Van Alen Institute has just launched Opportunity Space: an international design-build competition to create a temporary physical structure that will house programs to foster economic opportunity and social inclusion in Malmö, Sweden.

The winning team will receive a $10,000 prize, a $5,000 travel budget, and up to $25,000 to implement their proposal in and around Malmö’s Enskifteshagen Park. Skanska will provide skilled laborers to lead the construction of the winning proposal, which will house a wide range of social programs for two months in spring 2017.

The competition is the first in our new series of Flash Competitions: challenges that bring together multidisciplinary teams of designers and other experts for short, intense projects in cities around the world to take on urgent societal issues through design.

The deadline to pre-register is Monday, November 7, 2016. Final proposals must be uploaded by 11:59 EST on Friday, November 18, 2016.

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About Van Alen Institute

At Van Alen Institute, we believe design can transform cities, landscapes, and regions to improve people’s lives. We collaborate with communities, scholars, policymakers, and professionals on local and global initiatives that rigorously investigate the most pressing social, cultural, and ecological challenges of tomorrow. Building on more than a century of experience, we develop cross-disciplinary research, provocative public programs, and inventive design competitions.

About White Arkitekter

White Arkitekter was founded by Sidney White in 1951 and is Scandinavia’s leading architectural firm with over 800 employees working in 14 offices in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the UK. Our work is research focused and our expertise encompasses architecture, urban design, landscape architecture and interior design.

For nearly two decades, White has invested in establishing a unique research-based department of highly qualified experts in the field of sustainable design. Our founder’s aim was to improve society through architecture and his legacy lives on in our ambition to contribute towards the building of a sustainable world.

About the City of Malmö

Malmö is the commercial center of southern Sweden and an international city with 300,000 residents representing  approximately 170 different nationalities.
Malmö is undergoing a transition from being an industrial city to a city of knowledge. Older industries have been replaced by investments in new technology, training programs, and infrastructure,including the Öresund Bridge, which connects Malmö to Copenhagen, Denmark. Malmö University, which opened in 1998, is Sweden’s latest venture in the field of higher education, accommodating 24,000 students.

Over the last several years the City of Malmö has received many international awards for its focus on sustainable city development and pilot projects such as Augustenborg and the Western Harbour. Malmö was also appointed as the first Fairtrade City of Sweden.

About Architects Sweden

Architects Sweden is the professional organization for architects, interior architects, landscape architects and spatial planners in Sweden with 12,800 members (including 2,600 students).

About Individuell Människohjälp (IM)

IM is a Swedish member-based organization fighting and exposing poverty and exclusion through development cooperation, integration and Fair Trade. Founded in 1938, IM is currently working in five regions and thirteen countries worldwide.

IM’s international work focuses on people´s right to education, good health and ability to sustain a life in dignity. All projects are implemented in close collaboration with local partner organizations. IMs work in Sweden is focusing on integration and inclusion into society. The strengthening of civil society is both a means and an objective in all activities.

About Skanska

Skanska is one of the world’s leading project development and construction groups with expertise in construction, development of commercial and residential premises, and public-private partnerships projects. Based on its global experience, Skanska aims to be the clients' first choice for Green solutions. The Group currently has 43,100 employees in selected home markets in Europe and North America. Skanska's sales in 2015 totaled SEK 155 billion.

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