January 2012: Drylands Design Competition Jury Meets

ALI is grateful to the California Architectural Foundation, the outreach arm of the AIA/California Council, for joining with us to explore the challenges of good design for a water-scarce west. We are honored by the magnitude of the response generated by the 2011 William Turnbull Drylands Design Competition. Three hundred teams—half of them professional, half academic; representing 29 states and 12 countries—registered for the competition. Two hundred five entries were submitted by December 15th, 2011. Teams put forth proposals for radical new building types, insurgent infrastructures, and remade landscapes, from Lubbock to Salt Lake City, from Albuquerque to Las Vegas, Denver to San Diego, Yuma to eastern Washington. Tomorrow, Friday, January 13, the design jury meets at Woodbury to finalize their selections for 9 awards: 5 research awards, two honor awards, and two merit awards. Announcements will be made on January 17th, and selected projects will form the basis of an exhibition and conference opening in March. Details to follow, but for now, we simply want to say: Hats Off. In a landscape of scarcity, design teams have shown us an abundance of possibility. Thank you, and all the best for 2012. Hadley + Peter Arnold co-directors/ALI