Green Century Institute Presents: Califia Sketchbook Design Competition : TreeHugger

TreeHugger talks a lot about re-energizing urban areas and "city-fying" the world, so we can make better use of space, use less per capita resources and generally be more efficient planet-dwellers. The folks at the Green Century Institute have taken this idea even further, developing a model for a future "ecocity" called Califia, a comprehensive mixed-use micro-city model, that will combine a variety of residential configurations with a full complement of civic, retail, and commercial spaces; everything you could possibly want in a small, compact space.

Later this week, they're launching the Califia Sketchbook Design Competition to find out what such a city could really look like: could the natural world and our built environment truly coexist? Can buildings be net positives to the grid, cities be organic food exporters, and architecture become not just carbon neutral but carbon negative? If you've got ideas about what it'd be like to live in this green city for tomorrow, they want your ideas, in the form of a one page sketch, submitted through their site, any time between September 1 and December 1, 2007. Cash prizes will be $2000 for the winner and $1000 for the runner-up; hit the jump for more details. Think you know what the green future holds? Get sketching! ::Califia Sketchbook Design Competition

From the Califia Sketchbook Design Competition site:

" The purpose of developing the Califia Sketchbook Design Competition is to express to a wide variety of people what life will be like in Califia, a proposed next generation eco-city. People from around the world are invited to enter a conceptual sketch conveying their view of "slices-of-life" within Califia, revealing smarter ways of building, powering, and maintaining the urban fabric. We believe that allowing for more direct public involvement in the design of future living spaces is the first step in a successful eco-city project. A design competition is an elegant way to allow for such public involvement.

We ask entrants to explore in their conceptual sketches solutions to the following problems:

Overemphasis on the individual and the negative impact of this overemphasis within communities: isolation and higher consumption.

Quality of life being determined solely by certain economic factors.

False assumption of infinite resources: water, food, energy, raw materials.

Dissociation from the natural environmental and subsequent abuse of the land.

Entries will show how people, space and technologies/implements can be organized to solve such problems in a whole-systems, interconnected manner.

Sketches will be submitted in a digital format through this web site beginning Sept. 1, 2007 and ending Dec. 1, 2007.

The Jury of the competition will award two cash prizes and ten honorable mentions. Honorable mentions will be awarded in categories determined by the Jury. Cash prizes will be $2000 for the winner and $1000 for the runner-up. These winning entries will be displayed in an exhibition detailing the work of the competition, along with other worthy selections. Additionally, GCI will endeavor to publish these top twelve winning sketches along with others in a future print monograph entitled CALIFIA SKETCHBOOK: GREEN CITY OF TOMORROW. Applicants will have the opportunity to meet distinguished members of the competition Jury and will receive priority consideration as consultants in the planning and development phases of the Califia Ecocity. All qualifying entries will be published digitally on the Green Century Institute website for the public good. Download the complete program [PDF] for more... "