September 2015 /// The Fake Movement

SEPTEMBER 2015 COMPETITION

The Fake Movement ///

Architectural movements are specific to the time and place in which they originate. Inevitably meanings and motivations are distorted over time in absence of cultural context. Can the Baroque, Brutalist, or Post Modernist movements be fully understood by designers that did not personally participate in them? Political histories are regularly edited or wholly fabricated, why not architectural movements? Who might create a historic architectural movement from scratch and for what purpose? How might it influence present-day designers and their work? What happens when an architectural movement is faked?

Participants are encouraged to include graphics to support their concepts. Submissions may be conceptual, technical, and/or artistic.

RESULTS ///

Top 6

Editor's Choice

Oudyziea Aiz Samodra

Kuta, Bali Island, Indonesia

Matthias Steen

Antwerp, Belgium

Mercedes Carriquiry

Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay

Jasper Tuinema

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Gabriela Colmenares

Los Angeles, California, United States

Clara Lee & Kristin Akin-Zimmerman

Los Angeles & New York, United States

Alex Worden

Boulder, Colorado, United States

JURORS ///

Ryan Edwards

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

M.Arch, Wentworth Institute of Technology

Firm: Helicon Design Group

Melissa Chapman-Smith

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

M.Arch, Barcelona Institute of Architecture (BIARCH)

Firm: Coscia Moos Architecture

Jonathan Wilkinson

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
BS.Arch, University of Cincinnati

ENTRIES ///

23 Entries from 13 Countries

Oudyziea Aiz Samodra

Kuta, Bali Island, Indonesia

1ST

JURY COMMENTS ///

"I appreciate this proposal’s comparison of an uncertain, dystopian future to the bold geometry of Kahn’s National Assembly Building. The drawing’s restrained color palette and collaged media help me to imagine a scenario where we confront our own humanity in the context of an alien invasion. I would enjoy seeing this idea further explored in film as well as architectural representation."

"This submission perhaps best probes at the questions posed in the brief: one imagines a dystopian future in which alien-power-ranger-robot conquistadors re-appropriate monumental architecture, rewrite its cultural significance, and usurp the meaning in the service of their self-aggrandizing and oppressive agenda. Take this monument to democracy, the parliament building in Dhaka, now a surveillance post of the occupiers. Constructed with total respect for human scale, Kahn's masterpiece inspired awe through its grandeur and sculpture of light. Once reflecting and exalting a culture, the building is now dwarfed by the robot towering above it. The addition of the inscription on to the facade, secures the authority and cultural legitimacy of the conquistadorian overlords."

Matthias Steen

Antwerp, Belgium

2ND

COMMENT & DISCUSS

JURY COMMENTS ///

"This entry successfully interprets the brief in a succinct and graphically clear manner. It is thought-provoking and forces one to consider whether a piece of architecture is deeply rooted in its time and place (culturally, politically, etc.), or whether it is essentially an example of what one may consider facadism, where the building is not deeply rooted in anything but aesthetic appeal."

"This proposal’s merit comes from its historical reference rather than its originality. The author’s idea of a “fake” architecture appears to be one where the façade is so disconnected from its interior that it precedes the architecture. I find this submission to be a clever critique of postmodern ideas, illustrated by the enormous billboard construction in the drawing."

Mercedes Carriquiry

Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay

3RD

JURY COMMENTS ///

"This entry is successful both in its clarity and in its implied commentary. It is both fun and intriguing, especially given the global architectural fabric in the 21st century where clients are more and more inclined toward pure aesthetic (read: shallow) architecture which simply cuts and pastes different architectural styles in what has essentially become a giant kit of parts."

"The crane claw of contextual irreverence points to the ambivalence of modern development. With the proliferation of styles, we now find ourselves divorced from earlier movements by the stratum of time: the cultural roots severed; the buildings, pop-icons ready for consumption. This submission serves as a critique of the condition articulated in the brief, and suggests an affect on the built environment (which we must imagine outside of the arcade game), as relevance becomes that which is faked."

Jasper Tuinema

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

TOP 6

JURY COMMENTS ///

"This submission appears to mock the austere and desolate public plazas of the modernist era and reinterprets the urban landscape as a labyrinth, perhaps diverting attention from the building in the center. This contradiction between venerated skyscraper and the “plaza” is intriguing and I am attracted by the drawing’s sublime quality. The image is striking, but I am left wanting to see more!"

Gabriela Colmenares

Los Angeles, California, United States

TOP 6

JURY COMMENTS ///

"The submission depicts a multitude of architectural apparatuses latching on to banal apartment blocks and office towers. They descend into all would-be open and public spaces, binding the buildings to the horizon, or landing atop of the filled-in streets. The text discloses that this imposition extends to time as well-- the architectural movement reflecting a culture, as they do. The evocative imagery suggests a proletariat class discouraged from political action (perhaps justified by population growth, or born from a fear on the part of those in control). Stirring questions raised in the brief, 'The Fillers Movement' smartly postulates on the relationship of public space to the commoditization of labor."

Clara Lee & Kristin Akin-Zimmerman

Los Angeles, United States & New York, United States

TOP 6

JURY COMMENTS ///

"Probably one of the funniest entries (along with 'The Titanic II'), though certainly worthy of selection given what one could interpret as a disdain for not only Rem Koolhaas, but presumably many of today's starchitects who would probably love to create a historic architectural movement from scratch as the brief did question."

Alex Worden

Boulder, Colorado, United States

Editor's Choice

EDITOR COMMENT ///

"This entry was selected as Editor's Choice for its layered and cohesive response to the brief. The morbid, yet plausible, scenario in which an aesthetic resulting from a past 'nuclear' disaster is 'revived' is an interesting commentary on how real movements are re-framed. It reminds us that seemingly neutral architectural forms and construction techniques often have militaristic origin."