Design Competition Co-founded By Pager Wins Award Of Its Own
The Field Constructs Design Competition (FCDC), co-founded by a Page employee, was named an Austin Critics Table Awards winner in the Work of Art: Independent or Public Project category. This distinctive project resulted in submissions from around the world vying for the opportunity to be part of a two-part exhibit in Austin: in a site-specific installation at Circles Acre Nature Preserve and in the Mebane Gallery at The University of Texas School of Architecture.
The competition was a challenge to emerging designers: conceive an ecologically-minded temporary installation for a local landfill later transformed into the Circle Acres Nature Preserve. The site was chosen because of its layered history as first a quarry, then a landfill and now a nature preserve.
FCDC sought to foster cutting-edge innovation through works that actively engaged with natural and cultural factors specific to Austin and its surrounding region. As one of the fastest-growing American cities, Austin’s character is continually evolving, as is the relationship between its urban fabric and the natural landscape.
The competition’s objective was to encourage participants to explore the capacity for public art and design to attract attention to an underutilized part of cities as well as the potential for installations to serve as opportunities to test innovative thinking with regard to site-specificity, environmental impact and the use of technological advancements in design.
Page Communications Director Catherine Gavin was a co-founder of FCDC, along with University of Buffalo Art Galleries Associate Curator Rachel Adams and isssstudio Principal and Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, Igor Siddiqui. GSD&M, an Austin-based advertising agency that keeps its finger on the pulse of the city, captured Igor, Catherine and one of the winning artists Kory Bieg, discussing the competition on video:
Catherine has an extensive background in the architecture industry, most recently serving as editor of Texas Architect. As a design and architecture journalist, Catherine has written for numerous publications including Architect, Architectural Record, The Architect’s Newspaper and Cite among others. She also is very familiar with site-specific works from her experience as a historic preservation consultant.
FCDC’s winners were chosen by jurors Benjamin Ball, Ball-Nogues Studio, Los Angeles; John Grade, Artist, Seattle; Virginia San Fratello, Rael San Fratello, Oakland; Jason Sowell, University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, Austin and Ingrid Spencer, AIA Austin.
Congratulations to Catherine and her co-founders, Igor and Rachel!
To see the four winning entries, visit the Architect’s Newspaper here.
The Field Constructs Design Competition was also covered by:
06/06/2016
