OPEN CALL: MODEL Award for Architectural Experimentation 2023 Barcelona Architectures Festival

April 20–30, 2023, Barcelona City Council presents the second edition of MODEL. Barcelona Architectures Festival. It is a space for reflection and celebration that brings experimental architecture closer to society and invites us to rethink how we want to live together through new city models and new imaginaries.

MODEL is the most recent experimental and visionary architecture festival in the global framework of cultural events. The project was founded by the Barcelona City Council and the Catalan Architects’ Association (COAC) in 2022 and this year it’s managed by the Fundació Mies van der Rohe. This second edition of MODEL, led by Artistic Director Eva Franch i Gilabert, builds on the legacy of last year’s festival and will present installations in public space, digital architectures and augmented realities, symposiums, workshops and experimental programs. Together, they will produce a space for exchange, learning and dissemination of ideas in collaboration with more than one hundred local agents, organizations and institutions.

With the desire to highlight the independent work of local and international creators, MODEL invites architects, artists, designers, cultural researchers, and curators to participate in the MODEL Award 2023 and be part of the creative team that will produce this major city event.

The MODEL Award for Architectural Experimentation is intended to support the research work and processes that are already taking place and that can benefit from opportunities for exploration, citizen outreach and social transformation within the framework of the festival. The values, themes and projects that the MODEL festival will develop in the coming years until the city hosts the World Capital of Architecture in 2026, constitute a great opportunity to reflect on how Barcelona and other cities around the world position themselves in relation to important conflicts and shared concerns such as climate change, inequality or the production and distribution of knowledge.

The MODEL Award will be awarded to groups and/or individuals that have a proven record of excellence and experimentation and consists of a financial endowment and the opportunity to conceive and design one of the installations, augmented realities, curatorial projects and/or experimental projects that will be developed during the edition of MODEL 2023.

The MODEL Award has three categories:
(a) Temporary Installations in Public Space (endowed with 8,000 EUR). (b) Digital Architectures and Augmented Realities (endowed with 3,000 EUR). (c) Curatorial Projects (endowed with 4,000 EUR).

The jury will award up to four awards in each category. The award winners will have at their disposal the financial and organizational resources established by MODEL to develop and materialize their research during the festival.

For more information, consult the projects carried out in MODEL 2022 including the Ark of Coexistence by Takk and LEA, Urban Kitchen by MAIO and Cooking Sections, Chronotopic Memory by Flexo, Words by Roger Paez, Landlord Open House by Farzin Lofti-Jam, Júlia Nueno and Austin McInnis, Queer of Triomf by Adam Nathaniel Furman, Els Auguris by Inferstudio, Books Model by Ethel Baraona, and the 99+ Imaginaries exhibition, among many others.

Applications will be accepted until January 16, 2023 at 2pm (CET) and application materials consist of:
–A letter of interest/research statement presenting the areas of architectural and/or curatorial research developed by the applicant/s.
–A portfolio with a sample of work carried out by the applicant/s.
–A curriculum vitae of the person or team applying.

The jury consists of:
Tatiana Bilbao, Principal and Founder, Tatiana Bilbao Estudio, México / Carson Chan, Curator and Director of the EAI, MoMA, New York / Eva Franch i Gilabert, Artistic Director, MODEL. Barcelona Architectures Festival / Xavi Matilla, Architect in Chief, Barcelona City Council, Barcelona / Anna Ramos, Director, Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona

This open call is free and open to people of all ages, education, genders, and backgrounds. For the official brief and submission visit model.barcelona.

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