2011 IFLA學生設計競賽‏

Student Landscape Architecture Design Competition

HSR Hochschule für Technik Rapperswil, University of Applied Sciences is proud to host this year’s student competition and wishes you all the success. HSR is a leading institution in landscape architecture and the only university offering a Bachelor’s degree in this domain in German speaking Switzerland.

Topic: Urban boundaries

Background
Dealing with land as a resource in a sustainable way is a globally recognized goal. However, towns and villages continue to expand as long as there is sufficient space. The pressure on the landscape is growing. All too often it is still regarded as potential development land. In conjunction with these trends, the urban boundary is becoming critically important – it is the link to the open landscape that allows humans to meet their fundamental need to experience nature.

The following factors have a direct impact on the physical structure of the urban boundary:
-Elements in the landscape such as topography, bodies of water etc.
-Ecology – biodiversity and integration
-The structure of developments and plots of land
-Density of the settlement area
-Intensity of use in the undeveloped landscape
-Ownership / availability
-Function and use, particularly accessibility to the area, access within the area and mobility through the area
-Aesthetics
-The urban and rural picture and visual references
-Sociological aspects
-Human constants such as the view, proximity to nature, identification and water

Assignment
The population’s preoccupation with the value of potential development land plays a crucial role in this expansion. Landscapes have environmental, cultural, economic and other values, all of which influence patterns of development. This competition is based on the thought that the greater the economic value attributed to undeveloped land, the more indiscriminate the inappropriate development will be – and hence the concern about protection.
Entrants should choose one example of an urban/rural transition/boundary in which the values for land are in conflict. They should propose a landscape architectural response to it and show that urban boundaries can be positive transitional elements between the urban landscape and undeveloped land, if they are planned and designed prop-erly.
Entrants are invited to develop conceptual proposals and plans for the use and design of urban boundaries using a specific example of their choice.

Requirements
Definition and analysis of the problems of the chosen area should be made.
Land uses at the urban boundary and in the adjacent undeveloped land should be described and potential conflicts addressed and resolved.
The proposals should be outlined at conceptual level (scale from 1:10’000 to 1:5’000) and refined at a scale from 1: 2’000 to 1:500.
The conceptual statements on the urban boundary should address the following aspects (al-though the projects are not limited only to these):
-Function
-Use
-Accessibility to the area
-Mobility through the area
-Access within the area
-View from the area
-View into the area
Detailed concepts will indicate design resolution of the issues, and may include such aspects as facilities, choice of materials and ambiance.

Eligibility
The Competition is open to all students of Landscape Architecture, or allied discipline (where a country or university does not include a formal Landscape Architecture program). Both in-dividual and group submissions will be accepted, and each student or group is permitted only one entry.
Broad interdisciplinary submissions are welcome; however, the project must be about land-scape architecture.
The number of members in each participating group shall not exceed five (5).
Professional collaborators and associates of the members of the jury and their relatives may not enter the competition.