OUTSIDER Magazine on its 10th Anniversary, Announces the European Architecture Award: OUTSIDER AWARD
We are inviting entries in 5+1 categories:
1. HERITAGE AND RENOVATION
2. OPEN SPACES
3. ARCHITECTURE
4. SMALL INTERVENTIONS
5. REIMAGINING HOUSING
+ 6. ESSAY: BEING AN OUTSIDER
Honorary Jury Members:
- Juhani Pallasmaa
- Takaharu Tezuka
- Yui Tezuka
Jury Members:
- Živa Deu, Architect and Professor at the University of Ljubljana (Selector for HERITAGE AND RENOVATION)
- Aleš Gabrijelčič, Architect (Selector for OPEN SPACES)
- Gregor Turnšek, Architect (Selector for ARCHITECTURE)
- Alenka Korenjak, Architect (Selector for SMALL INTERVENTIONS)
- Luka Jerman, Architect (Selector for REIMAGINING HOUSING)
- Tadej Zupančič, Publicist, Translator, and Photographer (Selector for ESSAY)
- Nina Granda, Editor-in-Chief of OUTSIDER Magazine
- Matevž Granda, Artistic Director of OUTSIDER Magazine
Submit your work and participate in the selection for the European OUTSIDER AWARD!
Submission Guidelines:
Projects:
- Send up to 10 photographs of your project.
- Include a short description and basic project details: project name, author(s), location, year of planning, year of completion, area, and photo credits.
- Projects must have been realized within the last decade (since 2014).
- The description should not exceed 3,000 characters (excluding spaces), and all photos combined should not exceed 10 MB.
- Multiple projects can be submitted.
- Clearly indicate the category for each submission.
Submit your application to [email protected].
Essay:
- Write an essay on the theme “To be an Outsider.”
- The essay should not exceed 10,000 characters (including spaces).
- Language: English.
- Each author may submit one essay.
- Essays will be anonymized for the jury.
- Submit your essay in .doc format to [email protected].
Deadline for submissions: February 14, 2025
Selectors may also propose works of their choice for the award.
Awards:
- Selected projects will be published in the international edition of OUTSIDER Magazine (May 2025).
- Winners will enjoy a two-week residency at ARCH LAB in Istria, which includes lectures by jury members and guest professors, as well as access to work studios. The residency offers an opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration.
Category Descriptions:
1. HERITAGE AND RENOVATION
Renovation takes precedence over new construction in all principles of spatial planning. Quality renovation preserves the established culture of building, connects us to our identity, and promotes environmental sustainability. Projects should demonstrate respectful and innovative additions to inherited structures, in line with international heritage conservation conventions.
2. OPEN SPACES
This category recognizes projects that weave nature into urban and suburban landscapes, revitalize social dynamics, and promote sustainable mobility. From large-scale urban projects to small interventions, these works harmonize cities, communities, and nature.
3. ARCHITECTURE
Outsider “Architecture” award is dedicated to public projects that are visionary pioneers combining aesthetic, tectonic, material, constructional, technical, sustainable, and economic solutions into outstanding, inspiring environments. We are looking for projects that not only exemplify exceptional design quality, but also create an emphatic form that contributes to people’s life. We are interested in spatial interventions that connect people, invite the users to exchange ideas, encourage reflection and finally, represent inspiration for a better future.
4. SMALL INTERVENTIONS
In times of rapid change, radical approaches are needed in architecture and planning. Small-scale projects provide opportunities for experimentation and transformation. This category highlights socially and ecologically driven public projects that transcend traditional typologies and open new fields of action.
5. REIMAGINING HOUSING
The design of living spaces is a fundamental architectural task that combines the complexity of human living needs in diverse social and climatic conditions with fundamental existential questions. In the light of this timeless dimension of the home, we are primarily interested in how contemporary architecture understands living in a time of major environmental, social and technological issues.
+ 6. ESSAY: TO BE AN OUTSIDER (Tadej Zupančič)
It was Michel de Montaigne, the man who invented the essay, who pithily observed: »It’s nothing but inconstancy.« He was writing about time but could have been writing about being an outsider too: yes, it can be difficult and uneasy to start with, but when you embrace its inconstancy, it’s (almost) like a superpower. Write about anything and everything; touch the stars; dissect happiness and melancholy; live in a self-built paradise; of faith and adhesiveness; navigate between cultures; be surprising and be true to yourself. Because, as Montaigne also pointed out: »We are born to seek out truth… the world is nothing but a school of learning.«
Selectors:
Živa Deu is an architect, Doctor of Architectural Sciences, and a professor at the University of Ljubljana. Her scientific and professional work is dedicated to the protection of cultural heritage. Through published lectures, workshops, articles, and numerous authored monographs, she teaches why and how to sustainably preserve inherited architectural art. For her contributions, she received the Ivan Šubic Award, a recognition named after the renowned Slovenian conservator.
Aleš Gabrijelčič is an architect who, after completing his master’s degree, divides his time between Ljubljana and Madrid. In addition to his love for small-scale projects, he has developed a passion for the dynamism and vibrancy of creating urban spaces. By integrating various elements of urban design and directing flows and content, his work aims to provide unique and democratic urban experiences. He works as an architect in Ljubljana with the architectural firm Arhitektura and is a columnist for Outsider magazine.
Gregor Turnšek is an architect and partner at JKMM Architects (Helsinki, Finland). His main area of work are complex public projects, concept creation and international architectural competitions. He is a long-time collaborator and member of the editorial team of Outsider magazine.
Alenka Korenjak is an architect and co-founder of the non-profit urban design studio Prostorož, where she has been working for 20 years on public space projects, focusing on collaboration with residents, social placemaking, advocacy, and policymaking. She teaches at the University of Vienna and participates in numerous juries, advocating for the role of public space in improving quality of life.
Luka Jerman is an architect based in Ljubljana. He gained architectural experience, among other places, at the renowned Catalan studio Flores & Prats. As a member of the editorial team at Outsider magazine since 2021, he explores various aspects of contemporary architectural production and spatial heritage, emphasizing critical engagement with spatial and societal processes.
Tadej Zupančič is a writer, translator, and photographer who has lived in London since 1991. For the first 14 years, he worked as a radio producer at the BBC World Service. He began writing for Outsider seven years ago. His well-received book London Estates, a photographic exploration of social housing in the British capital, was published by FUEL in 2024.
