Αrchitectural competition D. Areopagitou 2008 (TENDER PROCLAMATION)

 

TENDER PROCLAMATION

Greekarchitects.gr has proclaimed an open tender titled:

“D. Areopagitou 2008: reformation of the rear views of historic buildings at 17 and 19, Areopagitou Street”

 

Contents:

- Α. PRESENTATION

- Β. ENROLLMENT

- C. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

- Δ. TENDER TERMS

- Ε. EVALUATION

Α. PRESENTATION

Introduction

Magazine greekarchitects.gr has proclaimed an open tender titled “D. Areopagitou 2008: reformation of the rear views of historic buildings at 17 and 19, D. Areopagitou Street”. The tender will be completed in a single phase and it is exclusively organized by greekarchitects.gr. Greekarchitects.gr is faced with the challenge to carry out the tender efficiently and to ensure complete and due evaluation of the proposals. Therefore, architects and artists highly esteemed for their work and academic careers have been selected by the Awarding Committee to that effect.
We suggest that the tender results be broadly published, through postings on our website, in the daily Press and specialized magazines. Moreover, we expect that all proposals will be presented in an exhibition to be hosted at carefully selected facilities in Athens. The rewarded and distinguished proposals will see broader publicity whereas the CVʼs of their creators will be posted on our website.
Greekarchitects.gr will forward the 1st prize to the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Public Works, Town Planning and Environment to consider its applicability in view of the official opening of the New Acropolis Museum (NAM), which is scheduled for 2009.

Objective

The objective pursued through this tender is to adopt a design plan that ensures the best possible of combining the New Museum with the historic buildings and configuring the Museumʼs surrounding area.

The proposals will mainly relate to the type and extent of interventions that will be made near or even on the historic buildings (excluding any building facades on Areopagitou and Mitseon Streets). Such interventions may comprise overlaying or façade renovation works, constructions of any kind or height, or plantations of any kind or even a combination of the above.

The particularity and novelty of this tender is that the designers are not dealing with more or less civil constructions, but rather, they are called to deal with front and rear views at the same time, in a harmonized yet discreet, powerful but still gentle manner.
Each proposal shall have to be a final, cohesive and clear suggestion as to the manner in which a new “constructed” façade can be smoothly integrated to the New Museum building, as well the manner in which such new “appearance” will form part of and to some extent determine the relationship between the Museum and the Sacred Rock.
In designing this façade, Candidates will be subjected to no limitation whatsoever– designs may vary from suggestions totally incongruous and incompatible to the broader environment to others totally harmonized with it; from aggressive interventions to very light and gentle ones. However, all proposals must be convincing that configuring the rear views of the buildings is not only a dynamic answer but a particularly important choice and that the idea of breaking down the buildings at 17 and 19 D. Areopagitou Street is a thoughtless and unreasonable solution.

The proposals

Proposals may relate to façade renovations, constructions at some distance from them or combined solutions. The suggested interventions may expand regardless of the borders of the plots. It should be considered that the surrounding area of the Museum is a promenade and that the new “facades” will be visible not only from the Museumʼs upper floors but also by the visitors of the surrounding areas.
The proposals may further expand to the side views of the historic building at 17, Areopagitou Street, as well as above the buildings, with no height limitation whatsoever.
Furthermore, the functionality of the historic buildings must be also protected.

The location

The historic buildings located next to the entrance of the New Acropolis Museum, with façades over D. Areopagitou Street. They extent down to Mitseon Street and occupy the north-western corner of Makriyianni street block. The historic buildings and the “Viller” building are directly visible from the Acropolis and cover part of the ground floor of NAM. However, they do not cover the upper storeys of the museum, nor the platform which is intended for use as an outdoor restaurant.

The rear views of the historic buildings, (which, for the building at 19, Areopagitou Street is partially blind and partially rear view, whereas for the building at 17, Areopagitou Street it is designed as rear view), are essentially the main views towards the Museumʼs surrounding area, which is currently being configured. Inside the Museum, these views are now the first and direct civil front that visitors are faced with.

 

Β. ENROLLMENT

Enrollment procedure

Enrollment to the tender costs 20 (twenty) euros and is easily effected by downloading and completing the relevant participation form from the website of greekarchitects.gr at: www.greekarchitects.gr/competition. Each candidate shall send the form completed in .doc form to: info@greekarchitects.gr (with the indication “TENDER”) together with the 20 euro deposit receipt and will receive by email a “registration code” to be used as “candidate code” in sending their final candidacies.

Rewards

The rewards are exclusively financed by greekarchitects.gr and are the following:

1st Reward: 4.000 (four thousand) euros
2nd Reward: 2.500 (two thousand and fifty) euros
3rd Reward: 1.400 (one thousand four hundred) euros
Αʼ Commendation 700 (seven hundred) euros (3 candidates)
Βʼ Commendation 500 (five hundred) euros (3 candidates)
In the form of a bonus -check provided by “Metehmio” Editions

Candidacy requirements

Candidates shall send their proposals by email, together with 1 (one) image file. Such image shall essentially contain a photo-montage of the proposal and such additional information as the candidates consider essential to fully clarify their proposals. It is recommended that such photo-montage be of primary importance in the image file and that reflect the relevant proposal as accurately as possible. It is further recommended that the image file further contain a design plan of the rear views as well as a ground plan of the terraces, so as to best evaluate the intervention rate.

It is also recommended that candidates present their proposals from various angles of view and include a description and elaboration of the original concept that led to their final proposals. Proposals must be “constructible” and sufficiently justified.

Time schedule

Tender proclamation:	March 3, 2008
Commencement of enrollment and delivery of information:	March 8, 2008
Inquiries recorded by:	March 21, 2008
Answers posted on the Internet on:	March 29, 2008
End of enrollments and delivery of information:	April 24, 2008
Final date of submission of proposals:	May 6, 2008
(proposals may be sent as of May 2, 2008)
Proposal evaluation:	May 7-31, 2008
Announcement of results:	June 7-15, 2008
Presentation of proposals on the Internet:	End of June 2008
Athens Exhibition:	Fall 2008

Expiry date for the submission of proposals

Proposals shall be sent by email to gra@tvc.gr by May 6, 2008 the latest (midnight – Athens time). No proposals shall be admitted upon lapse of this date.

Exhibition and publications

All proposals will be posted on the website of greekarchitects.gr magazine, whereas the rewarded proposals will be thoroughly presented. Efforts will be made that all proposals be presented in various exhibitions in Athens and Thessalonica.

C. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

Candidates shall send their proposals by email, which shall essentially contain – on pain of exclusion – both (2 ) files required: (a) an image file in .jpg form, together with the proposal and (b) a .pdf file with the candidateʼs personal details. Both files shall have the same name based on the registration code delivered to each candidate (e.g. 32.jpg, 32.pdf). Emails shall be sent to: gra@tvc.gr. Sender may be the candidate or any other party.

Digital image (jpg file)

Each proposal shall be presented in one (1) digital image in horizontal layout. Candidates are free to select the manner or technique to present their proposals, which shall essentially contain a photo-montage of the rear views of the historic buildings and may further contain such other design, image or text that candidates consider essential to specify or complete their proposals. All texts shall be executed in the Greek language. Each candidateʼs “registration code” shall be indicated at the upper right part of the image, in any manner elected by the candidate.

Digital images shall essentially have the following features:

Digital form: jpg
File name: registration code (e.g. 32.jpg)
Size: up to 2 Mb
Type: RGB
Dimensions: horizontal, on 3x4 scale

Personal details (pdf file)

The .pdf files containing the candidatesʼ personal details and their acceptance of the terms of participation to tender, shall be submitted in the same form that all other tender information are submitted; they shall be sent by email together with the .jpg files and shall bear the same name as the .jpg files (e.g. 32.pdf). They can be included in the same form (that the candidates have received together with the other tender information) that candidates have completed, or in any copy thereof, as long as all they contain all information required and shall bear the signature of at least one surveyor (not necessarily of the associates).

Note:

The final identification of surveyors will be made according to the information contained in their .pdf files rather than to the information delivered upon enrollment and delivery of their “registration codes”. This ensures flexibility in the formation of each team during the tender, provided that at least one person of the team has enrolled and been delivered a “registration code”. The “registration code” or “candidacy code” is the same number.
Candidates shall be provided with no certification as to receipt of their candidacy. Candidates may use email software that allow for electronic mail delivery certification.

D. TENDER TERMS

Eligibility

Eligible for candidacy are any architects, engineers, designers, artists or students from all over the world. Candidacies can be individual or collective (group) or even corporate. Group candidacies may comprise surveyors of various different specialties. Candidacies will be presented in the Greek language and the pecuniary prize will be delivered in Greece.

Organization

Tender organization and coordination shall be carried out by greekarchitects.gr e-magazine. Greekarchitects.gr has set up a tender Committee, which will be responsible for the smooth organization of the tender. Such Committee consists of architects Manolis Anastassakis, Alexios Vandoros and Vassilis Mistriotis.

Anonymity

Greekarchitects.gr shall strictly protect the integrity of the tender by ensuring the anonymity of all candidates up to the final evaluation stage. Each candidacy shall be identified exclusively by its “registration code”. The files containing the candidatesʼ personal details (which are sent in pdf form) will be kept separately and opened upon completion of the evaluation procedure. The image files delivered by the candidates (in jpg form) shall not bear any distinctive signs that could reveal their identity, other than their “registration codes”.

Queries and answers

Candidates may submit queries electronically at: info@greekarchitects.gr. All queries shall be answered collectively to all candidates through the tender website.

Information available to candidates

Candidates can download all tender information from the website of greekarchitects.gr. Such information includes:

- The tender proclamation form

- Enrollment form c form

- Plan of the rear views in .dwg form

- Topographic diagram in.dwg form

- Photographs in.jpg form (group.1 - group.2 - group.3)

- Personal details form in .doc form
(filed together with the candidacy in pdf form)

-VIDEO

Assignment of rights

All files and images of the candidacies shall be the property of greekarchitects.gr and will not be returned to candidates. Greekarchitects.gr shall store them in its digital record files and may use their contents either in whole or in part, in any exhibition or publication either in Greece or abroad. Candidates preserve the all intellectual property rights pertaining to their proposals.

Exclusions

Any parties having a blood relation (up to 2nd degree) or direct professional relation with any employee of greekarchitects.gr or any member of the Tender committee or any member of the Evaluation Committee are not eligible for candidacy.

Any proposals delivered without a “registration code” are inadmissible. Any candidates wishing to submit more than one proposal shall be delivered an equal number of “registration codes”.

Any proposals delivered after expiry of the applicable deadline or containing files that are illegible or hard to decipher shall be excluded from the tender.

The Tender Committee appointed by greekarchitects.gr shall be competent to resolve any practical or procedural matter that may come up, being further responsible for the observance of all tender terms and regulations and the smooth conduction of the tender. The decisions of the Committee on procedural matters are final and irrevocable and not subject to appeal or objection.

The tender can be declared unfruitful if less than eight (8) candidacies are entered.

Enrollment and candidacy requires unconditional acceptance of the proclamation and tender terms as well as of the decision of the Evaluation Committee.

 

E. EVALUATION

Evaluation Committee

Greekarchitects.gr has appointed the following assessors:
(in alphabetical order)

Stephen Antonakos – Artist
Demetris Antonakakis – Architect
Kostas Varotsos – Painter
Nikos Georgiadis - Architect
Maro Kardamitsi -Adami– Architect, Assistant Professor at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA)
Yiannis Kizis– Architect, Assist. Professor NTUA
Anastassios Kotsiopoulos– Architect, Professor at the Aristotle University of Thessalonica (AUT)
François Loyer – Directeur de recherche au CNRS
Centre André-Chastel, Université de Paris-Sorbonne
Bouki Babalou – Noukaki – Architect, Professor NTUA
George Panetsos – Architect, Assist. Professor at the University of Patras
Alexandros Tobazis– Architect
Panagiotis Tournikiotis – Architect, Assist. Professor NTUA
Katerina Tsigarida – Architect
Yiannis Tsiomis – Architect, Professeur à lʼEHESS et
aux Ecoles dʼArchitecture Paris-Belleville et Paris La Villette
Kostas Tsoklis - Artist

Greekarchitects.gr may during the tender procedure appoint one more members as its representatives.
If any member(s) of the Evaluation Committee is/are impeded during the evaluation of proposals, then greekarchitects.gr may appoint substitutes.

Evaluation criteria

- Proposal originality and quality design
- Proposal relevance with the tenderʼs objective and terms
- Clarity of proposal

Note by greekarchitects.gr

This tender is a wonderful opportunity for all architects, designers and artists to experiment, try new ideas, explore new design areas and make their own contribution to the dialogue that we hope this tender will give rise to.

Within this scope of mind, the proclamation is open and flexible so that all proposals are free from any formulistic limitations. Every designer will be free to interpret the limits of this tender in their own way, or even exceed them by undertaking the relevant risk: their proposals could be valued either as intelligent and inventive, or inefficient and excessive. The contents and quality of each proposal will be evaluated primarily by the Evaluation Committee, but also by your fellow-candidates, colleagues and the public in general. On its part, greekarchitects.gr has pursued that the Evaluation Committee consist of persons whose work and overall careers ensure an open-minded Tender.