BOFFO Building Fashion Competition

Your chance to build a high profile project for the fashion industry as part of this fall’s premier cultural event in NYC.

UPDATE: The latest designer, House of Waris, has been announced! Check out the House of Waris Design Challenge!

UPDATE: The latest designer, Siki Im, has been announced! Check out the Siki Im Design Challenge!!

Entries for the first three competitions (Spurr, Supima, and Huey) are now closed.

BOFFO and Spilios Gianakopoulos announce the Building Fashion Competition hosted by Architizer. Located underneath the High Line on the site of Neil M. Denari Architects’ HL23 in the Chelsea Arts District, Building Fashion is a series of installations that celebrate the intersection of fashion and architecture. Opening September 9 and running through November 14, 2010, Building Fashion is six competitions in one.

The Building Fashion Competition is an amazing opportunity for firms to showcase their skills in front of fashion taste-makers, press, and the public who visit the High Line everyday.

One Competition, 6 winners
Each entry is eligible to win one of six design-build projects:

- Winner 1 will design the Supima Cotton Field that spans half of the distance between 23rd and 24th street underneath the High Line. The design needs to create a flexible outdoor space with a small pavilion to host a range of outdoor parties and events. Supima will supply cotton materials for the installation. The installation period is 9 days and it will remain on site for the duration of the series. The winning team will receive $5,000 to fabricate and install their design.

- Winners 2-6 will win a fashion designer client. These five winners will work closely with their fashion designers to design a branded pop-up environment that showcases the fashion designer’s products and aesthetic vision. An existing sales tin on the northern edge of the site will be the venue and each design will remain for 10 days. The installation period is 3 days and the work must be removed in one night. Each team will receive $5,000 to fabricate and install their design.

The design process, fabrication and installation will be featured on Architizer’s front page and also publicized on BOFFO, Building Fashion, and other architecture, design, fashion, and culture websites. Each installation will be the centerpiece of an opening VIP party and associated cultural events.

The design process, fabrication and installation will be featured on Architizer’s front page and also publicized on BOFFO, Building Fashion, and other architecture, design, fashion, and culture websites. Each installation will be the centerpiece of an opening VIP party and associated cultural events.

Eligibility + Criteria:
This competition is open to all. Applicants can be established entities or groups of individuals. Winners will be selected based on three criteria:
Experience: Entrants are asked to upload examples of their work to Architizer.com to demonstrate their design heritage. This work need not be specifically architectural in nature, but special consideration will be given to teams that have designed, built and installed projects. The more examples provided the better chance the jury will have to familiarize themselves with the applicant’s work.

Proposal: Applicants will be asked to submit at least one sketch of the space that describes a material and design direction. Although only one sketch is required, applicants are encouraged to submit as many sketches as necessary to describe their vision. Proposals should include specific ideas of clothing display and building technique (materiality and installation). Proposals will be regarded as initial ideas to be developed in cooperation with the fashion designer and the BuildingFashion organizers.

Feasibility: Applicants are asked to submit a preliminary budget and work plan that describes how the project will be realized. This should include a notion of labor, material cost, transportation (if the applicant is not from NYC), etc.

Jury and Selection:
BOFFO, Spilios Gianakopulos and Architizer will choose three applicants based on their creative vision, compatibility, and ability to execute the proposed design. The final decision is up to Supima Cotton and the fashion designer clients.

Schedule
Winners will be announced dependent on when competitions are announced. A two-week design process will be standard.

Entries will be considered on a cumulative basis, so entrants need to only register once, but each week another fashion designer will be announced indicating specific design sensibilities, aesthetic, and programmatic interests for their project. Applicants are free to resubmit new sketches each week if they want to cater their designs to the specific designer of the week.

Entry Process and Requirements
STEP #1 - Architizer Upload
- Upload your firm profile to Architizer. If the applicant is a group of individuals, be sure each individual has a complete profile on Architizer. The more complete the profiles the better the judges will be able to consider the applicant.
-Upload at least 3 projects to Architizer (so we can see what you are made of!)

STEP #2 - Email
Once the registration fee is paid each applicant will receive an information packet that includes AutoCAD plans, photographs and a submission email address. The following should be submitted as a single 8.5”x11” PDF no bigger than 3mb and labeled: FirmName_DesignProposalName.pdf. The PDF should consist of the following:

-Page 1: Firm Name, Participants, Location and a brief (500 or fewer words) description of the proposal. Be sure to address issues of materiality and build-ability.
-Page2: Preliminary budget proposal that allocates the $5,000 stipend and a work/time proposal that explains transportation and lodging (if you don’t live in NYC), labor (paid labor, friends, family, etc.), and timing (applicants are encouraged to build off-site, leaving the 3 day period only for installation)
- Page 3+ : Sketches of your vision for the Building Fashion space. Don’t worry too much about layout… just make sure the idea gets across. These sketches could be renderings, plans, sections, elevations, etc. Applicants are encouraged to consider both the Supima Cotton Field and specific fashion designers for the sales tin.

Submission fee:
For the three remaining competitions - $100 fee paid to Architizer via PayPal. This fee will allow you to enter all Building Fashion competitions (six in total). Begin the payment process by clicking here. If you would like to enter only one competition, a $50 fee will be charged.

Upon award
The winners will be notified via email and scheduled for an appointment with their fashion designer client. The architect, designer, and High Line Fashion team will discuss logistics and scheduling.

About the Clients:
Supima: Supima Cotton, is considered world’s finest cotton, supplying luxury cotton for fashion and home textiles.

Designer I - Simon Spurr: 2010 CFDA Swarovski Menswear Nominee. Learn more about Simon at his Architizer profile.

Designer II - Heather Huey: Couture Milliner.
Designer III – Siki Im.
Designer IV – House of Waris.
Designer V – Announcement in four weeks.

For more information:
Email highline@architizer.com
Site and Supima material photos can be found on our flickr site
www.flickr.com/photos/highlinefashion