International Competition Announced to Design 'Trump Wall' Between USA and Mexico
A US design collective Third Mind Foundation has announced an international design competition to design a wall on the border between the US and Mexico, in response to ideas of border security floated in the US presidential debate.
The real-estate tycoon and leading candidate in the Republican Presidential Primaries, Donald Trump has proposed to tackle the issue of migration by building a wall along the US-Mexican border. The idea is nicknamed ‘The Great Wall of Trump.’ Trump has compared it to the Great Wall of China, promising for a more efficient, modern, and aesthetically pleasing solution – as well as noting that, at a little more than 1,000 miles, the proposed wall would be a fraction of the effort it took to build 13,000 miles of protective wall 2,500 years ago.
Now, in a unique twist, Third Mind Foundation, an art, architecture, and design collective, has launched a design competition to re-conceptualize the US-Mexico border wall. Under the title Building the Border Wall?, the competition is open and anonymous, with the first prize award of $5,000 for the entry that best tackles the practical and conceptual challenges of the proposal.
“Let us be clear: We take no position on this issue. We remain politically neutral,” the organizers have stated. “Rather, we are interested in considering the question from a wealth of perspectives. Is it a feasible idea? Can it ever accomplish its purported goals? Can a barrier have architectural merit? If the answers to these questions is no, then what other alternatives can be proposed? Should the existing barriers be torn down? If so, what might replace them?”
The Foundation notes that the proposed wall would traverse “valley, mountain, river, Indian reservation, private land, state property, even the library of a state university”, making permits a challenge. Engineering and security issues are another area of concern: CNN estimates that the wall would have to extend underground to prevent tunneling, as well as reach the height of at least 20 feet to make scaling difficult. Containing the potentially prohibitive costs of the undertaking will be a major differentiating factor in selecting the winner of the competition. Finally, there is the issue of maintenance costs over the life cycle of the project.
“Are these challenges insurmountable? Is the idea patently ridiculous on a purely practical and moral basis?” the competition organizers have asked. “Are there better solutions to the perceived ‘problem’ of illegal immigration, which, as many have pointed out, is a situation that has been going on for decades, if not centuries and is tacitly exploited by both countries in this debate for its mutual economic benefits? If not a fence or wall, then what? Can the idea of a wall be combined with architectural activism?”
The current barrier between the two countries is a patchwork of fencing, corrugated metal sheets, concrete slabs, surveillance cameras and drones.
The stated goal of the competition is to apply design thinking and aesthetic capacities of architecture to delve beyond the political rhetoric and seriously consider the implications of this issue.
The submissions deadline is August 1, 2016.
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