Entry Requirements
- Design a Cultural Center for La Semilla de los Ingenios
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Building: 13 x 13 sq. meters
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100 sq. meters in surrounding landscape space
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Mathematically natural, in organic form (i.e. sea shells)
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Powered by PV, wind and passive solar
Additional requirements for structure: Should be circular, ecological, contain a basement and a first floor, based on a stone foundation, houses living quarters (3 singles or 2 couples) and a main space for cultural events (20 person max occupancy) and uses other natural resources for the majority of the remainder of the structure. Must be economical and use local labor and materials. Things like solar panels can be from outside of Mexico.
The Cultural Center: The space will primarily used to showcase art (music performances, art showings), science (paper presentations, research meetings), and tech innovation (investor meetings, small conferences) while offering a place where a “meeting of the minds” can take place. It’s important that there be a space in the cultural center that facilitates light hardware and computers that integrate with a small sound system.
Landscape: The outside landscape of the site of the cultural center, should not detract from the lower gardens, housing, and other eco buildings that are found in the steppes of the mountain that La Semilla de Los Ingenios rests on – it is up to the competing architect to decide how to use this outside space.
There are 41 Comments to "Entry Requirements"
Hi, I would like to know more about a few things:
the deadline for submissions, is it march 1st? or august 31st?
is there a place where I need to sign up for the competition?
can i get the exact location of the site (for solar purposes) and is there more information regarding the weather (rainfall, temp, etc)
In the first topographic image, where is the site located?
Thank you.
Hello,
The deadline for submissions is August 31st, entries will begin to be accepted after the 1st of March- no need to sign up, just email your entry to info@mnpg.net and you’re ok
The exact location of the site: 526,079.86 meters to the north and 2¨134,898.89 meters to the west.
I’m working with the geographist at La Semilla de los Ingenios on providing the more detailed weather information and information about the site location on the topographic image- will update this soon
Thanks
Latitude and Longitude are is usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds and necessary to calculate the sun movement. Does anybody have a formula to convert meters to degrees by any chance? Usually you can find the degrees with the weather service, but neither La Semilla de Los Ingenios nor La Manzanilla can be found on weather stations.
until now I didn’t find any information about the geographic of la Semilla. Remember your require is green design and Sustainability. We can’t missing geographic and weather information.
thank you and regards
Look through the comments here and you will find the location of la Semilla for the geographic and weather information.
For those that can’t find the location here is the map to La Manzanilla (just follow the map north east to the site for La Semilla de los Ingenios (2.5 miles/4km from La Manzanilla marked on the map):
http://maps.google.com.mx/maps?q=la+manzanilla&hl=es-419&ll=19.300127,-104.765797&spn=0.103527,0.209255&sll=19.260591,-104.620056&sspn=0.414206,0.837021&gl=mx&hnear=La+Manzanilla,+Jalisco&t=m&z=13
I have the same issues as Dennis. The description of the surrounding is very vague for a sustainable design. La Semilla de los Ingenios can’t be located on a map. What is the latitude and longitude for this area to calculate a sun chart? Are there any further information about prevailing wind, precipitation, orientation, access, and utilities? It is not clear with the building; 13 x 13 sq.meters, but should have a circular shape. Is the stone foundation existing? If not, is there a special reason to use stone foundation? Are there any restrictions for building height. Should all the houses living quarters and space for cultural events located within the footprint of 13 x 13 sq.meters?
Regarding landscape, how does the environment look like right now? Where exactly are the other housings and gardens?
Where can I login and how can I create a password.
Thanx
What exactly do you need to know about the surrounding environment?- We will do our best to make this information available in the next few days
The stone foundation is not existing, it is what the team leader at La Semilla de los Ingenios felt would stand the test of time, but if you choose to use a different foundation, you may, but this was a requisite that was important, but if there is a better architectural solution….
Yes, all of the houses living quarters and space should be located within the footprint of 13×13 (and the basement)
The environment presently is undeveloped, the cultural center is the first building that they are going to build on the land, and then develop the gardens and other “structures” below on the surrounding steppes
Please let me know if you have any more questions
Thanks
My questions about the surrounding environment are:
Access? How is or will the site be approached?
Orientation / views in each direction?
Utilities (Water, gas and electricity)? Is the location off the grid? I assume, but I just want to make sure
It is still not clear about the shape of the building. 13 x 13 is a square, but on the other hand it tells me “Mathematically natural, in organic form (i.e. sea shells)” and in addition, in the structure paragraph it says circular.
Thanks
one more question. In the announcement it says: “…. that towers over surrounding steppes.” It should have a basement and first floor only, correct?
Yes that is correct.
The site will be approached from south east, east and north east.
The cultural center will have views in all directions.
There are things like water and electricity that have been implemented in the immediate area, but we can assume, yes, that the site is off grid.
That is correct about the shape of the building- but to be more clear, the circular shape or organic shape should fit in the 13 x 13 square space.
While we’ve made our best efforts to be specific as possible for the requirements of this competition, we also understand that an architect needs a little space to interpret the space as they see fit, so while the entry requirements are “firm” , there is a little wiggle room for the architect to bring the best environmental structure that they see fit for La Semilla de los Ingenios.
Hello, we are interested in this project, and got few questions to ask,
1. We got the question about the real location, is it mean the “13×13. Sq. meter” in this picture’s green area that have been circled? http://mnpgarch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/topo2.jpg
2. “The site will be approached from south east, east and north east.” Do you mean the entrance is necessary open from that direction?
3. The showcase needs to be in outdoor or indoor?
4. Because the high and slope of the hill (we assumed the location is placed in that green circled area), does the basement have the view to outside also?
5. Do we need to design the elevator for the disability?
Thanks a lot.
1. The 13×13 sq. meter area can be found in that circled area at the top of the elevation.
2. It means that the orientation of the building, in terms of where people will be arriving and departing from, although the entrance does not have to be in that direction.
3. The showcase should be designated for indoors and if applicable, outdoors.
4. The basement can have a view to the outside.
5. A handicap accessible building is not necessary (because of the surrounding terrain), but definitely a plus.
Hello, is the competition universal? Could any body submit in this competition? Im from palestine.
Anybody can submit an entry.
hey!
is this a open competition for professionals and students of architecture?
Yes.
Hello, we are interested in this project, and have a few questions/requests.
1. Could we have a CAD version of the site plan provided.
2. Could you show a scale bar and north point. (we assume that north is Magnetic on the first plan?).
3. If possible an overlay of the site boundary on the first plan would help to understand the location and context.
Many thanks
Working on the getting the CAD, it will be up shortly.
we need CAD version of the site please.
thank u.
You can download the CAD plan here.
The 13×13 sq. meter area can be found in that circled area at the top of the elevation.
is this means the building can be built anywhere in the circled area?
Yes, anywhere in the circled area.
Hello, we are interested in this project, and have a few questions:
1. What is meant by “houses living quarters (3 singles or 2 couples)”? Should we design houses and a design center?
2. Will you give us more information on the site and program on the website? Or is this version of the website containing the final informations?
Thank you.
1. These are the spaces within the cultural center that can facilitate up to 3 people in residency. There is no need to design additional houses.
2. Site updates will occur, so keep back checking for updates as the competition progresses.
Are we allowed to submit more than one project proposal, of course keeping to the submission guidelines per project?
You can submit only one project proposal.
Thanks
Excelente abordaje a la vida!!!!!!!Nos vemos pronto!!!!!
Hello, what did u mean by powered by pv , wind and solar? Is meeting the LEED certification crateria is advantage?
This means that the electricity supplied to the cultural center will be brought because of production by solar panels or wind turbines or as a result of passive solar methods. Meeting the LEED certification could be a plus, but not necessarily an advantage.
would be good if you could add a satelite foto within the CAD drawing.
in the cad drawing I could not find a circular defining the area of construction. only on the little diagramm on the top right. could you enter the area available for construction within the plan please?
i think it would be fair to the architects to prepare a PDF with all the updated information and the CAD-file together for download. going through all these comments is a bit risky…
Will try to get an updated PDF available for download- but we do recommend going through the comments too.
The 13 m of diameter could be only exterior? Can the basement be larger than that?
The 13 meters is the diameter of the cultural center.
Yes, the basement can be larger than this.
i still dont know where is the available area for construction !
please use sat image with measurement each side ,the image topo2 is jpg from cad file !
show the green are in satelite pic please ! the location of tree in site is so important !
Can you please restate your question, I’m not sure it’s understood.
Thanks
*green area
sry my english is not well,
i think you are not architect dear admin !
data is not enough to start design for this competition.
there is no picture from site(just some macro picture ! )
update your data: site location,info about trees in site , trees in site most be cut ?!
show us the site with some wide picture !
thanks !
Is there any restrictions on floor height?
No there is not.