We invite designers and multidisciplinary artists to submit designs for the temporary central pavilion of the 2022 Seattle Design Festival.
The pavilion will greet Festival attendees and serve as an ideal hub for pop-up programming at the SDF Block Party. The pavilion should be designed in such a way as to allow all or portions of the design to be utilized as a visual anchor at other Festival events, such as the Sneak Peek and Closing Party. We invite creative thinkers who are interested in engaging the broader Seattle community in design to submit their designs. The competition is open to established and emerging design teams and individuals. Multidisciplinary teams are strongly encouraged!
The winning design team will be granted $10,000 to cover design hours, materials, fabrication, and installation.
Competition closes on March 20 at 5 pm PST. Already reviewed the Competition Brief?
Access our Submission site here.
Frequently Asked Questions
What will happen to the winning design?
The winning design will be announced on May 4 at our spring fundraising event. The winning design team will receive their award and work, in communication with Festival organizers, to produce their proposed design. This design must be delivered and installed at the Block Party on our load-in day, August 19. Once delivered, the winning design will become the property of the Seattle Design Festival to be reused as our visual anchor and information hub for future Festival programming.
Why do we need to develop clear instructions for installation and tear down?
We hope to reuse this visual anchor, and smaller portions of it, at multiple Festival elements! We are also looking to use the pavilion in future years. This approach is in line with our sustainability goals and is, in part, how we are able to provide a $10,000 award. Clear instructions will enable the Festival team to install and teardown in future years and offsite Festival events.
What costs is the $10,000 award intended to cover?
Festival organizers are pleased to offer an award to help cover costs associated with design, fabrication, transportation to Lake Union Park, and installation time.
How exactly will the Pavilion be used?
In the past, the SDF Pavilion has served as the welcome, check-in area, and information booth for the Block Party. For this competition, we’re asking design teams to consider how this functional structure can also act as a visual anchor. Ideally, the winning design could be assembled/dissembled in under an hour, allowing for portions of the design to act as smaller visual anchors across town for the Festival closing party and other community activations.
Can teams submit more than one design for this competition?
There is no limit on how many designs you can submit for this competition, however, each submission must be entered separately as unique entries on our submission platform.
Are there additional transportation and storage dimensions that teams should take into consideration?
The constructed design should have a minimum footprint of 15×15 feet but no larger than 20×20. However, it is important that your design pack down into small, manageable packs. The Festival organizers typically rent a UHaul for the Festival. Our preference would be that the design can fit in a standard cargo van (9’6″ x 5’7″ x 4’8”). The smaller pack, the better! We are a small team made up primarily of volunteers, so think lightweight and easy to transport.
Where can we see images of past SDF Pavilions and Festival programming?
If you haven’t already, please browse the Seattle Design Festival Flickr Pool. You’ll be able to see past iterations of the Pavilion and get a sense of what SDF looks and feels like!