Oceanic Parliament , Vereinigte Staaten

 

YAC s.r.l.

Young Architects Competitions

Via Borgonuovo 5

40125 Bologna, Italia

 

At the same level as the ruins of Chernobyl, the ship cemeteries on the African coasts, or any other icon of the Anthropocene, the big plastic islands of the Pacific are an environmental catastrophe beyond any possible understanding.

 

Remote and hard to reach, impossible to map or photograph, they only exist in estimates, which anyway refer to a scale that slips away from common understanding and leaves this disaster in a grey zone of silent acquiescence.

 

One of the most evident effects of global pollution is still invisible to the masses and far away from common sensibility.

 

For this reason, in 2013, artist and performer Maria Cristina Finucci gave rise to a great cultural operation, the foundation of the Garbage Patch State, inducing numerous institutional actors to recognize the big plastic islands as a real state.

 

A symbolic act designed to attract attention, which over the years and with various demonstrations was committed to nourishing awareness of such a phenomenon.

 

Today, the time has come for the Garbage Patch State to take the next step: for the first time in its history, it needs a place where the supporters of this project can gather and dialogue, deciding on their own future and initiatives.

 

And what better icon than a floating parliament, designed to stop in major coastal cities, to remind us of the ever-growing threat in our oceans?

 

This is the aim of Oceanic Parliament, to create a manifesto architecture which can be associated with the protection of marine ecosystems, recognizable and recognized as the symbol of a global movement that starts its government, just as the United Nations and any other building which has turned into a plastic image of its own mission and social commitment.

 

YAC thanks all the designers who will take on this challenge.

 

Early Bird Registration (€ 65 / team): October 20, 2025 – November 16, 2025

Standard Registration (€ 85 / team): November 17, 2025 – December 14, 2025

Late Registration (€ 115 / team): December 15, 2025 – January 11, 2026

Material Submission Deadline: January 14, 2026

Jury Summoning: to be defined

Results Announcement: March 2, 2026

 

Maria Cristina Finucci, Artist

Benedetta Tagliabue, Miralles Tagliabue EMBT

Nicola Scaranaro, Foster + Partners

Giulio Rigoni, BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group

Davide Angeli, AMDL CIRCLE

 

1st Prize: € 8000

2nd Prize: € 4000

3rd Prize: € 2000

 

Gold Mention: € 500

Gold Mention: € 500

 

Honorable Mentions

Finalists