OCULUS 2008 Editorial Calendar
If you are an architect by training or see yourself as an astute observer of New York’s architectural and planning scene, note that OCULUS editors are looking for writers for the Fall and Winter issues. The themes:

Fall OCULUS: Practice. Focus of this year’s Practice issue is on the architectural office — the culture and decision-making structure of NY-based practices, how the office’s design reflects the culture, along with the views key players in the firm.

Winter OCULUS: Competing for Space. Explore the growing competition between expansionist institutions on limited sites and the interests of adjacent communities, many in residential areas with moderate-income families.

If you’re interested, please contact OCULUS editor-in-chief Kristen Richards. with a brief outline and full contact information.

Summer 2008: closed
Fall 2008: closed
08.01.08 Winter 2008-09: Competing for Space

06.15.08 Call for Entries: Lifecycle Building Challenge
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calls on architects, builders, students, and others to participate in a competition seeking designs that facilitate building material adaptation and reuse, minimize waste, and cut greenhouse gas emissions. Ideas submitted will help jumpstart the building industry to divert more of the 100-million tons of building-related construction and demolition debris sent each year to U.S. landfills. The challenge is open to built and un-built work and has two main categories: Building — an entire building from foundation to roof; and Component, Tool, and Service — a building connector, strategy, or other idea.

08.01.08 Call for Entries: Ashes to Art | scattered
Artists working in all sculptural media are invited to enter the fourth international juried competition to design temporary funerary urns, vessels, reliquaries, and personal memorial art, presented by Northern California-based arts agency, FUNERIA. Work must be original and ultimately useful to keep or disperse the ashes and shell-like particles that remain after cremation. An exhibition will open with an awards reception on 06.26.08 and run through 11.30.08 at Art Honors Life, FUNERIA’s gallery. Cash awards include Best of Show ($1,000), People’s Choice Award ($500), and others to be determined by the jurors and sponsors.

08.01.08 Call for Entries: 2008-9 Rafael Viñoly Architects Grants
Rafael Viñoly Architects will award up to five grants of $60,000 each for studies focused on transformations in the built environment within dynamically changing societies. Proposed projects should emphasize original research focused on any region of the world, though there is particular interest in studies addressing China, the Middle East, Russia, and South America. Citizens of all countries are eligible to apply for the grants individually or in teams. In addition to receiving financial support, Rafael Viñoly Architects Research Fellows may elect to spend a portion of their time in residence at the firm’s NY office.