Update #4 (3/17/2016): We have received the following statement from the organizers of this competition, the Third Mind Foundation. Below the updates, you can read the new competition brief. ArchDaily is in no way affiliated with the competition itself or its organizers.
Competition Update #1:
Fact: A patchwork of walls, fences and 20,000 Border Patrol agents already exist at the US Mexican Border.
We have made the following modifications to clarify the nature of the competition, as follows:
- A question mark [?] has been added to the title to indicate that the competition is not strictly calling for the design of a wall.
- The brief and challenge have been updated to clarify that this competition and the organizers are "politically neutral" on the subject. We are neither for, nor against, building a border wall.
- The competition is seeking innovative and thought provoking solutions, ideas, concepts to a very real issue. The challenges, environmental issues and problems are numerous.
- We are actively building a diverse jury. The current participants and images are "place holders" to show the kind of diversity in the jury selection we are hoping to achieve. When the jury is complete this section will be updated.
- John Beckmann from Axis Mundi, is chief organizer and liaison for the The Third Mind Foundation. He is acting on our behalf and will be a non-voting member of the jury. No one from the Foundation, nor immediate friends, family, and so forth, will be participating on the jury, or the competition itself.
- The Third Mind Foundation is a group of architects, designers and artists, who wish to remain anonymous. This is our first organized competition. Any profits after expenses will be used for a future competition in 2017. Or we will increase the amount of the awards as the competition progresses.
Thank you.
– Third Mind Foundation
Update #3 (3/14/2016): Given that we have not received clarification from the organizers, and that this continues to be unclear, the competition description can be read at the competition site until key details have been finalized.
Update #2 (3/14/2016): Since this competition was approved to be included in ArchDaily’s Competitions section, some information on the site has changed, and so we have reached out to the organizers to ask that they clarify the status of this competition.
We have asked the organizers to provide finalized, accurate information about the identity of the organizers, the makeup of the jury, and the status of the prizes.
In 2015 we opened up our submission process for events and competitions so that we could include as many learning/engagement opportunities as possible for architects. Every user-submission is reviewed and the only ones that are not added this section of the site (which functions as a page of listings) are those are deemed irrelevant for architects. When this competition was approved, and given the information that was made available to ArchDaily at that time, we felt that it met the criteria for inclusion. Most importantly, the views expressed in announcements submitted by ArchDaily users do not necessarily reflect the views of ArchDaily.
We believe that decent, enlightened and civil conversations can emerge from controversial statements. We hope that those readers who respond will do so with projects that challenge the brief itself, subverting (if they think it necessary) the assumptions that underlie this brief. We hope that architects will address this issue with ingenuity, with responses that draw on our creativity and expertise. It seems silly to have to spell it out, but we imagined submissions that do not show a wall, for example.
ArchDaily is an organization that has been operating in Mexico since 2012, and a portion of its staff, including its Executive Editor, are Mexican.
We believe in the power of the internet, in the power of open conversations, and in the power of strong, positive voices in our community of architects.
---
Due to the continually changing nature of the competition brief, all information can be accessed directly from the competition site.
