The 4th Concrete Design Competition seeks to receive design proposals that reflect a comprehensive investigation of any notion on MONOLITHIC; to explore and exploit the versatility of concrete in generating monolithic architectural objects, structures and systems; leading to proposals that unveil - potential - properties of concrete addressing various functions and appearances in one material.

This competition is open to students of architecture, engineering, design and affiliated disciplines. It does not prescribe a specific location or program; participants will choose a context of their own that supports their fascinations and ambitions and that fits an acute presentation of their ideas and solutions. The design proposals may range from objects, furniture and architectural details to housing, landscape interventions, complex buildings and structural systems. Participants are asked to submit a maximum of two A1-size panels containing their proposal.

There is no prescribed set of regulations concerning the content of these panels. They may include plans, sections, perspective renderings, and so on. Participants should choose a form of presentation that communicates their ideas and solutions in the most effective way possible. The competition runs during the academic year of 2009 - 2010. The competition entries will be reviewed by national juries. The awards consist of prize money and participation (free of charge) in an international master class in Istanbul with Valerio Olgiati (August 2010).

DICTIONARY (Webster's Third New International Dictionary) mono.lith.ic 1a: formed or carved from a single block of stone b: made up of monoliths 3a: of a concrete structure: cast as a single piece 4: constituing one massive undifferentiated whole exhibiting solid uniformity often without diversity or variability. ver.sa.tile 1a: marked by a tendency to change : fluctuating readily : changeable, variable 2a: adapted to or embracing a variety of subjects, fields, or skills b: having a capacity for turning with ease from one thing to another : having a wide range of skills, aptitudes, or interests : many-sided 4a: having many uses or applications 5: diversified

EXPRESSION Concrete does not have a material-inherent material expression (texture). The production process, the choice of materials for the formwork and the treatment of the formwork together with application of additives, defines the appearance of objects. Concrete can obtain almost all tactile expressions. From abstract expressions like in very smooth surfaces to a concrete with the ‘memory’ of craftsmanship (beton-brut).

FORM Concrete does not have a material-inherent form. It is the production process of concrete objects that defines its form. Because of this, concrete (reinforced concrete) can take any form/shape. (Contrary to modular construction materials;e.g. bricks)

General Schedule & Rules

The competition runs in the academic year 2009 / 2010. Exact deadlines for submitting your entries may differ from country to country. Please check your country's specifications here.

GENERAL SCHEDULE:

• competition: September 2009 - May 2010
• national jury sessions: May / June 2010
• master class for laureates: August 22 - 28, 2010 (Istanbul, Turkey)

RULES

1. PARTICIPATION

The 4th Concrete Design Competition is open to any registered student in schools of architecture or related disciplines in countries that support the competition, regardless of the participants own nationality. The supporting countries are: Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands and Turkey. Entries may be submitted by individuals or by teams. Teams may be interdisciplinary. All members of a competing team must comply with all of the terms and conditions given in these rules. Entries can only be submitted in the country in which the competitor is studying.

2. INFORMATION / LANGUAGE

All general information will be provided through our website only (www.concretedesigncompetition.com). All communication will be in English. Proposals have to be drafted in English.

3. ENTRIES

3.1 Content of entries

There are no regulations concerning the content of the A1 size panels. They may contain plans, sections, isometrics and so on. Competitors must decide themselves on the most effective ways to present their proposals. Juries will under no circumstances examine any additional documents or models.

3.2 Items to be submitted

The entries submitted by competitors or teams of competitors comprise a maximum of:

• - Two A1- format panels (width: 594mm x height: 840mm) mounted on flat, stiff, strong backings. These must be laid out vertically (portrait) and numbered one and two.
• - One A4 size envelope containing:

- one digital copy of each submitted panel. Format TIF, Jpeg or PDF; 300 dpi on original panel size (A1) and in the original layout of the submitted panels.

- completed identity form

- completed ownership declaration

- a copy of the school registration card for the academic year 2009/2010 3.3 ID-code Each competitor or team of competitors must choose an ID-code made up of - two letters from the Roman alphabet (e.g. AA)

- followed by three figures (e.g. 123) This ID-code (e.g. AA123), to the exclusion of any other mention, must appear on all documents and wrappings entered in the competition:

- on the outside of any packaging - on each panel - on all CD/DVD’s - on the sealed envelope containing the identification form, ownership declaration, digital copies of the panels and copy of school registration of the competitor or team of competitors. No other writing should appear on the envelope. On each document, the code must be written in a horizontal frame 25 mm high and 100 mm wide, in the top left-hand corner of the document. The identification form and ownership declaration can be downloaded from our website.

3.3 Anonymity

The panels and the outside of the envelope may not contain any information indicating the identity of the competitors.

3.4 Submission of entries

The date for submission of entries will be set by each national secretary individually. Please check the national secretary section of our website (www.concretedesigncompetition.com) for details. Entries must be sent carriage paid to the national secretaries. The national secretaries are unable to reimburse any expenses whatsoever.

3.5 Nationally declared requirements

Individual national secretaries may provide additional specifications for submission of entries. Please check the national secretary section of our website (www.concretedesigncompetition.com) for details.

4. OWNERSHIP

All materials received by the organisers become the property of the organisers and may be used in any form for publication purposes. The intellectual property rights of each project are the exclusive property of the author(s) thereof. Results (i.e. objects and drawings) produced during the master class will become property of the organisers and may be used in any form for publication purposes. The same rights for publication purposes are also reserved equally for all participants of the master class. Artistic rights, copyrights or intellectual ownership on results produced during the master class remain the property of all master class participants and contributors as a group.

5. TIMETABLE

The Concrete Design Competition runs during the academic year of 2009-2010. The date for submission of entries will be set by each national secretary individually. Please check your country's specifications on our website (www.concretedesigncompetition.com) for details (current cycle / rules&schedules / 'your country'). The Concrete Design Master Class will be held from August 22nd to August 28th, 2010

6. JUDGING

6.1 National juries

Each national secretary organises a national jury. The Jury members will be announced through our website.

6.2 Competition outcome

The jury’s decision is final. Each national jury will designate up to three winning entries, and may or may not specify a ranking. Additionally the national juries may award other entries with a ‘honourable mention’.

6.3 Disclosure of competitors’ names

No jury members will be made aware of competitors’ names until after the judging session. In order to guarantee the anonymity of the entries, competitors may not use their projects for any kind of communication before the national jury results are made public with the exception of regular school requirements.

7. AWARDS

7.1 Concrete Design Master Class

National winners are invited to participate in a 6 day Master Class as an international event. Each participating country can invite a maximum of three teams. The number of participants of any team is not limited, however a total of nine participants from each country may be invited to the master class. The national secretaries will organise and fund travel, accommodation and programme costs. Travel costs will be funded based on travelling from and to the country in which the entries were submitted. Details on the program will be given on our website (www.concretedesigncompetition.com).

7.2 Publication

All winning, and awarded (honourable mention) entries will be published on our website (www.concretedesigncompetition.com). In case a printed publication will be produced these entries will be part of an this publication on the competition and its theme.

7.3 Prize money

In each participating country, prize money amounting to a maximum of €. 4.000,- will be divided among each of the 3 national winners and paid within 90 days after the juries have published their results. It is up to the discretion of the national juries how this amount will be distributed among the winners.

Please download the files underneath for assignement, rules, identification form and ownership declaration. The last two need to be submitted together with your entrie (see rules).

• CDC4_Monolithic_assignment_theme.pdf
• CDC4_Monolithic_rules.pdf
• CDC4_Monolithic_identification_form.pdf
• CDC4_Monolithic_ownership_declaration.pdf