July 26, 2012
Call for Submissions:
Redefining the West Coast Spirit Exhibition
The Architectural Institute of British Columbia invites submissions for its upcoming exhibition entitled Redefining the West Coast Spirit – Emerging West Coast Firms with Connections to the Land. This is an open call to AIBC-registered firms that represent emerging West Coast talent.
Context:
This exhibition will highlight the work of new and emerging architectural firms demonstrating leadership and commitment to West Coast Modernism. As such, firms should be in their first 10 years of practice. The exhibition is intended to ask and answer questions about what defines an evolving West Coast Modernism style, and how a new generation of practitioners is connecting its work to the West Coast environment.
In this exhibition the AIBC will feature the next generation of B.C. talent by profiling the work of relatively new and emerging firms.The exhibition is meant to provide emerging architects, designers and others an opportunity to showcase their own ideas about designing buildings, spaces and places in our unique coastal environment in an age of sustainability. The exhibition is also intended to provide the public with a glimpse into the creative process and technologies that shape today’s West Coast architecture.
Given the nature of this exhibition – an examination of the evolving ideas around West Coast Modernism and regionalism – this exhibition will have special focus on the design process that leads to West Coast Modernism and the work created.
Submissions should include whole projects, which may be buildings, spaces, landscapes, and places. Subject matter is not limited to actualized projects; both completed and purely ideas-based representations are welcome. The subject matter should support the exhibition theme of connections to the land. Projects should convey a sense of “groundedness” and place within their settings, and contribute to one’s understanding of West Coast Modernism.
Submissions:
There is no charge to submit a proposal for exhibition consideration. Please include the following in your submission:
- Contact information including: submitter’s name and professional designations, firm name, address, phone number and e-mail address.
- A written summary of the submission that addresses the following:
- Curriculum Vitaes for each firm principal;
- Date that the firm’s Certificate of Practice was issued;
- Firm philosophy (one page maximum);
- Firm design process (one page maximum);
- A statement of firm’s view on West Coast Modernism (one page maximum);
- A 500-word narrative (conceptual framework and project description) of at least three completed projects and how they relate to the firm’s philosophy and exhibition theme; and
- Additional 500-word narratives for each un-built project submitted.
- A CD or DVD containing low resolution (1090 pixels wide) digital files of the display panels and supplemental media that will be used to represent the firm’s work in the exhibition.
Submission Deadline:
Submissions should be sent to the AIBC offices at #100 – 440 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 2N5. The deadline for submissions has been extended to Friday, September 7, 2012. Those selected will be contacted by Wednesday, September 19, 2012.
Selection Process and Criteria:
Submissions will be reviewed and curated by the AIBC Gallery Advisory Committee and, unique to this exhibition, special curator consultant James Tuer Architect AIBC AIA BCSLA CSLA NCARB, principal of JWT Architecture and Planning and past recipient of the AIBC’s Emerging Firm Award.
It is anticipated that between 8 to 10 submissions will be chosen for the final exhibit. While entry is open to all AIBC-registered firms, given the subject matter of this exhibition, preference will be given to emerging B.C. firms that have maintained a practice for between three and 10 years.
Consideration will be given to proposals conveying a high level of design with specific consideration to the following:
- Works of architecture that have been the subject of at least three articles, publications, exhibitions or other public presentations;
- Firms crossing the boundaries between landscape and architecture and whose works (both built and un-built) speak to the unique West Coast landscape and environment;
- Emerging firms that have taken it upon themselves to define West Coast architecture in their daily practice;
- Demonstrated completed projects that illustrate the firm’s philosophy and how it represents the West Coast spirit; and
- Submissions that draw the connection between design process and the final execution of work. Note: un-built projects – such as competition entries, research projects and “the ones that got away” – are welcomed.
Entrants must have the rights for all ideas and images submitted, and all work must be accurately attributed as per AIBC standards. For specific AIBC attribution requirements pertaining to AIBC members and other registrants, please review Bulletin 44: Attribution: Giving and Taking Credit for Architectural Services.
The Exhibition:
If selected for this exhibition, participants will be required to produce and provide at least four but no more than six 30”x30” display panels that incorporate both text and images demonstrating the features of the submission that capture the spirit of West Coast Modernism. All boards must include accurate attribution information. Entrants are also encouraged to make use of design process sketches, renderings, diagrams, construction details and other visual representations including models. Each submission must also include a DVD containing labelled digital files of all submitted imagery (minimum resolution of 300 dpi at approximately 8”x10” size).
All exhibition materials must be received at the AIBC Offices by Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at 5:00 p.m.
The resulting exhibition will be on public display in the AIBC Gallery (#100-440 Cambie Street, Vancouver) from approximately October 1 to November 12, 2012. Opportunities for exhibition at other venues may also be considered.
In addition, a digital version of the exhibition may be created for present and/or future use by the AIBC and its curator consultant.
Important Notes:
- This is not a competition; prizes will not be awarded.
- Each submitter is responsible for covering any costs related to the Call for Submissions process and the production of exhibition materials.
- While all submission ideas remain the intellectual property of the submitters, the AIBC and its curator consultant reserve the right to promote, reproduce and display these materials for online, mounted exhibition, print publication and media purposes.
- If necessary, the AIBC Gallery Advisory Committee reserves the right to select some but not all panels submitted to accommodate this exhibition in future venues.
- All exhibition parameters, including dates, are subject to change.
Contact:
For questions or more information, please contact the AIBC Communications Department at communications@aibc.ca.
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