San Francisco 2015: Tenderloin System Update

Following on from the success of the ‘Cambodia 2015: Protect Respect Empower’ design challenge, Eleven Magazine is proud to announce its second international ideas and design competition. For this challenge, we move to California and ask - how do you solve a problem like San Francisco’s Tenderloin?

We call thinkers, architects, designers, students and multidisciplinary teams from around the world to design innovation by submitting a proposal for turning one of the most deprived, dangerous and disconnected neighbourhoods in the USA into the model-district of the future.

The competition will precede a series of global spin-off events, exhibits and publications.

Our event sponsors Project Night Night, a fantastic San Francisco based charity, whose noble mission is to help homeless children across the USA dream a better future.

The Challenge:

San Francisco is a city of contrasts: exciting new wave of urban possibilities exist side by side with the seamlessly forgotten urban wasteland of the Tenderloin. This is the premises for our challenge.

Visions of new urban models (such as the ones proposed in Mountain View by Google) are great, but more often then not these concepts remain utopian dreams, develop into dystopian fragments, or get built on virgin soil existing in isolation like islands. History shows us that failure comes far more easy then success in utopian radical visions, precisely because they are so far removed from the pragmatism needed in solving such real problems, and because often they are built away from the problem area. But, on the other hand, without grand visions, we lack direction, inspiration and hope.

Developing visions in green-field sites is easier but ultimately unsustainable. Tapping into the potential of high-problem areas in our existing cities is much harder, but a challenge which we have to face. Art plays a pivotal role in this. Can new emergent technology do the same but minimise gentrification?

For our competition, we focus on the Tenderloin and ask questions:

Can the Tenderloin - one of the worst urban areas in the USA - be transformed into a global model-district of excellence? Can this inspire a new concept of regeneration and urbanism which embodies our contemporary world? Can it go from being an isolated island of deprivation to becoming connected: the center of a new 21st century urban paradigm?

Charitable Cause: Helping Children Dream a Brighter Future…

In each of our events, we try to give something back by focusing on the ones who need it the most: children. For this competitions, we are extremely proud to be sponsoring the outstanding work of San Francisco based charity Project Night Night. Each year, this charity helps thousands of homeless children across the USA and we are honoured to be part of the effort.

Key Dates:

11 ^th February: Registration Opens (Early Bird Discounted Rate)

1 ^st March: Early Bird Discounted Rate Ends / Standard Rate Begins

11 ^th May: Submission Deadline

11 ^th July: Winners Announced / Awards Given

Jury (confirmed up to now):

Karen Nelson - Dean, Boston Architectural College
Trent Tesch - Principal, KPF Architects
Jonny Mc Kenna – Associate Director, Metropolitan Workshop
Leon Rost – Associate, BIG Architects
Chris White – Associate, BIG Architects
Carlos Arnais – Director, CAZA (commended at 2015 AR Emerging Architecture Award)
Hasdai Westbrook – Editor, Impact Design Hub
John Barton – Director, Architecture Program of Stanford University
The Buckminster Fuller Institute
Matthew Mazzotta – Lecturer MIT University
Team EC0071 – Winners of the Eleven Cambodia 2015 Challenge
Andrea Verenini – Editor in Chief, Eleven Magazine

Please visit www.eleven-magazine.com/sanfrancisco for more information and find out about our amazing cash and media prizes to be won!

* * * Eleven are proud partners and friends of the Buckminster Fuller Institute and Impact Design Hub. * * *