GENDO 48: Soldagen — 48-Hour Architectural Design Competition

GENDO 48: Soldagen is the second edition of GENDO 48, a 48-hour architectural design competition run on the Gendo canvas. The first edition ran in April on Old Spitalfields Market in London. Entry is free.

The site

The site is Vindstad, at the head of Kjerkfjorden on Moskenesøya, in Lofoten, Norway. There is no road in. Access is the passenger ferry from Reine, and anything built there arrives the same way.

The premise

After the polar night the sun comes back, and people go outside to watch it happen. The day has its own name — Soldagen — and it does not fall on the same date in two places, because it is not decided by the calendar. It is decided by the mountain in front of you.

Entrants are asked for something civic, for a village at the head of a Lofoten fjord.

A sealed brief

The brief is sealed. Site data, programme, constraints and judging criteria are released together on 10 September, to registered entrants only, so everyone starts at the same moment with the same information.

Format

The board is the submission. Entrants send a live Gendo canvas link, not a PDF, so the jury sees how a proposal was found as well as the result.

Key dates

All times BST.

• Registration closes — Wednesday 9 September, 23:59 BST
• Brief drops to registered entrants — Thursday 10 September
• Competition window — Thursday 10 to Sunday 13 September
• Submissions close — Sunday 13 September, 23:59 BST
• Internal review and shortlisting — week of 14 September
• Shortlist with the judges — from around 15 September
• Winners announced — week of 28 September

Prizes

• First prize — £5,000, plus a full feature profile on the platform, blog and press distribution
• Finalists (4) — 12 months of Gendo Studio for all team members, full feature profile, board published permanently in the archive
• People’s Choice — £500 and a featured post across all channels, decided by social engagement on posts carrying #Gendo48 with a valid board link
• Honourable mentions (up to 5) — 3 months of Gendo, merch box, permanent inclusion in the competition gallery

Eligibility

Free to enter, open to anyone 18+, anywhere in the world. Solo or teams of up to five; teams are strongly recommended, as the canvas is built for it.

One person registers on behalf of the team using the team lead’s Gendo account email. That address receives the brief and the Studio unlock. The brief and Studio access are scoped to registered entrants only.

Entrants keep ownership of their work, and Gendo does not train on entrant designs.

The jury

• Mariana Cabugueira — Founder, MC Studios
• Joshua Vermillion — Professor, School of Architecture, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• Cira Oller — Architect, Foster + Partners
• Thea Jiang — Architectural Designer, de Architekten Cie (GENDO 48 winner)
• Kurt Chan — Architect, Mecanoo (GENDO 48 winner)
• Oliver Thomas — CEO & Founder, Archi-Tech Network

Registration

Registration closes Wednesday 9 September, 23:59 BST.

Register for GENDO 48: Soldagen