Dotting the global landscape, decommissioned military installations are leaving their mark – symbols of triumph, pride, pain and the unforeseen consequences of military aggression.

These abandoned structures and ghost towns disrupt neighborhoods and split entire communities.

Architecture for Humanity is hosting the 2011 Open Architecture Challenge – [un]restricted access – a design competition that will re-envision the future of decommissioned military space. This is an open invite to the global design and construction community to identify retired military installations in their own backyard, to collaborate with local stakeholders, and to reclaim these spaces for social, economic, and environmental good.

The Mission

The 2011 Open Architecture Challenge: [UN] RESTRICTED ACCESS asks architects and designers to partner with community groups across the world and develop innovative solutions to re-envision closed, abandoned and decommissioned military sites. The six-month competition requires designers to work with the communities surrounding these former places of conflict to transform oftentimes hostile locations into civic spaces built for the public good.

Schedule

*Dates subject to change. All registered teams will be notified, and promotional documents and media channels will be updated to appropriately reflect updates.

Jury

The design competition will be judged by an international, inter-disciplinary panel of experts in various fields, such as experts in base realignment processing, real estate and building professionals, former world leaders, and members of communities that have experienced a base closure or site demilitarization, including:

• Tom Kundig - Architect
• Patricia Arquette - Ecosanitation NGO head (and actress)
• Bahram Shirdel - Iranian Architect / former AA design head
• John Feffer - foreign policy author, blogger & professor
• Ishmael Beah - Author, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
• Sherwood McGinnis - Professor of International Relations, US Army War College

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