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Old man in Tunisia. 1982. © UN Photo/Kate Schafer |
An international competition seeking to raise the awareness of architectural and design students to the needs of older persons has been announced.
Known as the International Student Design Competition, the contest is open to any current architectural student or team of students at graduate or undergraduate level world-wide.
Endorsed by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, the awards are a first prize of USD 10,000, second prize USD 5,000, and USD 2,500 for the third prize. An international jury of renowned architects, gerontologists, and United Nations officials will judge the entries in August. The judges decisions will be final and not subject to any discussion.
The competition is organized by the International Council for Caring Communities in cooperation with UN-Habitat, the United Nations Ageing Units, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF) and other partners.
According to the official announcement, the competition's long-term goals are:
- to raise the awareness of architectural and design students to the needs of older persons;
- to increase cross-cultural understanding;
- to incorporate the growing role of ICT in communities, and
- to encourage a close connection between proposed solutions and the real world.
Past competitions have influenced local planning, educational curricula, encouraged dialogue and established new mindsets; they all deal with inclusive communities, created through a combination of new construction, renovation, reuse and environmental intervention. |
