Non Architecture (NonA) started a new series of competitions on the topic of Reviving. It calls for proposals, for the 1st Reviving competition — Shandong Mines Park.
Participants are asked to come up with creative proposals that would go beyond standardized models for development, informing local authorities with new ways to approach a reviving project for the Shandong Mines Park. Particular emphasis is posed on the issue of the dismissed mines, which constitute a unique feature but also a great challenge. How can the ecological and spatial damage be mitigated and transformed into new value?
Non Architecture Competitions will award three winners, selected by the jurors individually, and 6 honorable mentions. A total of 10,000 Euro will be awarded between the best three proposals — 7,000 of which are reserved for the proposal awarded with the First Prize.
The city district of Zibo, the third largest by population within the Shandong province, has been a key stone mining location till recent years. The excavation activities, particularly focused on the Zichuan subdistrict, marked the rural areas of the province with invasive interventions and disruptions of the local ecosystem. The mountainous area is today characterized by woodlands, villages, mine pits in quarries and terraces built with stone. The extraction activities have been terminated, generating the need for new purpose and value in a location with unique cultural, ecological and social conditions.
The local government and enterprises aim to develop a strategic vision that would reinforce local communities and bring new life to the site. They aim to achieve this purpose by turning the area into a cultural and creative park. The project should attract tourists and creatives around a protected and restored ecological zone, while generating a new economy for local artisans and rural entrepreneurs. In which form this will happen, it is still to be defined.
Non Architecture, in collaboration with ARQ, has been called to assist in the process and to do so, it invites its community into thinking out of the box solutions through a design competition.
Non Architecture Competitions are open to all human beings, from every age and cultural background, working in groups or individually. Teams can be formed by a maximum number of 5 people.
The Reviving: Shandong Mines Park competition is developed in collaboration with Beijing Tourist Scenic Investment Management Co., Ltd., the Shouqing Aolv Investment Management Co., Ltd., the Shandong Li Guizu Cultural Development Co. Ltd. and supported by the People’s Government of Zichuan District, Zibo City, Shandong Province.