COMMUNITY 2050

SHENZHEN: INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM
AMSTERDAM: SOCIO-CULTURAL POWERHOUSE.

A collection of strategic visions from professionals and students

PROJECT: (Non) Architectural Contest
YEAR: 2021 – 2022
DURATION: 5 months
COMMISSIONER: Urban Planning and Design Institute Shenzhen (UPDIS)
PARTNER: ARQ; Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC)
MEDIA PARTNERS: KooZ/Arch, Act of Mapping

 

What will future communities look like and what should urban designers consider when thinking about 2050?

To explore answers to these questions, the Shenzhen Urban Planning and Design Institute (UPDIS) and the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) partnered with Non Architecture to organize the Community 2050 open contest. The contest featured two sites: Amsterdam Ijplein, the “sociocultural hub”, and Shenzhen High Tech Zone, the “innovation ecosystem”. Over 150 designers from 39 countries participated in the contest, developing proposals for one of the two sites, and contributing a total of more than 10,000 design hours. The submissions from professionals and young designers covered a wide range of scenarios and provided an overview of global trends and potential solutions for urban design. Through this initiative, UPDIS, IAAC, and NonA were able to gain insight into where the field of urban design and city-making may and should be headed in the future.

 

!The competition has stimulated us to think and explore the future of communities, the future of technology, and even human civilisation and development. It has helped us to find many excellent young design talents with high potentials.”