A SHELTER FOR ARCHITECTURE

The event will take place on Friday, April 15th, 2016 at the Consulate General of Greece in New York. During that evening, the Consulate itself will become a shelter for architecture and a platform for exchange of ideas between architects, scholars, educators, and the general public. Cocoon is an open call to architects and designers to rethink the archetypical notion of shelter as an architectural project.

FRAMEWORK
Shelter is one of the basic human needs, associated with the notion of protection - protection for a human body, a feeling, an identity, a culture, a religion or an idea. Cities like New York have been throughout their history a shelter for millions of immigrants. While refugees in the Mediterranean get displaced in boats in search of security and contemporary immigrants of the economic crisis flee to new countries, the concept of shelter becomes again so relevant. Shelter could be potentially any expression of architecture, as architecture embodies above all a primitive necessity for protecting and receiving. Architecture evolved from the practical need of a dwelling space to the emotional haven of a weekend house and the minimum inhabitation footprint of emergency housing. The concept of shelter is historically connected strongly with the architectural production and has been pivotal in every architect's practice.

COMPETITION PURPOSE
The competition aspires to rethink shelter as the minimum habitat and expand the notion of the boundary between the body and its environment. Participants are encouraged to explore the typology of the archetypical cocoon and investigate the experience of inhabitation as a notion of second skin. The essential diptych of sustainability and flexibility could be the renegotiation of the questions: could the structure be in dialogue with nature? Could it be perceived as an urban parasite? How does the human module inform its scale? How do natural site conditions inform the design? How could flexible design be possibly expressed through materiality?

ELIGIBILITY
COCOON is open to all architects and designers. One may participate individually or in a team. Each participant or team can participate with only one submission.

SCHEDULE
Competition opens Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Questions can be submitted at info@giany.org by Friday, March 11, 2016
Answers will be posted online on the GIANY website by Monday, March 14, 2016
Registration and submission deadline is Thursday, March 31, 2016, 11:59 pm EST
Selected submissions will be announced on Monday, April 4 2016

JURY
Jury will be announced soon and it will consist of academics and professionals in architecture, and the GIANY executive committee

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

- The submission will be ONE board 3300px x 2200px in landscape format, 200 dpi, saved as a single PDF (max file size 10MB). The board should consist of at least one IMAGE of the concept and/or any other graphics that the authors believe they describe their idea in a better way. The image could be rendered as a 3D perspective, a picture of a physical model or a sculpture, a sketch, a diorama etc.
- The PDF must be labeled with just a single code that the authors will choose. This code will be the name of the submission file. Information on the creation of the code can be found on the submission link. Code example: A1234 (1 letter, 4 numbers). Names or any distinguishing information about the authors' identity MUST NOT be visible on the submission board or the file name.
- The submission will also include a project description of 200 words maximum. The official language of the competition is English.
- Registration and submission will happen at the same time, by following the link on GIANY's website: http://www.giany.org/cocoon/

EXHIBITION AND PUBLICATION
Winning entries which will be selected by the jury will be exhibited during "The Shelter for Architecture" event on April 15^th, 2016 at the Consulate General of Greece in New York. The evening will stage events ranging from architectural exhibitions to talks and presentations, artistic performances and installations.

A publication of all selected entries will follow.

Participants agree to permit GIANY to use the submitted materials in public posts, publications, or exhibitions, or for archival, promotional, educational, and other purposes at its discretion.

COCOON is organized by Constantine Bouras, Evita Fanou, Electra Kontoroupi, Ioannis Oikonomou, Foteinos Soulos, Dimitra Tsachrelia
COCOON is sponsored by EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN MARITIME LIMITED