Architecture at Zero 2024

There are four parts to this competition:

1. Entrants will create an overall site plan to accommodate the program. Entrants are encouraged to highlight any energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy storage, and carbon reduction strategies or systems shown.
2. Entrants will design the building in detail, demonstrating how the design will result in lower carbon emissions and embodied carbon, and addressing the requirements of the California Title 24 Building Energy Efficiency Standards. In order to indicate how the building design will result in lower carbon emissions, entrants will provide required documentation and may also include supplementary documentation.
3. Entrants are asked to describe how this project will build resilience. Entrants will be asked to complete a table outlining the inclusion of climate adaptation strategies and indicate on the site plan or section aspects of design strategies that support resiliency.
4. Entrants are asked to consider how their design addresses equity for the community. Entrants will be asked to write a short essay and indicate on the site plan or section aspects of design strategies that support equity.

Entries are judged holistically on their submission including the material highlighting the decarbonization, resilience, and equity aspects of their project.  A Technical Review Panel will convene to consider the decarbonization strategies of each entry. This Technical Evaluation is then provided to the Jury for consideration.  The Technical Evaluation is not the sole criterion on which entries will be judged but acts as a complement to the overall project design evaluation.

Entries are weighed individually, not in competition with others. Jury decisions will be based solely on the materials submitted. Criteria include quality of design, resolution of the program or idea, innovation, thoughtfulness, and technique.

ABOUT VISALIA AND THE CENTRAL VALLEY OF CALIFORNIA

The Central Valley of California is one of the most productive agricultural regions on the planet, providing more than half of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts grown in the United States. More than 7 million acres (28,000 km2) of the valley are irrigated via an extensive system of reservoirs and canals.

One of the larger cities in the region is Visalia, the seat of Tulare County. The economy of the city of Visalia is driven by agriculture, especially grapes, olives, and citrus. About 138,000 people live in the city, and the population is predominantly Hispanic (53%) and white (36%). The city boasts a vibrant downtown with a number of striking murals.

About 60 miles east of Visalia is an area called “the Land of Giants” in the Sequoia National Forest, dramatic landscape testifies to nature's size, beauty, and diversity—huge mountains, rugged foothills, deep canyons, vast caverns, and the world's largest trees.

ABOUT THE FARMWORKERS OF THE CENTRAL VALLEY

Professional farmworkers who know how to do a number of different jobs, whether it be pruning or picking or crafting, they see themselves as professionals, and they take a lot of pride in that work. They don't see themselves as doing work that is demeaning.

Dolores Huerta

Farmworkers are traditionally defined as persons whose primary incomes are earned through permanent or seasonal agricultural labor, an essential component of California’s agriculture industry. Farmers and farmworkers are the cornerstone of the larger food sector, which includes the industries that provide farmers with fertilizer and equipment; farms to produce crops and livestock; and industries that process, transport, and distribute food to consumers.

Farmworker households often include extended family members. Many farmworker households tend to have difficulties securing safe, decent, and affordable housing, and are often forced to occupy substandard homes or live in overcrowded situations. Additionally, farmworker households tend to have high rates of poverty, low homeownership rates, and are predominately members of minority groups.

Migrant farmworkers may also be individuals who travel not only across county lines but also from one major geographic region of California to another to find work. Travel for work prevents them from returning to their primary residence every evening. Many migrant farmworkers are single males, most of whom are married and migrate alone to support their families who live at home base. Many farmworkers are of Hispanic (LatinX) heritage and enjoy gathering with family and friends in their homes and public gathering spaces.

The Architecture at Zero competition challenge focuses on families in permanent residence in Visalia, not individual farmworkers traveling to multiple locations throughout the state.

DEADLINES

The submission deadline is December 16, 2024, at 6:00 pm PST.

Please note that the Architecture at Zero competition uses an electronic registration process. If you are submitting multiple projects, you will need to register each project separately.

By submitting a project, the entrant agrees to all Terms and Conditions outlined in the Architecture at Zero Terms and Conditions.  In any public use of the submissions, credit will be given to the design team. All submissions are final.