Art & architecture competition
Submission deadline: January 31, 2024
To think up and foster different ways of designing schools from the creative interaction with local environments, LA ESCUELA___ launches a call for “Construir Escuelas___Espacios Públicos” (Building Schools___Public Spaces). This competition is an invitation to explore art-architecture-education relationships as a strategy to improve common urban living conditions. The call is aimed at architects, artists, and communities across Latin America and the Caribbean. It entails conceptualizing, designing, and constructing a public space conceived as a learning environment.
The projects are expected to be permanent site-specific interventions, designed with a macro vision and impact in their locality, aiming at social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Each team shall propose a public-access site. Applicant teams may be composed of artist(s), architect(s), and/or urban planner(s)—based in Latin America or abroad—together with a community and local entity. The proposal should materialize their reflections on the idea of the school as a public space and the public space as a school. From an art and architecture perspective, the project’s goal and reflections shall intend to dynamize and contribute to the positive transformation of the place proposed for the work. The construction and subsequent operation of this educational space should be understood as part of an innovative ecosystem on a neighborhood scale.
The “Construir Escuelas___Espacios Públicos” competition is part of the Classrooms program of LA ESCUELA__. Founded in 2021 by artist, architect, and educator Miguel Braceli and the international non-profit Siemens Stiftung, this platform seeks to approach art as education, and education as collective learning in public spaces. The Classrooms are on-site formative projects developed by artists and/or architects in collaboration with educational and cultural institutions and communities in public spaces of Latin American cities and rural areas. The program aims to address specific places’ social, political, and ecological challenges through context-based practices.
Submissions for “Construir Escuelas___Espacios Públicos” will be received from September 15, 2023 through January 31, 2024. The registration and submission of projects are strictly digital through LA ESCUELA___’s website; print documents will not be accepted. Participating in the competition is free of charge. The evaluation criteria will acknowledge both the quality of the proposed final work and the design and strategies involved in the process to achieve it. The jury is composed of Al Borde (architecture studio), Elisa Silva (architect), Fernanda Canales (architect), Javier Vera Cubas (architect), Zaida Muxí (architect), Miguel Braceli (LA ESCUELA___), and Joachim Gerstmeier (Siemens Stiftung). The verdict will be announced in April 2024 through LA ESCUELA___’s digital media. The winning project will receive financial support and accompaniment during the process. The local entity participating in the team shall assume the legal and organizational responsibilities required. The project must be completed within six months in 2024. Check the competition guidelines and send your proposal through laescuela.art.
To learn more about “Construir Escuelas___Espacios Públicos” and upcoming programs and publications of LA ESCUELA___, subscribe to its monthly newsletter.
