Second Life Competition Announced

Not content with inhabiting just one world, a group of Victoria University architecture students and recent graduates are taking on the biggest-ever virtual land grab.

The group is organising CtrlShift07, the Biennial Pacific Students of Architecture Congress 2007, which is also running a competition within the virtual community, Second Life, that will encourage students to hone their design skills.

The design competition is intended to investigate current and future uses of online 3D first-person environments as they relate to architectural design and design education. Participants beat the rush to choose a preferred spot of ‘land’ and design a building to go on it.

The Congress itself, running from 1 July to 6 July, is significantly supported by Victoria University, and is an active collaboration of 225 Pacific students, 25 professionals, 15 specialist leaders and speakers, and 20 mentors from around the world.

CtrlShift07 committee member and Victoria alumnus, Barnaby Bennett, says the support from Victoria for the congress has been much appreciated.

“It’s great that the University is getting involved. This student congress will allow us to have exciting discussion about contemporary architecture with people from all over the world. We hope it will ‘update’ architectural thinking in Australasia.”

The competition begins on 21 May. Entered designs are judged in two phases by two separate juries in June and July. The judges include: NASA Learning Technologies Project co-ordinator, Daniel Laughlin; Victoria alumnus and executive architect of the Sagrada Familia and professor of innovation at Rmit, Professor Mark Burry; and Victoria Senior Lecturer and Deputy Head of the School of Architecture, Dr Henry Skates. The winner will receive a free island within Second Life, valued at $US2,575, including three months’ maintenance.

Dr Skates said the competition was another way of allowing students to practice the principles of architecture.

“Architects were early adopters of information technology to enhance the designs of buildings. Using the Second Life platform to run the competition provides the students with an opportunity to put the knowledge they have gained into practice.”

For further information about the Congress and competition…