European Prize for Urban Public Space 2010

WHY PUBLIC SPACE?

Given the reductionism and oversimplification of some of the large-scale urban projects implemented in Europe in recent years, and the risks of homogenisation and impoverishment of the urban landscape, we believe that promoting public space and making known its political and plural character and the diversity of functions it can embrace, is an ideal way of stimulating urban projects that aim to reinvent and enhance the structural role that this space has always played in European cities.
The European Prize for Urban Public Space is a biennial competition that aims to highlight the importance of public space as a catalyst of urban life, and to recognise and foster investment by public administrations in its creation, conservation and improvement, while also understanding the state of public space as a clear indicator of the civic and collective health of our cities.

CALL FOR ENTRIES
The Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine (Paris), The Architecture Foundation (London), the Nederlands Architectuurinstituut (Rotterdam), the Architekturzentrum Wien (Vienna) and the Museum of Finnish Architecture (Helsinki) have announced the SIxth European Prize for Urban Public Space, which is to be awarded on 11 June 2010 in Barcelona. The first European Prize for Urban Public Space was offered in 2000 and since then it has been awarded on a two-yearly basis with the aim of recognising and promoting activities for the recovery and improvement of public space in European cities. The sixth award of the Prize is now announced in keeping with the aim of highlighting and making known projects that have been completed in Europe between 2008 and 2009.

CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION

In order to enter for the European Prize for Urban Public Space, the works must be presented for the award by the institutions that are responsible for the intervention, or by its authors. The Prize covers the geographic region of the Council of Europe (http:www.coe.int/).If it is desired to present interventions related with the creation of new urban spaces, it must be borne in mind that, apart from general considerations about the effect as a whole, the results achieved within these public spaces and their impact on community life will be the ones that are specifically evaluated.
Since some urban interventions involve long periods of work before their completion, projects that have not been fully completed in 2008 or 2009 may also present for the Prize if enough phases have been finished so as to enable assessment of the urban repercussions of the intervention as a whole. In order to present for the Prize, the required documentation as specified in these rules must be submitted before the established deadline.

SELECTION CRITERIA
The criteria that will govern selection of the projects that are presented for the European Prize for Urban Public Space will not be exclusively related with the quality of the work from a strictly architectural point of view. The jury will also consider other aspects that enable evaluation of the urban transformation that has taken place in the specific setting.
* The explicitly urban nature of the intervention. The size of the city or town is not a limiting factor although priority will be given to medium-sized or large municipalities and those with a more general urban significance.
* The public ownership and/or clearly public-spirited vocation of the project.
* Appropriateness of interventions to the functions required of public space, from those directly linked with citizens’ occupation of a space, through to those pertaining to the collective imaginary.
* Capacity of the interventions to reduce social fractures within the city and eliminate physical and/or symbolic barriers in order to enhance quality of life for the inhabitants.
* Contribution of the projects in the domain of environmental improvement, in promoting public transport and innovation in the treatment of public installations, energy resources and urban waste.
* The degree of citizen participation and engagement in the conception, carrying out and/or subsequent maintenance of the space. Degree of acceptance by users.
* Transversal character of the planning concepts and/or objectives that have guided the project (sociology, demography, history, architecture, economy, engineering, landscaping, anthropology, etc.).
INTERNATIONAL JURY
The jury of the European Prize for Urban Public Space is formed by a president and five members of widely recognised international prestige who have been proposed by the institutions that are jointly offering it. The president of the jury of the 2010 Prize will be the architect Rafael Moneo, who will represent the Centre of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona, while the jury members are the directors of the other institutions involved. The jury will only take into account those projects that comply with all the conditions of participation and the Prize can also be declared null and void. Secretariat functions will be performed by the Centre of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona, which will designate the person who is to assist the jury and prepare the minutes of the sessions during the selection process of the Prize winners. The working sessions and deliberations of the international jury will take place in Barcelona on 25 and 26 March 2010. The decision of the jury will be communicated to the winners and will appear on the Prize website on 26 March. The prize-giving ceremony is to be held at the CCCB on 11 June 2010.

THE NATURE OF THE PRIZE

The European Prize for Urban Public Space is honorary by nature and will be jointly awarded to the institution responsible for the project and to the author or authors of the work. The winners of the Prize (first prize and honorary mentions) will receive a diploma attesting to the award. The winner of the first prize will also receive a commemorative plaque that is to be installed in the prize-winning public space.
The prize-winning works, the finalists and a jury selection of the interventions that have been presented for the Prize will be published in the European Archive of Urban Public Space (www.publicspace.org). The archive contains and publicises a selection of the best interventions presented for the Prize since it was first awarded

DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED
In order to present for the European Prize for Urban Public Space 2010, it is necessary to fill out the registration form which may be found at the website www.publicspace.org. The documentation detailed below must be delivered to the CCCB along with this form duly printed and signed by the person or persons presenting the work.
Minimum obligatory documentation required for entering for the Prize:
• Between 3 and 5 rigid panels in DIN A3 format with all the graphic and textual information that candidates consider necessary to describe the work. The panels (foam board or similar) must include:
* Maps showing the location and/or placement of the work inside its urban context.
* Ground plans of the work. This includes maps, sections, elevations, construction details, diagrams and/or sketches that explain the project.
* A pair of photographs of the site of the intervention before and after the work (and if possible, from the same vantage point).
* 10 images of the finished work. These images should reflect how citizens would use the new space.
• Descriptive report, written in English, of approximately 4,500 characters in length and in DIN A4 format. The provision of text in any of the panels does not preclude the requirement of presenting this report printed on paper. It must include the following four chapters:
* PREVIOUS STATE
* AIM OF THE INTERVENTION
* DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERVENTION
* EVALUATION
• Back-up CD containing all the aforementioned documentation in digital format.
* The DIN A3 panels in PDF format and a minimum resolution of 300 DPI.
* The photographs and maps in separate archives in JPG format and with a minimum resolution of 900 pixels on its longest side, along with the name of the photographer and year for each image.
* The DIN A4 descriptive report in PDF format.
The documents submitted for the Prize will not be returned to the participants, who will not receive any fees for rights of public communication or exploitation of the material selected and will also bear the costs of claims or outlay pertaining to rights of intellectual property that might arise from the reproduction or use by the organisers of the projects that are presented. Presenting for the Prize requires acceptance of all the conditions specified in these rules.

PRESENTATION OF DOCUMENTATION

After sending the completed entry form obtained through the website www.publicspace.org it must then be enclosed duly signed with the rest of the documentation specified above and delivered to the CCCB general registry between 15 November 2009 and 29 January 2010 on any weekday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Documentation must be delivered properly protected in a packet that clearly states “Premi 2010” and indicates the name of the project that has been inscribed in the entry form and on the delivered panels, along with the name of the city where the project is located.
The documentation is to be sent by post or by messenger within the admission period for the projects. Hence the date of dispatch must be certified at the post office or by the messenger service, and the CCCB is to be notified of the dispatch of the package at [email protected] on the same day.

SCHEDULE

15 November 2009
Opening of period for presenting projects
29 January 2010
End of period for presenting projects
25 and 26 March 2010
Meeting of the International Jury of the Prize
11 June 2010
Award of the European Prize for Urban Public Space 2010

INFORMATION, CONTACT AND RECEPTION POINT FOR DOCUMENTATION

Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB)
Montalegre, 5
E-08001 Barcelona
Tel: +34.93.306.41.00
Fax: +34.93.306.41.01
email: [email protected]
www.publicspace.org