Installation Competition
Find out first when the NFT platform is ready and you can design your own piece. Register your interests here.
The winner of TAB 2022 Installation Competition is Fungible Non-Fungible by IHEARTBLOB. In their proposal they set forth a new role of the architect – no longer the ‘Master Builder’ of The Fountainhead – but rather one of a system designer who weaves together innovative technologies to empower communities and enable local craftsmanship through the usage of Blockchain, specifically the emergence of Non-Fungible Token (“NFT”), and Artificial Intelligence (“AI”).
This project would be the first ever blockchain-funded architecture. It would serve as a test for the new decentralised architectural design model, which can lead to works that are more reflective of community and environmental awareness. The outcomes are physical-digital hybrids that balance the ‘slower’ constantly evolving physical components with real time reactive digital updates.
The integration of such technologies enable the design of a pavilion that evolves and grows both physically and digitally. Furthermore IHEARTBLOB, rather than designing architecture elements themselves, have built an NFT generative tool in which individuals can design and “mint” – the process of creating and authenticating digital ownership – their own objects. As part of their NFT generative tool, a parametric setup is provided for users to design within constraints (e.g. grid systems, predefined interlocking components, timber materiality, etc.) and the initial minting fee can therefore be calculated to cover the budgeted costs of material and overheads (labor, fabrication, etc.) to manifest a physical object of this digital design. In essence, every NFT minted by their tool funds a physical twin that is used in the pavilion. The digital objects can then be sold, by the owners, on secondary marketplaces as a way for the community designers to generate returns on their design/investment.
The result is a pavilion composed of unique parts each with different designers and owners, and ultimately reflective of a broader community demand and aesthetic sentiment.
IHEARTBLOB is an award winning architectural design studio and research collective formed by Aleksandra Belitskaja, Ben Jamesand Shaun McCallum, currently based in the UK. The studio has a strong focus on the Architectural Object, yet, draws on core tenets from an array of philosophical and theoretical principles whilst exploring new models of architectural thinking and constructing. The work is meant to both enchant and reflect on the crisis of thought which runs through architecture today by investigating new and established ideas as though they were materials, engaging seriously with hard hitting agendas, whilst remaining at a distance from full immersion.
12 teams to enter the 2nd stage of the competition
- Adrien Rigobello, Tom Svilans, Phil Ayers
- Andy Watts, Alicia Nahmad Vazquez
- Anna Jankovic, Andre Bonnice, Bryn Murrell, Tommaso Nervegna-Reed (Simulaa) and Natalie Alima
- Barry Wark, Richard Beckett, Levent Ozruh, Jan Contala, Phillip Schwaderer
- Elif Erdine, Milad Showkatbakhsh, Nicolo Bencini (EmTech) and Buro Happold
- Ezio Blasetti, Danielle Willems
- Francesco Lipari, Arturo Tedeschi
- Aleksandra Belitskaja, Benjamin James and Shaun Mccallum (IHEARTBLOB)
- Joseph Choma, Jefferson Ellinger, Wesam Al Asali
- Katya Bryskina, Dmitry Morozov
- Roberto Naboni, Riccardo La Magna, Aljaz Kramberger, Anija Kunić, Luca Breseghello, Alessandro Zomparelli
- Studio Kinc, Kory Bieg, Igor Siddiqui, Nerea Feliz, Clay Odom
Slowbuilding
The 2022 TAB installation brief operates in parallel to the Edible theme of Lydia Kallipoliti, Areti Markopoulou and Ivan Sergejev’s Curatorial exhibition. The installation competition is interested in how the Slow Food movement, a countercultural response to industrialized food production, can serve as an effective departure point for reimagining how and what we build.
As a counterpoint to the prevailing trends towards high-speed industrialized construction, the curators invite proposals that explore the relationship between technology and slowness. Slowness is a useful framework for thinking about design and construction in a world of finite physical resources and exponentially increasing computational capacity. New technologies could, for instance, enable builders to better utilize local materials and extend the capacity of traditional craftsmanship, reducing the need for global production and transportation chains or standardized building components.
The 2022 TAB installation calls for proposals that take a long, romantic, and human centric view towards construction technology, demonstrating designs and processes that extend and expand learning and mastery, traditional craftsmanship and analogue fabrication, repurposing and reuse of local materials, human invention and improvisation, environmental adaptation and responsiveness, wonderment, and delight.
The installation competition seeks proposals for Slowbuildings that explore how the same technologies that are facilitating faster industrialized construction can be slowed to nourish local craftsmanship, better utilize available materials, respond to environments over long time scales and enhance bespoke design expression. Could robotic automation and rapidly emerging technologies of machine learning, mixed reality environments, high fidelity spatial capture and 3D printing allow Slowbuilding to become an alternative paradigm for architectural production, one that is optimized for learning, adaptation, collaboration and delight rather than capital gain and project delivery time?
CURATORS
Gwyllim Jahn, Cameron Newnham, Soomeen Hahm Design, Igor Pantic
TAB 2019 Installation Competition winners
THE JURY
Roland Snooks
architect and founder of Kokkugia, Associate Professor at RMIT, Australia
Kathrin Dörfler
architect and founder of dorfundrust, Professor at TU Munich, Germany
Peeter Pere
architect and founder of Peeter Pere Arhitektid, Estonia
ADVISERS
Gwyllim Jahn, Cameron Newnham, Soomeen Hahm, Igor Pantic
Installation Competition Curators TAB 2022
Lydia Kallipoliti and Areti Markopoulou
Head Curators TAB 2022
Eve Arpo
Tallinn Architecture Biennale Producer, Estonian Centre for Architecture
Sille Pihlak
co-founder of PART, TAB 2017 Installation Programme curator
PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION
The installation should work independently of the larger whole, as a functional and active public space in front of the Museum of Estonian Architecture. Just as previous editions of TAB, the installation itself should be open to the surroundings and attract visitors the museum. The competition is not looking for proposals for small houses or cabins, but public installations. The installation needs to be climate resistant as it should stay on the site until 2024, a period of two years. Architects are encouraged to think about timber as innovative construction material, possibly in combination with other materials. The winning team will construct their own design for the opening of TAB 2022.
SITE
The site for the Installation Competition is the area in front of the Museum of Estonian Architecture, housed in the Rotermann Salt Storage – one of Tallinn’s most outstanding examples of industrial architecture. The area in front of the museum is a lively pedestrian street for commuters between harbor and city center. East to west it is a green island on one of the busiest streets in the city centre, being one of the main connections between the two sides of the city.
COMPETITION AND PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
17th March 2021:
competition announced
22nd April 2021:
stage 1 submission deadline, 12:00 PM Estonian Time
June 2021:
announcement of the chosen teams
10th September 2021:
Stage 2 submission deadline, 12:00 PM Estonian Time
end of September 2021:
the winner announced
7th September 2022:
Opening of TAB 2022 and the installation
PARTICIPATION
The competition is directed towards emerging architectural talent and is open to all graduated architects or teams composed of at least one architect. The competition is not open to students. The participants don’t have to be licensed.
ORGANISER
The TAB 2022 Installation Programme Competition is organised by the Estonian Centre for Architecture.
PRODUCTION AND BUDGET
All projects are invited to collaborate with local timber industry. The TAB installation works within a budget of 15 000 euro that covers both design and build. The winning team will be assisted by the Estonian Centre for Architecture to help and advice with production.
PRIZES
1st prize
15 000 € budget for construction + symposium participation + exhibition participation + published in TAB 2022 book + TAB 2022 pass
2nd and 3rd prize
TAB 2022 exhibition participation + published in TAB 2022 book + TAB 2022 PASS
The winner and the II stage participants will be exhibited at TAB Installation Programme exhibition.
COMPETITION MATERIALS
Download competition materials
TAB 2022 Installation Competition will be launched on April 8th, 2021 at 12.00 PM (UTC/GMT+2) on an interactive digital television broadcast platform MulticityTV.
The show “Tales of Tomorrow’s Architecture”, devised to present the TAB 2022 Installation Competition will include guests such as Roland Snooks (Australia), Lina Ghotmeh (France), Peter Sovetnikov (Russia), Marco Casagrande (Finland), Gilles Retsin (UK), Gwyllim Jahn (Australia) and Tomomi Hayashi (Estonia).
The community of International architects and a wider audience are welcomed to participate in the interactive, live web-show on April 8th, 2021, beginning at 12:00 (UTC/GMT+2). The transmission will be delivered on build.multicitytv.com.
