Following their placement in the 2011 Open Architecture Challenge for their entry Ecological Processing Zone, the Oakland, California, based engineering group Urban Biofilter launched the next step in their ecological initiative: Adapt Oakland.

Springing from the presentation pieces built for the Challenge, Urban Biofilter recently received substantial grant support from the State of California to continue their project, already three years in development. Based in West Oakland themselves, Urban Biofilter has been working with the community, the neighboring port and the City of Oakland to develop pragmatic interventions to counter the detrimental impacts of living beside the Port. We covered their project presentation last fall and are excited to see their efforts moving forward.

August 27th in Venice, Italy, the [UN]RESTRICTED ACCESS finalist designs were unveiled to the world in physical form (read: presentation boards). "The Bunker" exhibition transformed a hallway of the Palazzo Bembo into an immersive environment for "Future Steps."

More amazingly, representatives (and their partners) from six of the finalist teams were able to make it out for this Biennale VIP Preparty. We'll save details of the event for later (following a certain Design Open Mic presentation), but check out some images from the event below.

(Un)Earthing Tustin team's encounter with local enthusiasm is far from an isolated incident. Ex-base redevelopment presents the kind of mutual benefits communities, designers and cities managing these properties are allowed to discover through the framework of Competition. The hardest part is filling the role of facilitator with an architect aware of the gold in their yard.

At the Venice Biennale, these candidates are being presented in spades. Take a moment perusing our handy "Base Redevelopment Guide" before your big trek to the Palazzo Bembo. (If you're not heading to Venice in the next few months, perhaps the exhibit will come to you...)

On August 7, the Association of Defense Communities Annual Conference in Monterey was buzzing with conversation and questions about future phases of the federal Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). Dozens of American military bases hang on a determination from Congress whether or not to shut down–decisions that will affect the lives of tens of thousands of servicemen and women, and the neighboring communities supporting them.

Architecture for Humanity has joined the conversation.

Winners have been announced for the Open Architecture Challenge: [UN]RESTRICTED ACCESS hosted by Architecture for Humanity. The Founders' Award goes to Paicho Huts, a Ugandan proposal to transform a former IDP camp to benefit rural countrymen. The Winner of the challenge, OCO - Ocean & Coastline Observatory, is a Portuguese proposal to reassign the Trafaria defense batteries outside Lisbon.

On Monday the jury results had been compiled, and we were very impressed and surprised to see so many strong projects. As a result, we have had to restructure the awards to add $1500 in winnings to four equally-deserving runner-up teams. The winners have been identified, and the Challenge coordinators have decided to reach out to each team individually before announcing worldwide the final results. This will take a few days, so bear with us!

With 7 weeks until the Venice Biennale there is plenty to do and we need people to help.

So if you give a damn and you’re in the Venice area, consider volunteering for Architecture fro Humanity.

The wisdom and the experience of the [UN]RESTRICTED ACCESS jury members have spoken. After a hard week of voting, during which time jurors had to make tough decisions between the 200 uploaded entries, the semifinalists have finally been determined. Below are the 24 entries that are still in the competition for the 5 winning places. Up to an additional 5 finalists may be displayed at the Venice Biennale this Fall.

Attention Challenge Teams: We're really excited to see teams have begun posting materials online. Is everyone ready for Venice & Renzo Piano? See below to make sure your "bases" are covered:

First, a reminder (and a clarification) - be sure to upload your Competition materials NO LATER THAN 23:59:59 June 1 Pacific Daylight Time. This translates to 06:59:59 GMT June 2 (for you lucky Eastern Hemispherians), or a second before 3AM for the American East Coast.

We anticipate many teams will be working to the last minute, and strongly recommend materials be uploaded to the Project Pages as soon as they are completed - and avoid the website being really slow moments before the competition closes.

Please download this PDF illustrating a completed Project Page:

Six months after the first registrants decided to enter the Open Architecture Challenge: [Un]Restricted Access and partner together to design post-military environments, registration has now closed and the military bases are all looking forward for their rejuvenation treatment.

May 1 is right around the corner, and the deadline for registration for [UN]RESTRICTED ACCESS is coming along with it. Last week Autodesk announced an incredible contribution of Revit AutoCAD 2012 and SketchBook for competition finalists - software totalling more than $12,000.

Also, all finalist designs will be displayed at the Palazzo Bembo for the Venice Biennale, kicking off this August, and sent on an exhibition world tour.

Specific prizes break down as follows:

The Architecture Biennale in Venice recently granted the design competition [UN]RESTRICTED ACCESS exhibition space for its awarded finalists.

This is a simple notification that the Challenge is extending registration and submission deadlines.

Fort Ord, along Monterey Bay in California, shuttered its doors in 1994. Well, not all of them.

After nearly two decades, the former 44 square mile US Army base (roughly the size of San Francisco) has been reassigned to several new roles, but not nearly all the former military land and structures have been given new life. By 2012, the divisions between functions, active and passive, come to prominence. From area residents to businesses, state schools and municipal government, everyone sees potential for the property, though intentions come into conflict.

Architecture for Humanity's [Un]Restricted Access Challengers may have something to contribute to the conversation.

Jury members for the Open Architecture Challenge [UN]Restricted Access include:

After four months running a design competition, you're introduced to some tricky predicaments by online inquirers. A competition host can't anticipate everything, and a competition like this one's bound to kick up grey areas and unwelcome parallels. We'd like to re-present some of the more beguiling questions coming in.

Challengers

It's a new year and the end of registration is fast approaching (see below). Not sure if you've noticed, but we've been getting a bit of media surrounding the Challenge - expect more now that we've surpassed 125 teams in over 40 countries, with the highest representation coming from Iran (see also below)...which makes it tricky for us, because we don't exactly speak Farsi....All right, we'll try

From the Control Center of the 2011 Open Architecture Challenge, [UN]RESTRICTED ACCESS, we know a lot of things.

We know that the Challenge is picking up more steam all the time. Our new friends at FPIF have recently helped spread word to other blogs and policy fans and we're certainly tickled by that. We know that to date 86 teams from 33 countries and 6 states (CA, FL, IL, OR, WA, WY) of America have ALREADY registered for the competition.

The National Endowment for the Arts recently announced the award of $20,000 to Architecture for Humanity to support the 2011 Open Architecture Challenge: [UN]RESTRICTED ACCESS - transforming military space into civic space.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 24, 2011 -- Architecture for Humanity has launched the 2011 Open Architecture Challenge: [UN] RESTRICTED ACCESS, asking architects and designers to partner with community groups across the world and develop innovative solutions to re-envision closed, abandoned and decommissioning military sites. The six-month competition requires designers to work with the communities surrounding these former places of conflict to transform hostile and oftentimes painful locations, into civic spaces built for the public good.

Architecture for Humanity is pleased to announce the 2011 Open Architecture Challenge: [un]restricted access – a design competition that will re-envision the future of decommissioned military space. This is an open invitation to the global design and construction community to identify retired military installations in their own backyard, to collaborate with local stakeholders, and to reclaim these spaces for social, economic, and environmental good.

We're happy to announce that Egyptian graphic designer Habi Girgis has been selected to develop the logo for the 2011 Open Architecture Challenge: [UN]RESTRICTED ACCESS.

Hey designers!

We are architects so here you go...a question mark is the best we could come up with for the identity of our next challenge.

Where you come in: your mission- should you choose to accept it- is not top secret but of global importance. We’re an international humanitarian-based network of architects who are about to launch a design competition to re-purpose former military installations... but we haven’t figured out how to graphically embody that aim.

It’s about access and we need your creative talent to help us figure out how to best capture its spirit and brand it. Join our campaign, check this RFP link, and submit your work by August 31st and who knows, you just may end up with your own pair of night vision goggles and, oh yeah, $500.