A national design competition by Australia’s creative directors for the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale opens today (Tuesday, October 27) highlighting three Australian urban regions as they are now, before representing futuristic urban settings as they may be when we reach 2050.

Growing Australian Urbanism has led to the idea for a theme for the 2010 Architecture Biennale which invites Australia’s architects to unleash their imaginations in addressing the issues of this Australian Urbanism.

The two-part exhibition, NOW + WHEN Australian Urbanism, in Venice next year will highlight three Australian urban regions as they stand today and how they may appear in 2050 and beyond culminating in a futuristic look at the idea of what could constitute Australian Urbanism in the future.

The creative team behind NOW+WHEN, John Gollings and Ivan Rijavec, see urban transformation in Australia 2050 and beyond being driven as much by political and economic imperatives as they will be by technology and design. Rijavec and Gollings are keen to see designs which reflect these circumstances.
 
“We’re especially interested in really imaginative designs with a strong theoretical basis which both integrate cultural influences and exploit the creative potential of architecture,” Rijavec says.
 
Profiling Sydney, Melbourne and Surfers Paradise through stereoscopic visuals, the NOW component will demonstrate contrasting views of these cities from macro-scapes at 20,000 feet to “helicoptering” views of urban and architectural icons at close range.
 
WHEN is daring to imagine Australian urban spaces in 40 years’ and beyond, with the intent of “catapulting urban debate into eye-popping visceral entertainment set in a soundscape”, according to Gollings and Rijavec.
 
Liberating architects from current planning and design constraints and encouraging speculative, futuristic visions, the Designs for Australia’s cities 2050+ competition is being held to source material for the WHEN part of Australia’s exhibition.

A shortlist of entrants will be selected to develop their designs further, from which a group of finalists will be announced and whose work will be exhibited at the Australian Pavilion in Venice next year.
 
All competition information is available at architecture.com.au/nowandwhen
 
The Australian Exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale is a major project of the Australian Institute of Architects.

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