HHCC International Site Plan and Architecture Design Competition , Birmingham / Vereinigte Staaten

 

David and Channie Hall Foundation

The Hall Heritage Center at Campsite 1

 

While at a restaurant, David Hall (1905-1972) overheard organizers discussing the need for campsites for their march from Selma to Montgomery. As one of  few black landholders in the area, Hall offered his property. On March 21, 1965, 300 marchers spent the evening on Hall’s farm, Campsite 1, after their seven-mile walk from Selma, along Route 80. They rested their feet, ate spaghetti on paper plates, gathered around campfires, and slept in four large tents on the property while the Alabama National Guard kept watch. The evening was cold, and as a few restless marchers gathered around fires for warmth, they discussed the perils ahead as they prepared to march through Lowndes County the next day. Fueled by oatmeal and eager to make the 17-mile trek to Rosa Steele’s farm, the marchers left the campsite by 8am. 

 

The marchers spent a little more than twelve hours at Hall’s farm, but his invaluable participation that supported the voting rights movement cost him dearly: banks closed his accounts and denied credit; without lines of credit he could no longer operate his farm;  the Ku Klux Klan regularly threatened him.  In 2021, the Hall family reclaimed and reconstituted Hall‘s property as a farm with the USDA. The David Hall Foundation was founded in 2022, aiming to initiate work at the site ahead of the 60th anniversary of the 1965 Voting Rights March in 2025. 

 

As a temporary refuge for the marchers, the Hall Farm is a critical site along the Selma To Montgomery National Historic Trail and this competition seeks to expand engagement and enrichment opportunities for the site. This ideas competition welcomes proposals for creating architectural and landscape interventions at the site that will enhance cultural awareness while supporting education and research initiatives amid an environment grounded in service and sustainability. The site for this competition includes original land from the Hall farm, but it does not disrupt any of the areas near the actual campsite.

 

The site is comprised of two parcels: one 25 acres and one 5 acres. These areas may be combined within the proposal. 

 

Participants are free to propose additional features of functions. Elements of the program may be combined into major and minor structures, but site plans should address opportunities for phasing.

 

The competition is open to ALL; no professional qualifications are needed. Students of architecture, landscape architecture, and design, as well as emerging professionals (less than five years from graduation) are particularly encouraged to participate. Entries will be accepted for individuals as well as teams; however, teams should be made up of no more than four members. Correspondence with organizers must be conducted in English and all submissions must be in English.

 

Registration opens: March 21, 2022 

Registration closes: May 14, 2022 11:59pm CST 

Entry portal opens: June 1, 2022 11:59pm CST 

Submission deadline: June 30, 2022 11:59pm CST 

Result announcement: September 1, 2022