Further Adventures In Cyberspace - the Graphisoft Prize for architectural expression using CAD software - Brief Article

Architectural Review, The, Jan, 2001 by Catherine Slessor

Since 1993 the Graphisoft Prize has rewarded architects and students for pushing back the boundaries of architectural expression using CAD software. Through sophisticated computer modelling techniques, the aim of the competition is to interpret myths, legends, literary works and musical pieces that have never existed physically -- or are long missing from the physical landscape -- but are nevertheless real in our present day culture. The annual competition challenges users to create 'virtual architecture' drawing from cultural themes as diverse as Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle and Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities to the science fiction novels of Ray Bradbury and William Gibson. Historically, it has also encouraged architectural students to consider the potential of the computer to stimulate architecture itself rather than merely automating the rendering of surfaces.

This year's competition attracted entries from dozens of countries and was judged in San Francisco by a panel drawn from the international architectural press. Jurors included Zahid Sardar, Architecture & Design Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle Magazine; Jean-Pierre Cousin, Editor of L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui; Jerry Laserin, Contributing Editor to Architectural Record; Christian Schittich of Detail; and Catherine Slessor, Managing Editor of The Architectural Review. Cultural references ranged from The Ministry of Truth from George Orwell's novel 1984 and The Cotton Club from Francis Ford Coppola's film, to The Roadside Inn from Cervantes' novel Don Quixote and The Walled City from William Gibson's novel Idoru. This year's competition also included a special Millennium Section, offering entrants the chance to design a contemporary version of a triumphal arch or pharaoh's pyramid. Alternatively, any individual student project undertaken as part of a course and which conformed to the entry requirements w as also eligible for consideration in a separate Student Project category.

The competition has evolved greatly in seven years and aims to consolidate its evident success and popularity. The standard of this year's entries was again extremely high, showing both technical mastery and imaginative process. Some themes generated more submissions than others (notably The Ministry of Truth and other similarly dystopian visions of the future), but the diversity of approaches was consistently impressive.

First prize was awarded to Sam Rajamanickam of American architecture practice Design Collective for his virtuoso interpretation of The Cotton Club. Lucid yet extremely sensual and suggestive, it took a simple theme to daring heights of creative skill. Second prize went to a team of students -- Marcel Schuler, Patrick Schmid and Guido Zimmermann -- from the Fachhochschule Aargau in Switzerland for their rendition of The Ministry of Truth. Tautly structured and ingeniously interactive, it took viewers on a surreal journey into a nightmare city where occupants are under constant repressive surveillance. Third prize was awarded to a professional team from Hungary -- Osvath Gabor, Attila Vocsa and Bojka Pehlivanova -- for their highly moving and unusually abstract interpretation of The Ministry of Truth.

Two projects were singled out for Honourable Mentions. The student team of Daniel Leuthold, Cordula von Holzen and Christof Blickenstorfer (also from the Fachhochschule Aargau) submitted a floating, dreamlike rendition of The Walled City from Idoru, which slowly grew on the judges. And finally, another student team -- Mark Purtell, Ross Langton and Lim Hong Swee -- from the University of Tasmania produced a chilling yet compelling vision of The City from Ray Bradbury's science fiction novel The Illustrated Man. The prize for best student project was awarded to Hungarian student Miklos Reidel who submitted a reconstruction of a Baroque gunpowder magazine on the banks of the River Danube. It demonstrated very clearly the immense potential of design and rendering software as an archaeological tool to recreate in three dimensions long-destroyed historic buildings.

Details of next year's competition will be available soon; in the meantime, winning entries can be surveyed on the Graphisoft website www.gsprize.com and will be distributed on CD with a forthcoming issue of the AR.