NLA today launches an international ideas competition Reimagine London, inviting all multi-disciplinary teams and London enthusiasts to present the best new ideas for the city.
Reimagine London seeks new ideas that will shape the future of the capital as a resilient and 24-hour city. Entrants are invited to submit a one-page summary, poster, or a video pitch, selling their idea for the city – however ambitious, blue sky and no holds-barred.
There will be a £10,000 prize fund for the best new ideas for London. Members of the public will be able to vote online (and in person) for their favourite shortlisted idea, from which a People’s Choice prize will be awarded. In September the international jury will meet to decide remaining prizes including a Young Londoners Prize for an idea developed by or with under 25s.
All shortlisted ideas from the competition will go on public display at a ‘Reimagine London’ exhibition opening at The London Centre in September – a central London gallery highlighting the people, places and buildings that make London a world class city. Shortlisted ideas will also go in front of the high-profile jury of designers, innovators and city makers, and be open to the public vote. In addition up to 10 shortlisted applicants will also have the opportunity to present their idea at an NLA ‘Reimagine London’ PechaKucha event, coinciding with the exhibition.
The judging panel includes:
Adam Nathaniel Furman, a multi-award winning artist and designer based in London. Trained in architecture, Adam works across diverse scales and disciplines of art, with collections held in the Design Museum, the Sir John Soane’s Museum, the Carnegie Museum of Art, and more.
Johanna Agerman Ross, the Chief Curator of the Design Museum in London. She is also the founder and director of the leading quarterly design journal Disegno, and a curator at the V&A in London, and a consultant Lead Curator at the Röhsska Museum in Gothenburg.
Nikki Linsell, COO at Public Practice, a social enterprise that believes that the role of local government is crucial in creating and managing everyday places that work for everyone. Public Practice’s vision is that local government must be well resourced with diverse, placemaking skills, and the right support to lead the way.
Rob Heasman, CEO of The Earls Court Development Company (ECDC), the organisation responsible for driving the regeneration of the former Earls Court Exhibition Centre site. ECDC has a vision ‘to bring the wonder back to Earls Court’ with a masterplan which opens up the site to the local community, celebrates the legacy of world-class ingenuity, creates a better piece of city, and addresses the climate emergency with an ambition to go beyond net zero.
Emily Prideaux, Executive Director at Derwent London. Emily is a chartered surveyor, Director of The Paddington Partnership and NLA Expert Panel Member. Derwent London is one of London’s most innovative office specialist property regenerators and investors and is well known for its design-led philosophy and creative management approach to development.
Other judges will be announced in the coming months.
A group of people walking in a cityDescription automatically generated
‘G-Tainer’ installation, a collaboration between G-SMATT Europe, London Festival of Architecture, the Royal Exchange at LFA 2018 © Luke O’Donovan
Reimagine London follows NLA’s recent launch of the New London Agenda, a framework for best practice in city-making, drawing on over 350 interdisciplinary experts. The Agenda identifies ‘Six Pillars of Place-making’, which will form the basis of the selection criteria for the competition. These are: focus on health; plan for future generations; think beyond boundaries; value diversity; leverage innovation; and work in partnership. Entries will also be judged against their originality, and their potential to create meaningful change for the city.
Launched in collaboration with the LDN Collective, Reimagine London is designed to reinforce London’s reputation as a world-leading centre for innovation, and drive valuable debate about the future of the city as it enters a new development cycle which offers the opportunity to address wider issues of planetary, social and spatial justice.
The competition draws inspiration from the 2015 competition Reinventing Paris, in which Mayor Anne Hidalgo issued an open call for the most innovative ideas to ‘reinvent’ the French capital, resulting in an array of inspirational proposals for neglected sites across the city.
Visit nla.london for further entry guidelines.
