Concepts for Gates & Fences are widely solicited.
In Japan, Gates & Fences function not only as a partition between private and public property, but undertake roles in enhancing the beauty of the streets, and in extending welcome to visitors in unison with the natural beauty of the garden.
The expectations of this competition are for proposals incorporating the essence behind these functions, such as "human interaction", "lifestyle", and "environment".
In particular, this competition seeks ideas upheld by such principles, which are also "marketable". We look forward to receiving proposals of outstanding ideas breaking through the traditional concept while being realistic at the same time.

Grand Prix Award: 1
A 500,000 yen cash prize will be awarded to the most outstanding design selected by the jury--taking a leap forward while being realistic.
Runner-up: 1
A 100,000 yen cash prize will be awarded to an outstanding design, innovative but realistic.
(*Contestants wishing to receive the cash prize in US$ will receive the amount at the exchange rate effective on the day of winner announcement.)
Excellence Awards: 5
A memorial will be awarded as a supplementary prize to outstanding entries escaping selection as the Grand Prix or Runner-up.

Additionally, all entries will be evaluated in terms of marketability. For this, priority negotiation rights for merchandizing of all entries will rest with Takenaka Seisakusyo, Co. Ltd. In the event an entry is selected for merchandizing, application for copyright, design rights, etc. is the responsibility of the entrant.
Upon merchandizing, a contract will be drawn between Takenaka Seisakusyo, Co. Ltd. and the creator of the concept, for payment of royalty fees reflecting sales.

Jury Chair
Masayuki Kurokawa (Architect)
President, Kurokawa Masayuki Architectural Design Office
http://www.k-system.net/
President, Society of Research and Design
http://www.k-system.net/butsugaku/
President, DESIGNTOPE
http://www.designtope.net/
Professor, Research Institute of Art, Kanazawa College of Art
http://www.kanazawa-bidai.ac.jp/

Jurors
Shinichiro Sugiyama
General Manager, Exterior Products Department,
Rain Gutters and Exterior Building Products Division,
Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd.

Kenji Tada
Director of Development,
Shikoku Corp.

Ken Toyooka
General Manager, Product Planning Department, Exterior Products Division,
YKK AP, Inc.

Masaaki Kondoh
Artistic Building Materials Managing Director,
Takenaka Seisakusyo, Co. Ltd.

(*All dates given in Japan Standard Time)
Application for entry: July 10, 2003 - October 10, 2003
Submission of entries: July 20, 2003 - October 20, 2003
Announcement of results: Late November, 2003
Exhibition: Late December, 2003
Award testimonials: Late January, 2004
(Testimonials will be mailed in lieu of an awards ceremony.)

Notification will be made only to the winners, with presentation of the winning entries on web at this site.

Limited to registered members of DESIGNTOPE (fee: 300 yen/month).
Those wishing to submit entries, please click on the MEMBERSHIP button to apply for DESIGNTOPE membership.
DESIGNTOPE membership IDs required for registration in the competition will be mailed to you upon completion of membership registration.

Student entries
In accordance with DESIGNTOPE policy, schools or department labs wishing for student participation in this competition as research projects may submit multiple entries by multiple numbers of students through the membership registration of one representative member.

Group entries
In submitting an entry as a group, please process the application under the name of one representative member, followed by the inscription, "and x (number of) others". In announcing the prize-winning entries, the names of all members of the group will be introduced together with the group name.

Entry registrations should be sent by clicking on the SUBMIT button on the Registration page.
Applications will be confirmed by mail from the Secretariat.

1) Required documentation
1. One 3D image depicting principal features
2. One supplementary 3D image (with captions/notations describing the concept)
3. One diagram giving principal dimensions
4. Description of the concept, and comments on materials used, processing methods, and structure. The official language for descriptive text will be English. Contestants capable of presenting the material in Japanese, please do so in addition to the English text. English text must be approximately 200 words.
5. Image for Web use
The principal 3D image submitted as (1) above must also be submitted as a 230x230 pixel image, for web use in announcement of results and a web exhibition.

2) Notice
1. In the interest of maintaining impartiality through the judgment process, do not include any notations indicating authorship such as names on the images.

2. The type/method of 3D image-preparation is unspecified. Model photographs, hand-drawn sketches, 3D computer graphics, or any other form of presentation may be used.

3. All entries must be unpublished works.

3) Formats, resolutions, and image sizes
1. File formats: GIF (animations accepted)
2. Resolution: 72 dpi (pixel/inch)
3. Size: Required documents 1) 1, 2, and 3 must be submitted as images measuring 500x500 pixels
4. File size: Each image file must be under 300KB File name: Name each file with half-em English alphabet and Arabic numeral combinations, followed by the file extension (.gif, .doc) etc.
(eg.: compefile1234.gif)

As described above, documentation required upon submission for each entry will be 4 image files and 1 document file, a total of 5 files.

Prior registration is required before submission of entries. Following registration, submit all entries via the Entry Form (following indicated procedures and clicking on the SUBMIT button).

[ Submission period ]
July 20, 2003 - October 20, 2003
*Submissions outside this time frame will not be accepted.
*Please note that entries will NOT be accepted in the form of mail file attachments.
*Receipt of entries will be acknowledged by mail.

Copyright and design rights are the property of the entrant, although as candidates for merchandizing, priority negotiation rights for all entries will rest with Takenaka Seisakusyo, Co. Ltd. Regarding all entries, the organizers retain the right to exhibit winning entries (including exhibitions on web), the right to reproduce the works in print, and all other forms of media use. In addition, the awards are subject to cancellation in the event any infringement of copyright (imitation, plagiarism) is suspected, at any time, even after announcement of the results.

An exhibition will be held on web, at this DESIGNTOPE site.

Direct inquiries to:
DESIGNTOPE Competition Secretariat

compe@designtope.net

However, details regarding selection standards will not be disclosed. Please refer to the instructions on the registration form and the FAQs regarding questions on application procedure.