The Colegio de Arquitectos of Ecuador invites to every architectural design professionals of the world to participate in the worldwide Competition of Social Habitat and Development in the present edition of XVI Quito Pan-American Architecture Biennale to be held from 17 to 21 of November 2008.
In attention to the increase of poverty in all the world, caused by urban sprawl as a spontaneous answer to the deficit housing, the BAQ/2008, in partnership with the Department of Housing Development and Management (HDM) of the University of Lund, Sweden and under the Program PROMESHA (Programa de Capacitación para el Mejoramiento Socio Habitacional para Latinoamérica), has decided to include an international award oriented to visualize and acknowledge efforts made in the region to improve the lives of most vulnerable urban populations, within a sustainable framework, which grants them better living standards and an improved quality of life.
This category includes housing projects designed for users under the following parameters: community and collective habitat; shared in common and collaborative; self-built experiences; minimum housing and/or progressive housing; low-cost housing prototypes; technological advancement; neighborhood improvement; recovery of public spaces; natural habitat restoration and urban landscape design; collaborative design. The projects to be presented, must contribute to solve housing issues, and present cultural and esthetic contributions that strengthen the identities of their local communities.
All participating projects will be published in the XVI Quito Pan-American Architecture Biennale catalogue, and will be part of the BAQ/2008: Feel the Latin American Architecture. Deadline for receiving entries is Friday, the 5th of September 2008.
