Contests / Calzavara Tower Coating Design / Brief
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CONTEST TYPOLOGY: SINGLE - NEW IDEA (What’s this?)
BRIEF
Summary
Calzavara and Desall are looking for ideas to create new coatings that contribute to defining the aesthetics of telecommunications towers, improving their integration into the urban landscape, and transforming them into architectural icons.
• Calzavara has launched another contest! To learn more, visit this page.
Company description
Calzavara is an Italian company renowned globally for revolutionising the concept of telecommunications infrastructure. With a legacy spanning over 50 years, Calzavara has consistently led the industry by transforming traditional telecommunications structures into architectural masterpieces that seamlessly blend functionality with aesthetic appeal. From the outset, the company’s vision has been to integrate telecommunications structures harmoniously into urban landscapes, thereby revolutionising the concept of connectivity. Today, Calzavara stands at the forefront of innovation, spearheading the development of multifunctional structures designed to accommodate not only antennas but also a comprehensive array of enabling technologies for the Smart City. This commitment to excellence, coupled with Italian design elegance and unwavering engineering innovation, forms the cornerstone of Calzavara’s success as it continues to shape the future of telecommunications infrastructure worldwide.
Resources
The brief is available in the following languages:
- English
- Italian
Download the Material files.
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What we are looking for
Calzavara is looking for ideas for new aesthetic coatings dedicated to telecommunications towers, specifically suitable for installation on its own collection of architectural towers. To examine the reference tower and a series of additional information, please refer to the downloadable Material files.
Solutions that manage to combine different materials, with particular attention to ecological and sustainable ones, will be of greater interest. Additionally, proposals that integrate technological elements into the coatings, capable of reducing the structure’s management costs or generating income through the sale of advertising space, will be appreciated. However, it is essential that these elements do not compromise the aesthetics and harmony with the installation environment.
Guidelines
To ensure the proper development of your projects, carefully consider the following guidelines:
Project type
Calzavara’s telecommunications towers are an innovative solution to bring cellular connectivity to high-profile urban environments without impacting the landscape aesthetically. These towers are designed to host antennas and radio equipment, concealing them behind an architectural coating. You are invited to design the aesthetic coating of the architectural towers, considering every aspect: the selection of materials and textures to be printed on the coating, the design of lighting to enhance the aesthetic appeal even during nighttime, the integration of technological elements that perform additional functions besides aesthetics, such as solar panels, LED screens, etc. To examine the reference tower and some examples of currently used coatings, please refer to the downloadable Material files.
Style and aesthetic
The style of the coatings should be modern, technology-oriented, green, and sustainable. No specific colour constraints are provided.
The aesthetic elements should be visually appealing and evoke pleasant emotions in the observer, combining innovation and functional solutions to create a positive and significant impact on the urban landscape.
Features/functionality
The primary function of the coating is to provide aesthetic value to the structure. However, the coating design could also integrate technological elements useful for reducing management costs and enhancing sustainability. For example, solar panels could reduce electricity costs, while the integration of advertising panels and LED screens could generate revenue from advertising space.
The components must fit within the space allocated for the coating. The interior of the structure should not be obstructed to allow passive ventilation through the chimney effect and to ensure that personnel can safely and easily access the internal ladder used for maintenance.
Dimensions
The architectural towers have a triangular base (each side is approximately 3 metres long) and a height ranging from 24 to 42 metres, with a modular structure of 6 metres. The current coatings are modular and anchor to a steel frame of H=3m x W=2m. The frame is designed to be attached to the structure.
Weight
The weight of the coatings is a relevant factor as it affects the load capacity of the structure. Coatings that are too heavy must be excluded. The panels currently used for the coating are made of plastic material and weigh approximately 150 kg each (coating + steel frame).
Materials and Finishes
Any material is permitted as long as it is readily available on the market and suitable for industrial production processes. Solutions that successfully combine different materials, with a particular focus on ecological and sustainable options, will be of greater interest.
In the section intended to house the antennas, it is crucial to use only radio-transparent materials (that do not block radio waves). This is necessary to ensure proper transmission and reception of signals, avoiding interference that could compromise the performance of telecommunications infrastructure. Therefore, designs must consider this constraint, ensuring that the materials chosen for the coating in that specific area do not interfere with the functionality of the antennas.
The surfaces of the coatings can be designed in two variations:
- Flat: Customizable with films, prints, etc.
- Textured: Featuring textures and customizable with materials such as wooden slats, composite aluminium panels, plastic prints that replicate three-dimensional forms (fake stone, vegetation, or other), etc.
To view some examples of currently used coatings, please refer to the downloadable Material files.
Usage Locations
The architectural towers will always be installed in high-profile outdoor locations such as: airport or stadium parking lots, shopping centres, and urban roundabouts.
Submission materials
Provide detailed descriptions and up to 5 images to effectively present your projects. Images should be in 4:3 format, with .jpg, .gif or .png file formats acceptable. The colour mode should be RGB and the maximum size of a single file should be 1 MB.
To better evaluate your proposals, you are invited to upload:
- Description/Vision of the Project, PDF file. A text describing the design concept, the materials used, the technologies employed, and the rationale behind the design choices. Explanations on how the design meets the contest requirements and project objectives.
- 3D Renderings, Raster files (jpg, png, tiff) in high resolution showing the proposed design from various angles and photorealistic images set in context to visualise the final appearance of the project.
- Graphics and Textures, Vector files (pdf, eps, ai) if the proposal includes graphics and textures applied to panels.
- Technical Sheets of Materials/Technologies, PDF file. Sheets detailing the materials used, the technologies employed, and the reasons behind the design choices.
You’re also invited to use the designated field on the Upload page to attach a .zip file containing 3D files and high-resolution versions of the project images. The maximum file size for the .zip archive is 100MB.
Judging criteria
Entries will be judged by the Sponsor based on the following criteria:
Aesthetic Quality 5/5
Degree of Innovation 4/5
Functionality 4/5
Technical Feasibility 3/5
Economic Feasibility 3/5
Language
Desall is an international community, so all texts (abstract, description, tags, etc.) must be written in English.
Contest timeline
Upload Phase: 22 July 2024 – 22 October 2024 (1:59 PM UTC)
Concept Review: 23 September 2024 (1:59 PM UTC)
Client Voting: from 22 October 2024
Winner Announcement: approximately by the end of February 2025 [Updated]
Concept review (optional)
Participants have the opportunity to request an optional review of their project by the Desall team by the date indicated above. To do so, they must 1) save their project as a draft from the upload page and 2) send a request to the Desall team via email at contest@desall.com or through the contact form. This review is entirely optional and only provides an opportunity for participants to receive feedback but does not constitute a necessary condition for participation or provide any advantage in the final evaluation by the Sponsor.
Eligibility and submission
Participation is free and open to creative talents of any nationality aged 18 or older. Participants may submit one or more projects, but only projects published on the website www.desall.com from the upload page dedicated to the contest will be accepted.
Award
1°: €3000
The selection of the winner by the Sponsor will be the result of an unquestionable evaluation and it will take into account originality, feasibility and consistency of submitted projects with the presented brief.
Extra Award (option right fee)
€1500
Throughout the duration of the option right, the Sponsor offers an additional opportunity to all participants by setting the compensation of €1500 for the purchase of the licence for the economic exploitation of projects not recognized as winning proposals. For more information, log in and read the Upload from the Upload page. For questions about the brief, use the “Have a question” button or write to contest@desall.com.
Language
Since we are an international Community, all texts provided with your uploads (abstract, description, tags, etc.) should be written in English.
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Desall required files
Minimum 1 image, up to 5.
Recommended dimensions: 960 x 720px (player size) ; allowed format: .jpg , .gif , .png; color mode: RGB;
allowed resolution: 72 dpi ; max file (for each one) size: 1 mb.
