Call for Ideas: Ghost Town Refuge Architecture Competition

As with the temples of Angkor and the ruins of Chernobyl, ghost towns have always played a special role in the collective imagination. There is an axiom, a mysterious and elusive connection between life that has passed in a place and the fascination such space induces once it has been abandoned. It is as if any event occurring in architecture could leave a mark on the place, as if any person living in a place could give a unique value to it. It is something intangible but real, mysterious but perceptible. It is something that remains over time as the echoes of distant lives turn abandoned cities into indescribably charming places.

Craco is no exception. Perched on stone pinnacles and clay ridges, Craco is the archetype of the ghost town. It is a city both burned up by the sun and ravaged by severe winters. It is an assemblage of houses composed of unsteady bricks clinging to each other. Their arrangement is so expressive and fascinating that looks artificial. It is a sculpture of houses with torn-off roofs, interrupted vaults, and ruined bell towers. It is a place that does not belong to the present. This space is trapped among the depths of the past. Here, time and abandonment made one of their most indescribable miracles.

Every year, thousands of visitors from all over the world look for such a miracle, in the pursuit of intense emotions. They undertake a journey that is not always easy. They follow the irresistible call of the most outstanding ghost town on the planet. Ghost Town Refuge aims to respond to such a call. Ghost Town Refuge is the competition launched by YAC and Craco Ricerche. It invites architects to design a dispersed system of contemporary refuges among the ruins of the ancient Craco.

This system will create a sublime experience for visitors: living among ruins and falling asleep beneath the uncovered vaults of a ghost town. Among steep routes and pebbly paths, in the new refuges visitors will have the opportunity to lie down under starry skies, listening to the sound of the benign ghosts of Craco. When the wind blows through empty windows and torn-off roofs the spirits of the hamlet appear. They are old rusty hinges that creak and whimper at nightfall. They are the irreverent guardians of the identity of a hamlet that, despite time, does not intend to die.

JURY

PRIZES

• 1st PRIZE 8.000 €
• 2nd PRIZE 4.000 €
• 3rd PRIZE 2.000 €
• 2 GOLD MENTIONS 500€ each
• 10 HONORABLE MENTIONS
• 30 FINALISTS

CALENDAR

• 25/11/2019 “early bird” registration – start
  22/12/2019 (h 11.59 pm GMT) “early bird” registration – end
• 23/12/2019 “standard” registration – start
  19/01/2020 (h 11.59 pm GMT) “standard” registration – end
• 20/01/2020 “late” registration – start
  16/02/2020 (h 11.59 pm GMT) “late” registration – end
• 19/02/2020 (h 12.00 pm – Midday – GMT) material submission deadline

• Title

  Call for Ideas: Ghost Town Refuge

• Type

  Competition Announcement (Ideas)

• Organizers

  Young Architects Competitions

• Registration Deadline

  16/02/2020 23:59

• Submission Deadline

  19/02/2020 12:00

• Venue

  n/a

• Price

  n/a

More information at: www.youngarchitectscompetitions.com
Contacts: [email protected]