Field Constructs Design Competition (FCDC)

The competition seeks to foster cutting-edge innovation through works that actively engage with natural and cultural factors specific to Austin and its surrounding region. As one of the fastest-growing American cities, Austin’s character is continually evolving, as is the relationship between its urban fabric and the natural landscape. The competition’s site, the Circle Acres Nature Preserve in the Montopolis neighborhood, showcases the embedding of a natural landscape within the city, to the benefit of both community and environment. The specific site allows the participants to critically and creatively explore two sets of issues: (1) the capacity for public art and design to attract interest and attention to a part of the city that may otherwise be perceived as peripheral, remote, or underutilized; and (2) the potential for temporary, smallscale installations to serve as opportunities to generate, apply, and test innovative thinking with regard to site-specificity, environmental impact, and the use of new technological advancements in design.