120 HOURS Architecture Contest, Norwegian Architecture Competition, News

120 HOURS Architecture Competition : Norwegian Design Contest

Design Contest in Bergen, Norway

28 Jan 2013

120 HOURS Competition

120 HOURS release details about this year’s competition

The sign up deadline for the world’s biggest student-driven architecture competition, 120 HOURS, is on Friday the 1st of February. The competition has gained great international interest, and in this year’s edition hundreds of students from over 40 countries all over the world have signed up to compete. All information on the assignment is kept secret until the architecture competition launches. The show begins on Monday February 4th at 2 PM UTC+1.

image from contest organisers

120 HOURS will this year discuss the relationship between architecture and nature, and the students will be urged to bring interesting and relevant contributions to this stagnant debate. Norway is celebrated for its breathtaking serene nature, deep fjords and tall mountains. The scale and visual impact of such a dramatic context is contrasted by an overly modest, almost invisible vernacular architecture that exists in the fjord villages. The most common approach to building in this context is to subvert to the existing conditions, both the built environment and the surrounding scenery. The result is the maintenance of a status quo in which the fundamental hierarchy between architecture and nature is absolute.

The project managers of 120 HOURS have this year teamed up with students from The Bergen School of Architecture. Focusing the attention on the western coast of Norway, the competition aims to take a critical view towards one of the crown jewel of this picturesque coast. The exact site remains secret until the launch of the competition, but the speculations begins here.

120 HOURS Architecture Competition Jury:

image from contest organisers

The competition is as usual highly conceptual, and the participants are first and foremost encouraged to take a distinct position on the relationship between architecture and nature. The jury of 120 HOURS 2013 is the most renowned and influential ever, and the task will certainly be in line with their critical and progressive vision.

Over 300 teams have already signed up, and this the number is expected to rise dramatically in the last week of registration. Both prizes and significance is higher than ever, and all students are encouraged to sign up and battle for glory against fellow students around the world.

120 HOURS Architecture Competition

120 HOURS – Architecture Competition News

4 – 9 Feb 2013 – time frame

120 HOURS – the architecture competitions for students, by students has launched its 2013 edition.

The competition will be conducted in the 120 hours between Monday February 4th at 14:00 and Saturday February 9th at 14:00. The award ceremony will take place in Bergen, Norway on February 23rd. This year, the prizes are higher, and so are the expectations.

120 HOURS is as an independent architecture competition organized by students on a non-profit, voluntary basis without the involvement of a school administration. The organizing committee of 120 is recruited from the student masses of the three main architecture schools in Norway, BAS, AHO and NTNU. 120 HOURS offers fresh ideas on relevant architectural topics while giving students a voice in the current architectural discourse. 120 is challenging and fun to participate in, and will give students a relevant first encounter with architectural competitions. In short, we are giving deserving young talents a head start at the game. 120 will benefit the architectural community as a whole.

This architecture competition has in recent years received much attention, both nationally and internationally, and interest is growing dramatically each year. The architecture competition will this year focus on Bergen, with students from The Bergen School of Architecture as our partners. The task has not yet been set, but we’re working on making an exciting and challenging task in the scene of the Norwegian West Coast. We welcome your tips and advice about what the task should include, whether it is discussions in contemporary architecture or current social issues. These are things we always want to put the lights on and discuss through the submitted proposals.

Architecture competition website, www.120hours.no

Location: Bergen, Norway