ARQUITECTUM, as a company that organizes architecture competitions, is pleased to welcome all architecture students, graduates and young architects

around the world to the HOUSES LOFT International Architecture Competition, to be held from June to September 2011. This document includes the information required for registration as well as the procedures necessary for participation in the competition, which will end with an exhibition of all the projects presented on the ARQUITECTUM website (www.arquitectum.com). We invite you to address any queries or questions regarding the competition via e-mail to house@arquitectum.com or concursos@arquitectum.com
General Consultant Arquitectum

ARQUITECTUM has decided to select one of the most interesting manifestations of popular culture and to speculate regarding one of the most well-drawn characters of the 21st century. That is why we are pleased to invite all students and graduates of architecture around the world to participate in the HOUSES LOFT Ideas Competition, in order to propose, according to their individual point of view, the best way to intervene in a contemporary way in older structures. The ARQUITECTUM initiative upon which this competition is based lies in a renewal of the concept of housing, allowing young architects to tell us based on their own experience their opinion regarding characters from popular culture and how to produce architecture through them.

INTRODUCTION

ANTECEDENTS

House M.D. is a US television series which debuted on the Fox channel in 2004. The main character is Dr. Gregory House, an unconventional and non-conformist medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro University Hospital in New Jersey. The story was conceived by Paul Attanasio, based on a medical column written by Dr. Lisa Sanders in the New York Times, while the conception of the title character was left to David Shore, who created him after visiting a university hospital. House often finds himself in conflict with his boss, the hospital administrator Dr. Lisa Cuddy, and with his diagnostic team, as a result of his many hypotheses regarding patients illnesses based on his remarkable and controversial insight. Houses best friend is Dr. James Wilson, who is the head of the oncology department. During the shows first three seasons, Houses diagnostic team was composed of Dr. Robert Chase, Dr. Allison Cameron and Dr. Eric Foreman. At the end of the third season this team was disbanded and, together with Foreman, House gradually selected three new members: Dr. Remy Hadley, Dr. Chris Taub and Dr. Lawrence Kutner.

Television series has enjoyed critical and public acclaim since its launch, transforming the show into one of the most-watched television programs in the United States and around the world. It has received several awards and nominations, including a Peabody Award, two Golden Globes Awards and three Primetime Emmy Awards. It was the most-watched television series in the world in 2008, with an average of 82 million viewers in 66 countries. In the United States, the sixth season began with a two-hour episode on September 21 2009, and ended at the beginning of June 2010. The seventh season ended recently. The challenge, therefore, is to create a Home-Office for House so that when the next series ends he will be able to move to Manhattan and enjoy a private practice set within an architectural design in keeping with his intelligence, good taste and sense of humor. The project must be a new pavilion, located within the Fuller Building at the corner of Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

THE CHALLENGE

The objectives of the HOUSES LOFT competition are as follows: To offer a global Architectural Ideas Competition that will lead to the selection of the 12 most original, creative and contemporary proposals for a new type of home-office for House. To express the spirit of a global urban culture through an analysis of the most representative aspects of the contemporary city selected. To attract the interest of specialist critics throughout the world regarding the new architectural proposals and ideas of those who will form the new generation of architects.

OBJECTIVES OF THE COMPETITION

Houses home-consultancy is located in downtown Manhattan. Given that this is an emblematic and historic neighborhood, a way must be found to meet the innovative purpose at the root of the competition, while at the same time respecting the scale of the context, or causing it to stand out against the surrounding architectural volumes, as the architect Tadao Ando achieved with the project in the same city which we show below.

THE PROJECT

THE SITE: THE FULLER BUILDING

The site of the proposed intervention is the top three floors of the Fuller Building, located on the corner of Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue, in the center of Manhattan. A duplex should be located there measuring at least 1,500 square meters and it should project from the building a maximum of 10 meters from each one of the sides or at the top.

LOCATION ON GOOGLE EARTH

Fuller Building.kmz

SPECIAL CONDITIONS

Location: The space where the project will be developed is the Fuller Building, on the top three floors (including the terrace or flat roof, in order to locate a garden).

Context: The context should be more intellectual than physical, given that we are dealing with an intervention in a building that is considered a national monument. In other words, the faade must be modified in order to clearly highlight the intervention. Orientation: The project will have three open sides or faades- with each one facing respectivelyeach street and Madison Square. However, it is important that the house look into itself, towards the inside, revealing the interior space more than the exterior. Image: The Home-Office should possess its own unique, self-contained image and present a consistency between the interior and exterior space. Materials: The project may use any materials, be they traditional, contemporary or experimental (from wood, stone or brick to plastic, zinc, titanium, cadmium or recycled materials). Vegetation: Any type of vegetation may be incorporated as long as it attempts to focus enjoyment of the interior space.

NOTE: No project that has been previously designed or constructed anywhere on the planet will be accepted. The project must be new, exclusive and unprecedented: in other words, it must not have been published previously in any print or digital medium (including the internet).

THE USER: HOUSE

The user should be defined by each competitor. However, it is worth mentioning some of the characters personality traits: Ingenious Infantile Egocentric Megalomaniac Ill-humored Eccentric Antisocial Misogynistic

PROGRAM HOME
Social area: A space (or spaces) where social relations may be enjoyed comprising at least: entrance hall, guests bathroom, living room, dining room, main bedroom, guest bedroom, two bathrooms, a laundry and a kitchen. Recreation area: A space for relaxation visual or physical associated with the piano, contemplation or reading and an indoor or outdoor pool measuring 50 X 10 meters minimum (optional).

DOCTORS OFFICE

Hygiene areas: Spaces for personal hygiene before the actual doctors office. Operating area: An operating room for minor or major surgery. Consulting room: An office with a gurney. TOTAL: ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED SQUARE METERS Movement from one side to another must be facilitated while at the same time maintaining the privacy of each zone. The circulation and semi-public spaces may help to delimit one side from another.

NOTE: With regard to the parameters of the design:

The use of a Conceptual Space may be considered by the individual participant in order to summarize or clearly define the character.

Dr. HOUSE http://www.fox.com/house/ HOUSE M.D. http://www.cuatro.com/house/ HOUSE ON FACEBOOK http://www.facebook.com/House HOUSE ON TWITTER http://twitter.com/#!/HouseonFOX HOUSE MEDICAL REVIEWS http://www.politedissent.com/house_pd.html HOUSE SOUNDTRACKS http://www.have-dog.com/house/ FULLER BUILDING http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatiron_Building

WEBSITES OF INTEREST

SPECIAL CONDITIONS

The proposal may explore new uses for the spaces, given that great freedom exists in terms of the arrangement of rooms, their schematic interrelation and their flexibility, as long as the competitors are able to represent the ideal space for the user, House.

STRUCTURE OF THE COMPETITION

This is a single stage competition and it seeks to identify the most appropriate proposal, consistent with the general and specific objectives of the competition.

AVAILABLE FILES AND DOWNLOADS

For a better understanding of the exact location of the site where the project will take place, contestants can access the free downloads found on the competition website, in the downloads section.

CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION

THOSE ELEGIBLE FOR PARTICIPATION
All architecture students, graduates and young architects around the world- including multidisciplinary teams (students of other disciplines).

PRIZES

The prizes will be as follows: 1st PRIZE: US$ 1000.00 (ONE THOUSAND AMERICAN DOLLARS) plus any items chosen from the Fox House M.D. online store (http://foxshop.seenon.com/index.php?v=fox_shows_house&nvbar=Shows:House) to a value of US$ 500.00 (FIVE HUNDRED AMERICAN DOLLARS). 2nd PRIZE: US$ 300.00 (THREE HUNDRED AMERICAN DOLLARS) in the form of any items chosen from the Fox House M.D. online store (http://foxshop.seenon.com/index.php?v=fox_shows_house&nvbar=Shows:House)

3rd PRIZE: US$ 100.00 (ONE HUNDRED AMERICAN DOLLARS) in the form of any items chosen from the Fox House M.D. online store (http://foxshop.seenon.com/index.php?v=fox_shows_house&nvbar=Shows:House) 9 HONORABLE MENTIONS The architects selected as winners of the competition will be informed by e-mail or telephone in their country of origin so that their prizes can be awarded as quickly and efficiently as possible.

NOTE: ARQUITECTUM, as a result of its interest in capitalizing on the architectural criteria of the winners of previous competitions, as well as the feedback acquired from the knowledge of such participants, and its interest in renewing and updating its evaluations, has decided that those architects selected as the winners of the HOUSES HOME Competition (first, second and third places, respectively) will be selected automatically as members of the jury of any subsequent international competition (the fees for such participation are included in the amounts received for first, second and third prizes, respectively).

Submissions must consist of one (01) digital image (JPG file) which can be easily seen on a computer screen. The presentation technique will be left entirely to the discretion of the individual competitor. However, the inclusion within the images of the following information is recommended: Defense of the project (conceptual development) Ground plans Cross sections Perspectives This image must clearly document the proposal as well as the approach of the project. Ideas regarding the organization, materials and treatment of the location, as well as the characteristics of the design, should be included where these are considered relevant. In some part of the images, a table showing the area of each floor, as well as the total area of the project, should be included. Any other verbal (or numerical) description should be presented in the English language only and be incorporated into the graphic presentation of the project. The Official Registration Number must appear at the top right-hand corner of the image. The digital image must comply with the following characteristics: Format of the digital image A JPG file. This image must be contained in a ZIP or RAR file. Name of the file The name of the file must coincide with the Official Registration Number provided upon completion of the competition enrolment procedure. Size of the ZIP or RAR file A maximum of two megabytes (02 MB): The name of the ZIP or RAR file must be the Official Registration Number. Dimensions of the JPG digital image Horizontal rectangle (3500 pixels wide x 26000 pixels high) Resolution of the image Participants are free to choose the resolution they prefer for the presentation.

REQUIREMENTS FOR SUBMISSION

Participants should send via e-mail: THE IMAGE in a ZIP or RAR file, the name of which must coincide with the Official Registration Number (for example: 012345.zip) to the official competition e-mail address house@arquitectum.com before midnight on September 5th 2011 (23:59 GMT -05:00). The subject of this e-mail must be the name of the competition and the registration number (for example: SUBJECT: HOUSE COMPETITION 012345).

NOTES: The competitors may present a project for every competition entry they have acquired if they so wish, given that each proposal will bear a different OFFICIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER. The participants are recommended to send their projects from one of the e-mail addresses featured in their registration form. The sending of projects from third party addresses, anonymous addresses or accounts specifically created for this purpose is not recommended, as this may lead to problems or make impossible the identification and contacting of the participant. If the proposal submitted fails to comply with all the specifications provided in these rules, its evaluation will not be possible. 3500 x 2600 pixels are equivalent to approximately 92.6 x 68.79 centimeters at 96dpi. We strongly recommend that these instructions be followed, because otherwise our system may identify the message as spam.

TIMETABLE

START OF THE COMPETITION ANSWERING OF QUERIES SPECIAL REGISTRATION EARLY REGISTRATION

June 1st 2011 Replies will be updated during the competition From June 1st to June 20th 2011 From June 21st to July 18th 2011

LATE REGISTRATION CLOSING DATE FOR REGISTRATION SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS EVALUATION OF THE JURY ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNING ARCHITECT

From July 19th to August 22nd 2011 August 22nd 2011 until September 5th 2011 From September 6th to October 3rd 2011 October 4th 2011

All proposals must be sent by e-mail to house@arquitectum.com before midnight on September 5th 2011 (11:59 p.m. GMT -05:00). The competitors will be responsible for the arrival of their proposals within the established deadlines and no proposal will be received one day after the aforementioned date.

DEADLINES

CONFIRMATION

In accordance with the internal rules of ARQUITECTUM, no personal e-mail confirmations will be sent. Participants will be able to check the receipt of their proposals sent by e-mail in the Proposals section, which will be activated during the final week of the competition.

Queries regarding issues associated with the competition will only be answered from those architects duly registered in the competition. The e-mail containing such queries must be titled (the subject of the e-mail) with the number received upon completion of the registration process otherwise it will not be answered. Technical queries regarding aspects of the rules of the competition which have not been understood, or issues related to the project, should be sent to house@arquitectum.com. These queries will be answered in the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section of the competition website. We recommend that participants check this section before sending any query, given that it will be updated every day until August 15, when no more queries will be answered. Any attempt to establish contact will lead to the disqualification of the competitor or competitors, and therefore all architects are requested to refrain from submitting queries beyond the timetable established above. Subsequently, given that during the weeks following submission we will be meeting on a daily basis with the jurors in order to process all the information received, ARQUITECTUM will not be able to answer any verbal, telephone, e-mail or postal communication whatsoever which may arrive at our offices. Any attempt to establish such communication will result in the disqualification of the contestant or contestants.

QUERIES

JURY

The jury will review the proposals and determine the winners. This decision will be based on their evaluation and their own experience, as well as the information provided by the contestants presented via the images submitted. Each juror will review all the proposals received. The General Consultant from ARQUITECTUM will answer any query from the jurors in order to safeguard pursuit of the objectives of the competition. The criteria for the evaluation of the projects are: Originality of the proposal and quality of the architectural design Coherence of the project and quality of the architectural design. Exploration of new sensations and spatial experiences. Clarity and quality of the presentation.

EVALUATION PROCESS

EVALUATION CRITERIA

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE?

Those eligible to participate in this competition are: Architects from all over the world, either individually or as part of a team, who have completed satisfactorily all aspects of their course (including graduates). Participants need not be registered architects. Multidisciplinary teams of professionals associated with design (designers, artists, engineers, etc.) as long as they have an architect as the Team Leader. In all cases, the teams must be composed of a maximum of six (6) members. During the development of the project and until the deadline for submissions of the proposals the teams may change members. In the event of any change an e-mail must be sent to registro@arquitectum.com providing the final list of members with the same information requested when filling out the registration form. When registering, the team will receive a PASSWORD which must only be used if a change is made in the original members of the team. In order to make a change in the members of the team the request should be made in an e-mail addressed to registro@arquitectum.com. If no change is made in the members of the team from the time of registration until submission of the proposal, IT IS NOT NECESSARY to send the aforementioned e-mail.

DISQUALIFICATION

All architects directly associated in their professional work with THE CLIENT are excluded from the competition, together with their employees, administrative and executive staff. Also excluded from participation are those professional architects on the payroll, employed by or serving as a contracted architect with any of the members of the ARQUITECTUM jury. If any participant is found to have a direct professional relationship with the jurors and/or ARQUITECTUM, the proposal will be disqualified immediately. Only one proposal may be submitted per registration. In other words, should a participant wish to submit more than one proposal, they must register again and make the corresponding payment. The General Consultant of ARQUITECTUM may disqualify any proposal which: Arrives after the closing date. Is incomplete or damaged in any of its parts, or Contains any sign or mark which might in some way identify its author.
NOTE: Those participants who fail to comply with these rules will be declared ineligible.

ARQUITECTUM is committed to scrupulously protecting the integrity of this competition during its entire duration in the following manner: The REGISTRATION NUMBER is the only element with which each proposal received will be organized, processed and evaluated. Once the evaluation process has been completed, the jurors will be informed of the names of the participants. Apart from the registration number, no image submitted may feature marks, logos, symbols or any other sign that might identify its author. Any failure to comply with this rule will result in immediate disqualification.

ANONYMITY

A virtual exhibition that will include all the projects presented, as well as the finalists, will be inaugurated on the ARQUITECTUM website www.arquitectum.com during the month of October 2011.

EXHIBITION AND PUBLICATION

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND RIGHTS

All the images presented in the competition will form part of the digital archive of ARQUITECTUM, becoming in this way part of the archives for the exhibitions and publications produced regarding the event, and will not be returned. For any other effect not associated with the HOUSES HOME Competition, each architect will retain the intellectual property rights over their work, and the company may not publish or copy or print that work without the express permission of the participating architect or team.

ARQUITECTUM is responsible for ensuring compliance with the rules of the HOUSES HOME Competition, as well as the administration and proper conduct of the same. Any communication related to the competition should be sent by e-mail (house@arquitectum.com). Any attempt to contact the jury regarding any issue related to the competition will result in the immediate disqualification of the competitor. Any queries regarding registration, the registration number or any issue related to rates, payments or money transfers may be made during the registration process and should only be made via e-mail to: registro@arquitectum.com.

COMMUNICATION AND TECHNICAL QUERIES

Through their registration in the competition, participants formalize immediately their unconditional acceptance of these rules, as well as the final decisions of the jury. It is therefore understood that participation and registration in the competition indicates acceptance of all the conditions expressed. The jury, by a majority vote, is the only body authorized to and responsible for the final selection of the winner of this competition and their decision will not be subject to appeal. ARQUITECTUM reserves the right to make any improvements in the rules (dates, deadlines or requirements) should any exceptional situation present itself and whenever such changes are deemed to be in the best interests of the participating architects and to improve the development of this competition. ARQUITECTUM functions solely as the competition organizer and both the company and the jurors shall be exonerated from any possible action (civil or criminal) should any architect or team of architects disagree with the final decision. THE CLIENT shall be solely responsible (in criminal and civil law) for the payment of prizes, as well as for the payment of all professional fees, and this is tacitly accepted by all participants from the moment they register to participate in the competition.

COMPLAINTS

Should any architect or team bring to an end their participation in the competition once the registration fee has been paid, the cost of registration may not be refunded (much less applied to any future ARQUITECTUM competition).

REFUND

METHODS OF PAYMENT

The registration process for this competition begins with the filling out of the registration form with the information regarding the participant or participants. Once this information has been submitted participants must choose between the following two options:

1. ONLINE REGISTRATION

NOTE: In order to pay ONLINE any programs designed to block pop-ups (such as those found with, for example, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Google Toolbar) or similar tools, should be disabled, given that in many cases such programs do not allow completion of the registration process. Those who wish may pay their registration fee by credit card (VISA, MASTERCARD and AMERICAN EXPRESS) using the security platform on our website.

When registering, the participant will pass through a series of instructions that will indicate what they should do and when to provide the relevant information. The process will end when the success of the transaction has been confirmed, and immediately afterwards the participant will receive an e-mail with their registration number and another with a record of the transaction made. Any query should be addressed to the following e-mail: registro@arquitectum.com. Special Registration: Early Registration: Late Registration: US$ 50.00 (fifty US dollars) US$ 100.00 (one hundred US dollars) US$ 150.00 (one hundred and fifty US dollars)

These entire fees are plus taxes IGV or IVA (18%) and the commission for using of credit card (5%).

2. OFFLINE REGISTRATION

Prior to registration, the participant must fill out the registration form in the website, in order to receive immediately a provisional registration number to the e-mail they have provided. Subsequently, two options exist for payment:

The cost of registration for the right to participate in the competition must be paid to the US$ current account (or IBAN) 057-3000091102 Swift code (or BIC): BINPPEPL, in the name of ARQUITECTUM S.A.C. at "Banco Interbank del Per, (business address: Calle Carlos Villarn 140 - Santa Catalina, Lima, website: www.interbank.com.pe). The cost of registration does not include the issuing banks commissions or the cost of the bank transfer, but only the payment for participation plus the amount of US$25.00 to cover Peruvian taxes imposed on any bank transaction made from abroad, plus general sales tax (IGV or IVA). Therefore, the final amount paid via any bank transfer should be as follows: Special Registration: Early Registration: Late Registration: US$ 84.00 (eighty-four US dollars) or US$ 59.00 (if the transaction is made within Peru) US$ 143.00 (one hundred and forty-three US dollars) or US$ 118.00 (if the transaction is made within Peru) US$ 202.00 (two hundred and two US dollars) or US$ 177.00 (if the transaction is made within Peru)

BANK TRANSFER:

NOTE: Those deposits made within Peru are not affected by the payment of US$25.00, but they are subject to IGV.

Should the participant wish to make their payment via WESTERN UNION, they should address the payment to Alfredo Queirolo at the following address: Lima, Peru. The cost of registration does not include the charges levied by WESTERN UNION and therefore the net total of the amount transferred must be the corresponding tariff not including costs of any kind: Special Registration: Early Registration: Late Registration: US$ 50.00 (fifty US dollars) US$ 100.00 (one hundred US dollars) US$ 150.00 (one hundred and fifty US dollars)

WESTERN UNION:

In all cases a copy must be sent via e-mail to registro@arquitectum.com of the corresponding transfer order and/or deposit (the provisional registration must be included in the same document to enable us to locate the name of the participant in our files). As soon as we have confirmed the deposit, the participants official registration number will be sent.

FINAL NOTE: For the elaboration of these rules and the downloadable files, ARQUITECTUM utilized, together with its own material, images taken from the internet which it assumed belong in the public domain, given that it was not possible to identify the owners or the corresponding authors rights. If you own the rights to any of the images used and have not been duly identified, please contact ARQUITECTUM. The logo and names ARQUITECTUM and www.arquitectum.com are registered trademarks. The total or partial reproduction of these rules is prohibited This site has no official affiliation with "House," FOX or anything otherwise related to the show, its cast or crew. Media and photos are copyright to respective owners; no copyright infringement is intended or implied