Globalworth Foundation and Igloo launch the international competition 2031 NOW_our cities in 10 years

Prizes worth €11,000 for the architecture of our future cities

Bucharest, 15th of November, 2021. Globalworth Foundation and Igloo – Habitat and Architecture Association launch the international competition “2031 NOW_our cities in 10 years” dedicated to students in architecture, city planning and design from Poland and Romania. By expressing a future vision within a project until January 20, 2022, the winning participants will be rewarded prizes worth €11,000, as well as the possibility to present their proposals at the High Tech Learning Center within the “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urban Planning Bucharest, and to publish them in the catalog of the competition.

Future architects from Poland and Romania are expected to take a visionary approach to the shaping of our cities in the near future. Competitors are therefore invited to develop an urban vision in which spaces can act as generators of better places for both direct users and the nearby community. This will be illustrated for a generic piece of land, an area of ​​20,310 square meters (2,031 ha). The theme requests participants to introduce in this part of the city mixed-use buildings, community spaces, parks, infrastructure, all connected in a new design that can be built in 2031.

Competition entries will be evaluated by members of an international jury, highly renowned personalities in the field of architecture. The jury includes notable urban planners, international architects and representatives of the organizers: Bruno Andreșoiu, Arjan Dingsté, Krzysztof Ingarden, Dimitris Pergamalis, Jakub Szczęsny and Andrei Șerbescu.

2031 NOW_our cities in 10 years is the competition through which we make steps towards fulfilling the commitment to build functional, sustainable and harmonious cities for our business communities and not only them. We are glad to have with us in this endeavor a partner like Igloo – Habitat and Architecture Association, with the help of which we support the future of architecture in the two countries where Globalworth is a market leader: Poland and Romania. Globalworth builds office buildings and in our daily work we have all become aware of the increased importance of architects. They are the ones who shape our homes, office buildings, cities – in other words, places where, in our turn, we shape our lives. We hope this international competition, with its prestigious jury it has managed to build, will encourage and solidify the future of architecture, said Georgiana Iliescu, Executive Director of Globalworth Foundation.

For architecture students competitions are one of the most efficient ways of anticipating and dealing with the challenges of the profession they are preparing for, and they should definitely be included in the academic curriculum. Idea competitions enrich the young mind that must keep on dreaming while also working with heavy matter, with constraints and, sometimes, with absurd laws. Therefore confronting oneself with the themes and the rigours of idea competitions is a deeply formative experience. Being able to create, to receive the feedback of an experienced jury and to win an award represents a great chance that no student should be deprived of. 2031 NOW_our cities in 10 years, the competition we have the privilege to run together with Globalworth Foundation, offers prospective architects an opportunity for creative thinking and the possibility to publicly showcase the visions that will shape our future cities, added Bruno Andreşoiu, President of Igloo – Habitat and Architecture Association.

Several academic partners from Romania and Poland, more precisely the most prestigious schools and professional associations of architecture, have joined the competition, supporting the project implementation.

Prizes:

• 1st Prize: €5,000 + Catalog publication
• 2nd Prize: €3,000 + Catalog publication
• 3rd Prize: €1,500 + Catalog publication
• 3 mentions of €500 each + Catalog publication

Submissions: January 20, 2022

Announcement of results: March 10, 2022

For more information on the competition theme, requirements and calendar, please visit www.2031now.com/ or contact us at welcome@2031now.com.

2031 NOW_our cities in 10 years is a competition powered by Globalworth Foundation and organized by Igloo – Habitat and Architecture Association.

Institutional partners: The Romanian Order of Architects, The Romanian Order of Architects – Bucharest Branch, The Union of Romanian Architects, SHARE architects, Romanian Register of Urban Planners, The Romanian Professional Association of Urban Planners

Academic partners: “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urban Planning Bucharest

Media partners: aici a stat, Architektura-murator, Arhitectura, de-a arhitectura, Designist, ENTR, feeder, Graphic Front, IQads, Modernism, The Institute, urbnews.pl

About Globalworth Foundation.

Globalworth Foundation was founded in 2018 by Globalworth, the market leader in office buildings in Romania and Poland, and is a non-profit entity, being independent of the group’s commercial activities. The mission of the foundation is to develop projects on three main pillars: people, places and technology.

So far, the Globalworth Foundation and Globalworth have allocated over €800,000 for the construction of the first High Tech laboratory within the “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urban Planning Bucharest, for scholarships and documentaries for teachers, international competitions and special projects for architects from Romania.

More information is available on our website and on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

About Igloo – Habitat and Architecture Association.

Founded in 2008, Igloo – Habitat and Architecture Association aims to contribute to the articulation of a coherent public space through activities (editorial and cultural projects, events) aimed at raising the standards of visual culture and education in a society that is still looking for landmarks in architecture and urban policies. The association has so far carried out successful projects, with themes in the fields of architecture, heritage, design and urban culture, constantly addressing not only the guild of architects, but also a wider audience, with interests in the cultural sphere.

For more information about the editorial and cultural activity of the association, visit igloo.ro and our Facebook and Instagram pages.

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