Adelaide Contemporary International Design Competition

New art destination will combine gallery with public sculpture park and showcase South Australia’s exceptional collection of international and Australian, including Aboriginal, art

• Two-stage competition seeks outstanding design team for new Adelaide landmark
• Prominent site on Adelaide’s celebrated North Terrace boulevard is adjacent to the historic Adelaide Botanic Garden and close to the Art Gallery of South Australia
• Adelaide Contemporary’s world-first Gallery of Time will draw from the State’s collection to place Aboriginal art and culture in conversation with work from European and Asian cultures
• Competition is open to international and Australian architects – with a requirement for international practices to link with Australian firms at Stage Two
• Stage Two honorarium of AU$90,000 for each of up to six teams
• First stage deadline: 21:30 ACDT / 11:00 GMT Friday 24 November 2017

The Government of South Australia through Arts South Australia and Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC) today [19 October 2017] launched the Adelaide Contemporary International Design Competition.

This is a global search for a design team for a unique art destination within Australia. Combining a contemporary art gallery with a public sculpture park and meeting place, Adelaide Contemporary will be ‘uniquely Adelaide’, a focus for the cultural energies of this ‘City of Festivals’, which is known for a progressive culture that prizes engagement and participation.

A new landmark on the city’s celebrated North Terrace boulevard, Adelaide Contemporary will benefit from a site adjacent to the historic Adelaide Botanic Garden and close to the acclaimed Art Gallery of South Australia. The initiative will combine new public and cultural features, creating an accessible community meeting place and integrating art, education, nature and people.

Adelaide is located on the traditional lands of the Kaurna people and the project site – part of the former Royal Adelaide Hospital site – and its surroundings are rich in Kaurna heritage.

The former Royal Adelaide Hospital site will undergo a transformation into an innovative, mixed-use contemporary urban quarter, led by Renewal SA, the Government of South Australia’s regeneration agency. Adelaide Contemporary is a key element in the emerging vision.

Adelaide Contemporary’s unique curatorial signature will be shown in its Gallery of Time, which will curate the State’s exceptional collection of Aboriginal art and present Indigenous Australian art and culture alongside work by Asian and European artists.

First stage deadline: 21:30 ACDT / 11:00 GMT Friday 24 November 2017

Details of the public exhibition will follow in April 2018. The winner announcement is anticipated to be in early to mid-June 2018.