WAF is reintroducing the global student design charrette as an integral part of the 2023 Festival. Student teams are invited to submit proposals related to the theme ‘Catalyst’ by August 2023.

ABOUT THE STUDENT CHARRETTE

Student teams (up to eight people plus one or two tutors) are invited to submit proposals related to the theme ‘Catalyst’ by 11 August 2023.

Six to eight teams will be invited to take part in the charrette, which is supported by Broadway Malyan, the international architects headquartered in London with offices across the world, including Singapore.

The theme is intended to stimulate thinking about ways in which design can accelerate beneficial change in respect of challenges facing society generally, or individual fulfilment.

Supported by:

THE THEME

Teams are invited to address one of the following contexts:

• The enabling of potential (schools)
• The encouragement of community (libraries, local centres)
• The promotion of health (sports centres)
• The delivery of healthcare (hospitals, medical centres)
• The provision of comfort (hospices, refuges)
• The provision of support (housing with care)
• The inclusion of nature (biophilic/bioclimatic design)
• The nourishing of civic life (streets, squares, parks, public spaces)
• The benefits of connection (stations, bridges, airports)
• The inspiration of culture (galleries, concert halls, museums)
• The provision of sustainability (long life, loose-fit, low energy)

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

• Teams can pick their own building type/site/area as the subject for their entry
• Please supply a written document describing the brief, the location and the potential client (350 words maximum)
• Provide visual material indicating the key challenges of the project and the approach the team would take to meeting them
• This submission should be submitted electronically to waf.studentcharrette@emap.com
• Deadline for submissions is 11 August 2023

THE PROCESS

What happens then

• Successful teams will be informed by the 8 September
• Team will need to make their own arrangements to attend the Festival at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore from the 28 November - 1 December 2023
• All teams and their tutors (one or two) will be provided with complimentary three-day delegate passes
• A final briefing will be provided at 5pm on Tuesday 28 November in Singapore, venue to be advised
• This briefing will provide an additional element which teams will need to incorporate into their final proposals

At the Festival in Singapore

• Working areas for all teams will be provided in the Festival hall 
• Basic design materials (paper, marker pens etc) will be made available
• Teams will have two days to finalise their proposals
• On the morning of Friday 1 December teams will present their ideas to an international jury
• Presentations should be 10 minutes maximum, followed by 10 minutes of question and answers
• The panel will select a winning team, which will be invited to the Gala Awards Dinner on Friday night

Other matters

• All teams will receive a certificate of attendance as finalists in the charrette
• Selected work will appear in the post-Festival online Winners Supplement
• Any queries should be emailed to Paul Finch, Programme Director, World Architecture Festival (paul.finch@emap.com)