Green Boulevards: International Online Competition

Competition Objectives
Mobility networks as infrastructures for the production of renewable energy. In the era of velocity, communications and sustainable development, the systems of mobility assume an increasing role as the backbone to the harmonic and democratic growth of territories. Strategies of urban planning and rehabilitation aimed at regenerating vast areas of Italy may draw significant advantages from the interconnection and modernisation of road and rail networks.

The infrastructures of the third millennium, in addition to ensuring the increasingly more fluid and safe exchange of passengers and goods, thanks to the sensitivity of designers and the use of new materials and technologies, can become “green & smart”, that is, intelligent, ecological and productive; true networks for the widespread generation of renewable energy (solar, wind, water, etc.), capable of offering occasions for economic development and employment in vast territories and local communities.

Parkways for the Third Millennium
The diverse typologies of highway and rail networks, both existing, being realised and/or decommissioned, provide under-estimated and multiple opportunities for the installation of technological systems capable of producing energy. The online competition, part of the programme of the Italian Pavilion at the 13th International Architecture Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, wishes to contribute to the development of concrete ideas-projects for the use of technologies focused on the production of renewable energy in areas related or in proximity to infrastructures; at the same time it intends to stimulate original solutions for the integration of highway and railway networks within their surrounding territories by searching for a symbiosis, as necessary as it is virtuous, between the natural and artificial landscape.

The design and cultural challenge proposed to participants is that of utilising networks of mobility – with their berms, trenches, intersections, viaducts, tunnels, setback areas, leftover spaces, and spaces of rest and maintenance – to create new forms of land art or environmental art at the service of energy production that, without interfering with the normal and safe operation of these same infrastructures, are able to generate energy and thus economic resources, to be re-invested in the future development of the community.

The bio-technological parkways of the third millennium, other than producing energy, may also be imagined as a means for absolving other complementary functions, such as the absorption of noise, atmospheric particulate matter, carbon monoxide and pollution in general. Obviously there are no limits to the fantasy and articulation of the possible functions that can be associated with the ideas-projects, so long as the primary programme remains the generation of clean energy and the rehabilitation of the landscape. Green infrastructures at the territorial scale possess the exceptional potential to requalify and valorise vast portions of deteriorated landscapes.

There is a need for integrated strategies for the sustainable and innovative management of urban and rural ecosystems, urban environments and open spaces, to be reinterpreted as correlated and communicating systems. The physical dimension of reference is that of the district, with the intention that the corresponding design model is capable of dealing with physically parallel environments or those integrated within the patterns of conurbations and road and rail infrastructures. The ideas-projects should pursue virtuous processes of environmental compensation in the cities and towns involved and confront the most evident problems of territorial abandonment or disorder.

Proposals must take into account the agricultural areas still present even if no longer in their natural conditions, though in any case recoverable, as part of a vision that considers the rural territory functional to the quality of life of the populations settled there, valorising the landscape, tradition, local food products for self-consumption, and local culture and identity. A privileged position should be given to green infrastructures serving area-wide districts, useful what is more to the realisation of the continuous design of Regional and national Ecological Networks. The aim is that of linking natural and semi-natural areas via connective systems capable of increasing sustainable dynamics or relations between adjacent cities. The idea-projects must confront: the reciprocal accessibility of urban areas, the crossing, including at slow speeds, of sites, the enjoyment of the agricultural landscape, the development of local agricultural traditions, the possibility to create and access sites to purchase and taste biological products, the valorisation of cultural and material riches present in the area of reference, relationships with archaeological parks and protected historical areas.

The final objective of the competition is thus the design of installations for the production of energy with low environmental impact and elevated levels of research and innovation, the opportune integration with the landscape, the preservation of nature and ecosystems, respect for the environment and natural beauty – more important than the quantity of Kwh produced -, the recycling and reuse of elements and materials, the development of original components and patents to support and offer incentives to the development of the green economy, a particularly competitive sector in Italy.

The idea-proposal may be articulated in the modernisation/implementation of existing networks, in the recovery/reuse of networks that have been/are being decommissioned, in the realisation of new networks strategic to Italy’s future development. The immediate objective of the online competition is the search for replicable models of intervention and flexible solutions that allow existing highway and rail networks, as well as those being decommissioned or yet to be constructed, to minimise their environmental impact on the territory and at the same time multiply their benets to local communities, becoming retiform and widespread generators of clean energy.

The more general ambition of the competition is, instead, that of contributing to the evolution of a “Green”, or, according to more current theories, «Blue» state-of-the-art Italian industrial manufacturing process, founded on a collaboration between designers and industries, capable of multiplying investments in research, technologies, materials and components, in scientific laboratories, university departments, foundations and amongst farsighted entrepreneurs interested in creating skilled employment and highly innovative components.

Terms & Conditions of Participation
The competition will take place in a single phase and is open to professionals and students from around the globe. Professionals, for example, may be: architects, engineers, designers, urban planners, landscape architects, economists, sociologists, geologists, researches, technologists, environmental engineers, ecologists, professional and engineering companies, businesses, etc. The term students refers to those who, as of the date of submission, have not yet graduated or who, during the year 2012, are enrolled in post-graduate courses, such as  specialisation courses, master and/or PhD programmes, etc. In any case, both professionals and students must not yet have reached 40 (forty) years of age at the date of submission. Participants may be individuals or groups. Interdisciplinary, multicultural and trans-national groups are permitted. The ownership of the idea-project is recognised in equal measure to all members of eventual groups. Each participant or group may prepare and submit only one project. Participants may not belong to more than one group.

Exclusions and Incompatibilities
The ideas-projects must be entirely anonymous in all of their parts (images and text), and fully respect the technical specifications outlined in this document. Failure to respect this clause will result in exclusion from the competition. The Jury may decide to exclude any participant based on the incongruity of the material presented with respect to the indications contained in this brief or in light of any evidence that may compromise the anonymity of the submission.

The following are not eligible to participate in the competition:
– Those who, for any reason, have collaborated in the preparation of the competition
– Spouses, parents and relatives of Jury members, including third-degree relations
– Those with on-going professional/personal relationships with the members of the Jury

Registration Procedure
Participants must complete the online registration procedure by 10:00 AM on 5 November 2012 using the online form available at the official competition website.  Following the correct completion of the online registration procedure, the system will automatically forward each member of the group an email with a User Id and Password, necessary to complete the online submission of the proposals. Prior to proceeding with the online registration process each group must transfer the sum of 50.00 Euros (fty/00), indicating the reason for the bank transfer as «Registration for the Green Boulevards Competition». To conclude registration the system will require participants to confirm completion of payment otherwise participants/groups will not be registered. No other form of registration is possible and it is not possible to modify completed registrations, or to eliminate or add group members.

Evaluation Criteria
The Jury will evaluate the ideas-projects according to principles of relevance, sustainability and feasibility:
– the Strategic Relevance of the idea-project and the possibility of offering a significant contribution to the sustainable development of local communities and the economy in broad areas of the territory
– The Integration with the environment and the landscape; sensitivity and respect for cultural heritage, ecosystems and habitat; wide area requalification; originality, beauty and artistic added value
– The Feasibility of the idea-project and the realistic nature of the proposed financing solutions (public and/or private)

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