Project Greenway: The Sustainable Accessory

Competition Brief
Sustainability is on everyone’s mind.  It has become a global priority through large scale projects to reduce carbon emissions below 1990 standards by the year 2020, as stated at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.  However, as individuals, how can we affect change, and what are the short-term and individual solutions?  What can be designed on the smaller scale to accessorize greater sustainable strategies like carbon sequestration, reduction of footprint, ocean waste, etc.?

-This competition asks you to design a sustainable accessory-
Submissions should identify an environmental issue to address and define what an accessory is and elaborate on your accessory’s strategy.
The sustainable accessory is not just sustainable in its manufacturing but its use.  The accessory can be passive (instigating active behaviors) or active in itself.
The accessory should either mitigate an existing environmental condition or contribute to positive sustainable lifestyle choices.
Modern manufacturing operates under an assumption of planned obsolescence.  How can we re-imagine the design of objects to minimize harm in their production and maximize positive effects in their use with more effort put into conceptualizing use and less in disposal?

Submission
Submit no more than two 8"x8” sheets, and text should be no more than 300 words.  All files must be in PDF format.

Email to [email protected] .  Please include names of participants along with school, program and degree (if applicable). 

Deadline: Thursday, March 25, 2010 by midnight

Jury Panel
Phillip Anzalone
Principal, Atelier Architecture 64 / Director, Avery Digital Fabrication Lab
Alice Chun
Principal, MinSoo ARC
Douglas Gauthier
Principal, Gauthier Architects
Janette Kim
Founder, All of the Above / Director, Urban Landscape Lab

Awards
Winning submissions will be published in Abstract, BLDGBLOG, and more!

Results Release Roundtable
Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 7 pm
Wood Auditorium, Avery Hall, Columbia University

For more information, visit www.greenbuilders.ning.com/events/project-greenway