Call For Entries: 2001 Graphisoft Prize Competition

February 8, 2001

Eighth annual international design competition features special prize for “Student Project of the Year”

Budapest – February 8, 2001 – Graphisoft®, developer of Archicad and the revolutionary Virtual Building™ concept of 3D architectural design, is calling for entries to its annual Graphisoft Prize international design competition.

Since 1993, the Graphisoft Prize has inspired architectural students and professionals to push the frontiers of architectural expression using CAD software, and invited them to delve into the unbridled imaginations of some of our collective culture’s greatest minds. Each year, a large variety of themes is drawn from literature, film, poetry, mythology, music and fine art to fascinate and inspire competitors from all parts of the globe.

The themes for the 2001 GRAPHISOFT PRIZE include:

  • The Capulets’ House in Verona from William Shakespeare’s drama “Romeo and Juliet”
  • Frank-n-Furter’s Castle from the film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”
  • The Girl’s House in Sting’s song “The Moon over Bourbon Street”
  • The Guion Quarter in Arthur Golden’s novel “The Memoirs of a Geisha”
  • Hilde’s Dream Castle from Henrik Ibsen’s play “The Master Builder”
  • Paradise from Dante’s narrative poem “The Divine Comedy”
  • The Library from Jorge Borges’ short story “The Library of Babel”
  • The Mansion in Virginia Woolf’s novel “Orlando”
  • The Rostoff House from Lev Tolstoi’s novel “War and Peace”
  • The Temple of Isis at the banks of the Nile in Verdi’s opera “Aida”
  • The Two Towers from Tolkien’s novel “The Lord of the Rings”
  • Ursula’s New House from Gabriel García Márquez’ novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude”

This year’s competition also includes a special section, offering entrants the chance to submit their student work for consideration as the “Student Project of the Year.”

The 2000 Graphisoft Prize competition drew a record number of registrations. Among the winning entrants was 1st prize winner architect Sam Rajamanickam from Design Collective Inc. of the United States who re-cretaed Francis Ford Coppola’s Cotton Club. The Student Project of the Millennium went to Miklós Riedel from the Technical University of Budapest for the reconstruction of a baroque gun powder magazine.

Through Graphisoft Prize, Graphisoft continues to explore and promote the concept of the Virtual Building in architectural design and practice. Graphisoft’s Virtual Building embodies the integration of building data, powerful visualization and communication tools, access to building information at all times, and the ability to use intelligent building products (objects) provided directly by manufacturers.

The 2001 Graphisoft Prize competition is free and open to students and professionals of architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, or an allied discipline from any country. Competitors must register at www.gsprize.com. Individuals or teams of up to three students or professionals may enter. A jury of renowned experts in the architectural field will meet in December to judge the qualifying entries and award prizes.

Submission requirements include a complete Archicad archive file, at least five rendered scenes using virtual reality (VR), a keyplan showing VR nodes, plans, elevations, sections suitable to convey design intent, and computer animation and still renderings. The competition makes extensive use of the Internet and the best entries will be presented on the Graphisoft Prize website. Archicad pioneered the use of virtual reality for architecture in 1995 and has continued to develop and enhance its VR capabilities.

Complete details of the program are available on the Graphisoft Prize website, www.gsprize.com, as of February 8, 2001. Entries will be due at one of Graphisoft’s offices (Budapest, San Francisco, Munich, Bristol, Tokyo, Madrid, Sao Paulo and Santiago de Chile) on October 31, 2001. An ftp site will also be set up where competitors can upload their entries.

Prizes to be awarded in this year’s competition are:

  • One First Prize of $5,000 cash and $2,500 coupon for Archicad or any Graphisoft product, promotion in Graphisoft’s advertising in a major international architectural magazine, and inclusion on the Graphisoft Prize CD of winning entries, with 50,000 copies distributed worldwide;
  • One Second Prize of $2,000 cash and $1,000 coupon for Archicad or any Graphisoft product, and inclusion on the Graphisoft Prize CD; and
  • One Third Prize of $1,000 cash and $500 coupon for Archicad or any Graphisoft product, and inclusion on the Graphisoft Prize CD of winning entries.
  • The “Student Project of the Year” of a traveling fellowship for two, $1,000 cash and an Archicad university version will be awarded.

Entries that receive an Honorable Mention will also be included on the Graphisoft Prize CD.
Graphisoft anticipates publishing winning entries on CD-ROM and the World Wide Web.

Graphisoft is a leading provider of computer-aided design (CAD) software solutions for the architectural profession and building industry. Founded in 1982, Graphisoft is ranked today among the largest AEC CAD software developers in the world, with 12 offices worldwide in addition to its headquarters. Graphisoft’s products are used by nearly 100,000 architects and building professionals all over the world. Shares of Graphisoft are traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange Neuer Market (GPH) and on the Budapest Stock Exchange (GRAPHI). More information about Graphisoft is available at http://www.graphisoft.com/.