After successfully concluding the first competition of the MONEY cycle, the Zagreb Society of Architects sets the stage for the second competition within the international series of concept-based architectural competitions entitled Think Space.

Featuring a number of established architects and curators, the program continues to re-think space in the 2013/2014 season. Throughout this season of competitions and papers, Think Space is looking for pioneering works at the intersection of architecture, sociology, economics, programming and marketing that radically challenge the fundamental spatial, social and urban relation based on capitalism. The competitions and Call for Papers focus on (1) Territories, (2) Environment and (3) Culture & Society through MONEY lenses, as observed by architects and other visual artists and professionals. Jurors of the competitions are David Garcia (Territories), Keller Easterling (Environment) and Pedro Gadanho (Culture & Society).

Juror of the Territories Competition, David A. Garcia of MAP Architects invited participants to send in proposals that tackle the present economic and territorial challenges in the present and future of the Arctic lands and upon evaluating entries awarded the First Prize to the entry entitled Who Owns The Arctic, by Owen Wells from United Kingdom, Second Prize to Sarah Cree from Canada, for her work entitled Frozen Fuel Network, Third Prize to Gabriel Ruiz-Larrea and Ledo Pérez Vasquéz from Spain for their entry entitled Invisible High Frequency Trader, and the Honourable Mention to Natalya Egon and Noel Turgeon from United States for their work entitled Interarctica: The Cultural Rezoning of the Arctic Ocean. To read juror’s comments on the awarded competition entries click here.

Another important announcement comes from Think Space; second competition of the MONEY cycle, Culture & Society, which will be jurored by Pedro Gadanho of MoMA was launched on Monday, December 9, 2013. We bring you the questioning excerpt of the competition brief by Gadanho:

“Are we able to design without money as we know it? Can we envisage a practice of architecture that finds its rewards through unconventional forms of compensation? As other cultural producers, can architects be seen as initiators of communal projects for which, besides contributing the design skills and problem-solving capacities, they can also research and concoct alternative sources of funding?

In the past years, we have witnessed the emergence of experimental currencies such as the bitcoin, as well as new forms of economical exchange and trade, such as crowdfunding, social money, micropayments, or time banks, all of them based on the trust and support of a given network. Coming from the fields of design and urban transformation, can these currency experiments and moneyless service exchanges be harnessed as catalysts for change? Can they be envisaged as an integral part of new forms of practice?”

Click here if you’re interested in participating! Deadline is 31st of January, 2014.