Sixth Annual Graphisoft Prize Offers Inspired Themes for 1999 Competition

February 18, 1999

Graphisoft®, developer of the award-winning integrated architectural CAD program Archicad®, is pleased to announce a collection of diverse and inspired themes for its sixth annual Graphisoft Prize international design competition.

Offering a unique challenge to create architectural fantasy with Archicad, the Graphisoft Prize competition invites architectural students and professional architects to interpret buildings that exist only in the imagination. Each year, a collection of themes is drawn from literature, film, poetry, mythology, music and fine art that hopes to fascinate and inspire all competitors.

The 1999 Graphisoft Prize themes are:

  1. The Blue Sky Mine from the song Blue Sky Mine by Midnight Oil.
  2. The Castle from Franz Kafka’s novel, The Castle.
  3. The Cheap Hotel from William Gibson’s sci-fi novel, Neuromancer.
  4. The diner from Edward Hopper’s painting, Nighthawks
  5. The House of Fame and Hall of Rumor from Chaucer’s narrative poem The House of Fame.
  6. Land of Extreme Felicity in the West from Chinese mythology and the novel, Hsi Yu Chi (Travels in the West).
  7. Maggie’s Farm from the song of the same name by Bob Dylan.
  8. The Palace of Haroun al-Rachid from Tales of 1001 Nights.
  9. The Pharaoh’s Palace from Thomas Mann’s Joseph and his Brothers.
  10. The Planet of the Businessman from Antoine de Saint Exupéry’s Little Prince.
  11. Rick’s American Café from the film “Casablanca” by Michael Curtiz.
  12. The Zone from Tarkovsky’s film, “Stalker.”

Last year’s winning student team of Andrew Maynard and Stephen Mees let their collective imagination run wild with an architectural interpretation of Bulgakov’s tale “The Master and Margarita” which, in the words of Mees, “represents the domain of the devil, paved with the litany of wealthy and influential citizens and intelligentsia, right up to the door of the madhouse.”

Through Graphisoft Prize, Graphisoft continues to explore and promote the concept of the “virtual building” in architectural design and practice. Graphisoft’s virtual building concept 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.

Though no fee is required to enter, competitors must register to participate at www.gsprize.com. Separate award categories for students and professionals were established in 1998; student entrants must be at the university level of architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, or an allied discipline.

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 additional computer animation and still renderings. The competition makes extensive use of the Internet and requires competitors to use virtual reality technology to present their entries. 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 will be available on the Graphisoft Prize website, www.gsprize.com, as of March 1, 1999. Entries will be due at one of Graphisoft’s offices (Budapest, San Francisco, Munich, Tokyo, Hong Kong, London and Madrid) in late September; the official entry date will be announced in the forthcoming program. An ftp site will also be set up where competitors can upload their entries as well. The competition jury is scheduled for early October with the official date to be announced.

Prizes to be awarded in the 1999 non-student category: one first prize of $2500 cash plus a $2500 discount coupon for Archicad or any GS product; one second prize of $1000 cash plus a $1000 discount coupon for Archicad or any GS product; one third prize of $500 cash plus a $500 discount coupon for Archicad or any GS product; and an honorable mention of a $100 discount coupon for Archicad or any GS product.

Prizes to be awarded in the 1999 student category: one first prize of a traveling fellowship for two plus $1000 cash and Archicad university version; one second prize of a traveling fellowship for two plus $500 cash and Archicad university version; one third prize of a traveling fellowship for one plus $500 cash and Archicad student version; and honorable mentions of Archicad student version licenses.

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 the building industry. Founded in 1982, Graphisoft is ranked today among the largest AEC CAD software developers in the world, with 12 offices all over the world in addition to its headquarters. Graphisoft’s flagship product, Archicad, is used by more than 75,000 architects worldwide and distributed in 25 languages and 80 countries. Shares of Graphisoft are traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange Neuer Markt under the symbol GPH. More information about Graphisoft is available at www.graphisoft.com.