The U.S Pavilion at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale is asking for submissions to coincide with this year's theme, Spontaneous Interventions: design actions for the common good. The theme calls for projects that are unsolicited and generally guerilla in nature with the common thread being that projects contribute to the community in a positive way.
Submissions will cover a range of fields and subjects from building guerilla bike lanes to urban navigation apps and beyond. Curators from the Institute For Urban Design, based in New York, are looking for entries that meet the necessary qualifications, but also possess a certain amount of charm, humor and that ever elusive 'x-factor.' Think your DIY project has what it takes to show at Venice? You can look further into submitting your project here. Below are guidelines for submissions as well as an example of a delicious project below. Submissions must be in by February 6th.
1. Project was initiated by the architect/artist/planner/landscape architect/hacker/activist/citizen (in other words, no one asked for it), OR was initiated by an alternative client, for example, a non-profit or a community group.
2. Project is publicly accessible and serves the common good
project improves a problematic condition (solves a problem by making a place more accessible, inclusive, sustainable, beautiful, etc.)
3. Project is located in an urban context or tackles urban issues in the United States
4. Project is participatory in nature, or open access, and serves an underserved or overlooked constituency
5. Project is realized, deployed, in action or use (not theoretical)
6. Project may be a physical intervention in an urban context, or an information, communication or digital project that improves people's comprehension, navigation and access to a city.
What do you think? Is this a great idea or a lefty design fail? Let us know in the comments section below.