Architecture, Image and Emotions
International Competition of Architecture

Organized by AUCHAN Ipermercati Gruppo Rinascente under the patronage of l'ARCA, Auchan Ipermercati, a Gruppo Rinascente company, has commisioned the international architecture magazine l'ARCA to organize an ideas competition open to all Italian and foreign architects and engineers, registered with their respective professional association, either in team or individually, to design:

AN INNOVATIVE DESIGN FOR THE RETAIL SECTOR
to be built in various places in Italy, sending out an architectural message with such stylistic quality that it will be an outstanding landmark on the cityscape, constructed out of eco-sustainable technology and techniques. A facility capable of accommodating different sales systems with large, medium-size, and small retail outlets and of providing the city in which it is located with a genuinely entertaining meeting place, as the Auchan Gruppo Rinascente's homage to the cultural modernity of services in the third millennium. Also a homage to all those material and immaterial international cultures that are rapidly spreading through the influence of all the various ethnic groups found in Italian cities. The idea is to get the world's leading architects to come up with an architectural design so stylistically expressive and eco-friendly, in the widest sense of the expression, due to the quality of the materials and methods used and to the simplicity and ethical force of its design features, that it will conjure up new and old feelings in people who get the chance to use it. A work of architecture testifying to the Auchan Gruppo Rinascente's vocation of placing its customers at the focus of its own ideas and actions. The spaces to be designed are only supposed to be guidelines, but in any case they will have to meet the general characteristics of Auchan Gruppo Rinascente's Shopping Malls.

COMPETITION RULES AND REGULATIONS

ART. 1
Aim of the competition
The competition is designed to come up with ideas for a retail facility, to be built in different places in different scales, of great communicative force and architectural value, conveying messages coinciding with the objectives of human civilisation at the start of this new millennium. A flexible facility designed to embody Auchan Gruppo Rinascente's desire to continue in the future to be part of the progressive development of services and retail facilities in line with modern-day culture. Not just a simple prefabricated structure but an urban organism catching the eye and generating emotions even at nighttime, so as to minimise the need for conventional giant signs. The structure must develop along rather flexible lines over a maximum surface area of 50.000 square metres over one level only, and must be capable of being built within fourteen months at a cost of not more than 1000 EUROs per built-on square metre. The technology used must be easy to maintain and conform to safety regulations.

ART. 2
Entering the competition
To enter the competition send in a written application in Italian, French or English by mail or fax addressed to: l'Arca Edizioni - Segreteria del Concorso, via Valcava 6, 20155 Milan, Italy, fax ++39.02.325481, telephone ++39.02.325246, arca@tin.it by and not after 6:00 pm (italian time), 30th October 2000, enclosing a copy of a money transfer to l'Arca Edizioni, Segreteria del Concorso, Architettura Immagine ed Emozione, c/o la Banca Popolare di Bergamo - Credito Varesino, Filiale di Milano, Piazza Cinque Giornate 1, Milano, account n° 93279. ABI 05428, CAB 01600. Lit. 100,000 or 51.50 EUROs, giving your name, surname, address, home country, telephone and fax numbers.
In case of team entries, just send in the relative information about the team leader.
The team leader can apply to the Competition Secretariat by 10th October 2000 for any further information required. The most interesting queries will be published in the internet pages dedicated to the competition:
http://www.arcadata.it

ART. 3
Taking part in the competition
The competition is open to all architects and engineers registered with their respective professional associations or with the appropriate qualifications in their home country.
Team entries must designate a leader with all the team members signing a statement to be enclosed with the competition documents. The team leader will answer to the competition organisers on all matters.
Team members, except the leader, may be technicians or designers without actually being architects or engineers, but they must still provide details of their qualifications to take part in the competition.

ART. 4
Explanatory competition enclosures
Everybody entering the competition within the deadlines, and sending off the fee referred to in article 2, will be sent 1:500 and 1:200 scale drawings of the site plans for "an existing shopping mall", a CD containing the site plans in CD format, and other explanatory materials, by the Competition Secretariat.

ART. 5
Exclusion from the competition
The competition is not open to:
Members of the jury
Spouses, relatives and other kinsfolk of members of the jury
Staff working for the organising committees

ART. 6
Publishing the tender
The competition tender will be published in Italian, English, French, Spanish, and German in the July, September, and October issues of the following magazines: l'ARCA, l'ARCA INTERNATIONAL, l'ARCA PLUS and l'ARCA ARABA. The tender will also be sent to the various societies, universities, and professional associations of the world's leading nations.

ART. 7
Anonymity of competition entrants
Entrants will send in their documents anonymously.
All their packages and documents must be marked with a code consisting of a six-figure number followed by two letters of the alphabet measuring one centimetre in height.
The entrant's true identity will hidden away inside a blank envelope, sealed on the outside with the code, containing the name and surnames of each entrant, their qualifications for taking part in the competition, and a statement delegating a team leader signed by each member of the team.

ART. 8
Competition documents
Each competition entrant must send the Competition Secretariat just one anonymous, sealed holder containing three A1 size sheets (841X594 mm) freely attached to stiff, light-weight supports and five slides of a model (virtually simulated) slotted in 50x50 mm frames. As well as an A3 size file with pictures of the tables and five slides.
The documents must also be accompanied by a project report written in Italian, French or English, either printed out or copied on a floppy disk (Microsoft Word), no longer than 5,000 characters.
Three-dimensional models or different-sized tables than those indicated will not be accepted.

ART. 9
Deadline for sending in the documents
The documents must reach the Competition Secretariat in via Valcava 6, 20155, Milan, Italy by and not after 6.00 p.m. on 15th January 2001 (the time and date they arrive will be proof of acceptance).
Any entries arriving after this time and date will not be taken into consideration.

ART. 10
Panel of judges
The panel of judges will be composed of seven members, who will appoint their own chairman and be free to set their own judging standards.
Their decision is final.
The panel will meet in Milan on 28th February 2001.

The panel of judges will be composed of:
Benoit Lheureux, Managing Director of La Rinascente
Cesare Maria Casati, Chief Editor of l'ARCA
Glauco Gresleri, appointed by the Italian Institute of Architects
Makoto Sei Watanabe, Japanese architect
Dominique Perrault, French architect
Oriol Bohigas, Spanish architect
Teodoro González de León, Mexican architect
ART. 11
Prize money
Three prizes will be awarded to the projects chosen by the Panel of Judges.
The three prizes will amount respectively to:

First Prize 25.000
Second Prize 10.000
Third Prize 5.000

The winning architect will be paid the standard Italian professional fees to draw up the executive project and necessary tender documents.

ART. 12
Non-awarding of prizes
Should the Panel of Judges decide not to award the prizes in accordance with article 11 due to the poor standard of the projects, the Panel of Judges is entitled to award up to 50% of the prize money to projects considered worthy of recognition.

ART. 13
Competition results
The winners will be informed about the competition results and given a copy of the report drawn up by the Panel of Judges within 30 days of finishing the judging procedures. All the results will be published in the April 2001 issue of l'ARCA magazine.

ART. 14
Prize-giving ceremony
The winners will receive their prizes at a public ceremony attended by local authorities and academics following a special press conference.

ART. 15
Property and returning the documents
The winning projects will be the property of the Auchan Ipermercati Gruppo Rinascente, which, should it decide to actually build the designs, can directly commission the architects to carry out the work.
All the other documents will be available for collection by their designers from September 2001, unless an exhibition of the projects is organised, in which case, the documents will only be available for collection after March 2002.

ART. 16
Rules of conduct
Everybody taking part in this competition, either individual entrants or teams, must obey all the rules and regulations laid down in this tender.

web: http://www.arcadata.it/service/iic/index_iic.htm