline

✦ ArchUp Competition Review

The House of Death and Life competition is inviting people to design a “house” that would represent life, death, memory, and other similar themes, allowing different styles of interpretation like literal, symbolic, or even abstract. The brief allows for a great deal of freedom in creativity, however, this may also lead to entries that are very conceptual but maybe not very clear in terms of architectural thinking. The organizer, ICARCH, keeps the jury members secret, thus it is not possible to know the level of their expertise, the possible biases, or the credibility of the whole selection process. The competition does not charge any entry fees which increases the access for more participants, but at the same time it does not provide the winners with any cash prizes; thus, the winner gets only the exhibition and online exposure. This situation makes the competition more suitable as an exercise in conceptualization or a chance to build a portfolio rather than a high-stakes professional award. The submission method is open; any format or size is allowed which corresponds with the poetic and reflective purpose of the brief. In general, the competition places a higher value on the exploration of ideas and creativity, but the lack of jury transparency and financial rewards make it less attractive for professionals.

Critical Analysis

Evaluation of Purpose and Intent

The open-ended prompt is providing a very large scope of imagination: the designers can take a very wide interpretation of the word ‘house,’ thus letting the metaphoric, symbolic or literal means of communication to take place. This opens up new possibilities and makes one think deeply rather than imposing limitations based on functionality. This may lead to a very mixed bag of entries but at the same time it also runs the risk of having some submissions being overly abstract or not having a hallmark of architectural thinking.

Transparency of Jury

As the jury is kept secret, it is hard to judge the skills and possible biases of the jury members. For a such an intangible and conceptual theme, the opening up of the jury’s background would be a good way to bolster the faith and to make the process of selection informed.

Fees and Prizes Balance

The competition has no entrance fee, which makes it more accessible. By not stating a cash prize, the reward goes to the exhibition and publicity instead. For most participants, especially young designers and students, this might be fine, however, for those who expect a money reward, the lack of clearly defined prize might lead to lesser motivation.

Submission Conditions and Accessibility

The conditions of submission that allow for any size or format of work and the digital submissions have the effect of lowering the production constraints and enhancing the accessibility. The inclusive nature of the competition is being supported and the conceptual submissions rather than fully resolved architectural proposals are being allowed. This is exactly what corresponds to the existential and poetic character of the brief.

Overall Strengths and Limitations

The robustness of the contest can be found in its conceptually open nature and its symbolic framing which provide a very nice and liberating spot for thinking and creating. On the other hand, the lack of transparency in the jury’s activities, no financial reward, and ambiguity in the concept may result in participants seeing less value in the competition. For more credibility and a broader attraction, it would be beneficial if the selection, evaluation, and possible outcomes in terms of materialization were communicated more clearly.

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