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Mosaic Foundation Architectural Competition

The Board of the Mosaic Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of an architectural competition for design visions of a future Arab Cultural Center to be built in Washington, D.C. This center is intended to provide a major venue for public use in the nation’s capital providing exhibition halls, event spaces, a theater, learning and research space as well as office space for the organization. The Center is intended to foster knowledge of the Arab world by providing a place where information in the arts, sciences and culture can be exchanged.

The Mosaic Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1998 by the spouses of the Arab Ambassadors to the United States. Its goal is to aid women and children in their local U.S. communities and internationally while building bridges of understanding between the peoples of the United States and the Arab World. To date the Mosaic Foundation has raised and donated approximately $7.3 million for organizations and institutions such as St. Jude’s Childrens Research Hospital, Save the Children, the Grameen Foundation and Susan G. Komen Foundation - National Race for the Cure.

This architectural competition will launch the Foundation’s efforts for this center. The winning architectural designs will be used by the Mosaic Foundation to begin a fully developed endowment campaign to raise the funds necessary for the project.
Envisioning Architecture

An Open Competition for Visions of an Arab Cultural Center, Washington DC, USA.

Type: Ideas, visions
Project: Arab Cultural Center
Location: Washington, DC, US

Sponsor: The Mosaic Foundation, www.mosaicfound.org

Jury:

Gulzar Haider, Emeritus Professor of Architecture
Principal, GHDesign Group, Toronto, Canada

Nasser Rabbat, Agha Khan Professor of the History of Islamic Architecture
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

HRH Princess Haifa Al-Faisal, Chair of the Board of Trustees
The Mosaic Foundation

Fourth Juror: to be confirmed

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Introduction

In order to advance the idea of the construction of an Arab Cultural Center in Washington, D.C., the Mosaic Foundation is undertaking and educational and fund raising campaign at both a national and international level. A visions competition among students and practitioners of the visual and graphic arts, design arts and architecture from around the world is a first step in this campaign. We believe that this unique project can greatly benefit from a broad based visioning competition open to all.

The entry will comprise a 2-dimensional graphic representation of a “vision” of this Arab Cultural Center in Washington, D.C. Winning entries will be incorporated into the fund raising and public awareness efforts in making this project a reality. An exhibition of selected entries including the winners is also anticipated.

A professional competition with an aim to select the architects for the project is to be held separately and later.

Aspirations and Expectations

Architecture, though physically silent, must be eloquent in putting forth its aspirations. It can say much about the individuals, organizations and cultures and even world-views that have motivated a project. While it must be harmoniously at home in its natural and physical surroundings, it must also be graciously sensitive and in civilized communication with the cultural environment in which it is located. In this sense, the Arab Cultural Center must project the finest traditions of Arab/Islamic architectural style and simultaneously be a building that, beyond its home in Washington, D.C., is a catalyst for creative and mutually reflective dialogue among cultures.

Project

A site for the project has not been selected but is envisioned to be downtown though not part of the National Mall. It is to be a two-phase project containing approximately 116,000 square feet, not including below-grade parking, with flexible gathering areas suitable for public events, exhibition spaces, classroom and research facilities, catering facilities, a theater and office space.



Submission Expectations and Requirements

1. The submission is not expected to be an architectural design proposal for a building with a functional program, located on a specific site. Instead you are being asked to envision an architectural presence, a choreography of spatial experience, a composition of visual messages that can together impart the Arab Cultural Center in Washington, DC with a unique and subtle significance it deserves. It is extremely important, however, that your architectural vision is presented in a manner that can be grasped without excessive interpretive hurdles by a wider audience.

2. Submission will be as a 2-dimensional, flat, rectangular panel of A3 (metric) or 11” x 17” (imperial) size. Only one side of the panel will be used and no cuttings or punctures through the panel will be acceptable. Foam board of adequate thickness is recommended as the backing in order to keep the panel flat. If material other than foam board is used it has to be stiff, flat and light weight.

3. The medium(s) is open and there are no restrictions on how it could be mixed. Drawing, painting, photographed models, photo montage, flat collage, prints of computer generated drawings and electronically composed images are allowed. The images used in the submission must not violate and copyright laws.

4. Submissions are to be primarily visual in the sense that no title blocks, explanatory notes, or statements of concept are permitted. Use of alphabet and text as visual content can be used sparingly and with discretion.

5. Submissions are to be anonymous.

Once your registration is received, you will be issued an ID number by email. From that point onward, a strict confidential archive will be kept of the registrant and his/her ID number. The submissiona must arrive with ONLY THE ID NUMBER clearly written on the back of the panel. No other information may be used to identify the author of the submission.

Awards

A total of ten submissions will be selected by the Jury as winners and identified by the uniqueness of their respective visions. A total prize money of $5,000 will be distributed among the winners according to the criteria established by the Jury.


Deadlines

Registration Begins: January 31, 2005
Questions of clarification February 15, 2005
Answers to the questions March 1, 2005
Submission April 1, 2005
Announcement of Results April 15, 2005



Questions of Clarification

Deadline February 15, 2005

email: hshoup@mosaicfound.org
mail: Mosaic Foundation
1420 Beverly Road Suite 240
McLean, VA 22101 USA

Delivery

All submissions must be received at the following address by close of business on Friday, April 1, 2005.

Mosaic Foundation/Design Competition
1420 Beverly Road Suite 240
McLean, VA 22101 USA



Publication, Electronic Dissemination and Exhibition.

The Sponsor reserves the nonexclusive right for an indefinite period of time to utilize competition submissions for purposes of publication, electronic dissemination and exhibition. In such case, the sponsor will credit competitor for use of their submitted materials. By virtue of their submissions, competitors agree that the Sponsor at its own discretion and without compensation to the competitor may reproduce, publicize, exhibit or otherwise utilize any materials that are submitted.



Ownership and Copyright

All drawings and other materials submitted shall become the property of the Sponsor.