World Architecture Community Award

WA is an “online community” initiated by Suha Özkan and 200+ invited Honorary Members, and a growing number of registered members (1500+ new members in the first two months). The aim of the WA Community Awards is to highlight and publish remarkable projects that might otherwise remain unnoticed by the international public but have the potential to inspire exciting questions about contemporary architectural discourse. Awarding follows a most democratic procedure where all member’s ratings and the votes of all Honorary Members are effective in the final decisions. Registrations are completely FREE and without extra costs so that all architects can participate both as candidates and judges. Eligibility: Architects from ALL countries can submit ALL of their buildings (realized or not) for the appreciation of the WA Community. Recent projects (not older than 10 years) will have more chances to be shortlisted for the Awards. Students, landscape architects, engineers may also submit for the awards projects they are the author of: we do not check or accredit diplomas. Projects submitted to the WA Portal prior to this announcement will also be considered for the award program. But these pages should be updated by their authors to meet the submission requirements for a better presentation of work. Criteria for Recognition: NOVELTY; ORIGINALITY, and CREATIVITY in design that reflect and inspire a commitment to the art of architecture are the major criteria. The WA Portal tries to bridge the gap between theory and practice: thus the architect’s explanations and member’s discussions on submissions will be critical for recognition as much as the design itself. Timetable: Deadline for submissions to be evaluated for the Awards is [b]July 25, 2008[/b]. Please note that early submissions will have more chances to be recognized and move higher in the ranks before the Final Assessment Panel. All projects submitted after 25 July 2008 will be evaluated for the 2nd Cycle to be announced soon. The Panel will complete the voting process, and announce the selected projects during August. The awarded 20+10+X projects will be online at the AWARDS section for all members to examine and discuss. Finally, at the end of September the “Most Mind-provoking +X” projects will be determined by examining the discussions posted to the pages of the projects. Submission procedure: Registration to the WA Portal www.worldarchitecture.org is totally free. Registrants are expected to create their ARCHITECT / OFFICE PAGES (from MY PAGE section) and subsequently many BUILDING PAGES representing their work. For each building 9 images can be uploaded, at least one of them should be an architectural drawing. Please note that good photographs, a detailed explanatory text and also related links will provide a good presentation for each of your buildings to be considered more seriously. If you also relate your building to the relevant ISSUE PAGES, this will make the intentions that guided the design more explicit. For guidance during submissions, FAQ on the main menu can be consulted. Categories: Choosing the “Building Type” is a standard procedure during submissions to the WA Community Portal. The Final Panel (and members) may choose to award projects of any category without any limitation. Forcing them to choose a certain number for each category appears not to be relevant for our aims. Assessment and Awarding: Selection for the Awards will follow two complementary tracks: Member ratings will determine the 10 top-rated projects of the “Members’ Awards” and also help shaping the shortlist for the Final Assessment Panel. Votes of the Final Assessment Panel will specify 20+X projects from the shortlist following the aim of the awards. Honorary Members of the WA Community who may wish to take part in online voting will constitute the Final Assessment Panel. Visit the official site: http://www.worldarchitecture.org/main/?manifest=awards