ABOUT THE DESIGN

Q: Can my designed INTERRUPTION have multiple sites?
A: Yes. 

Q: Do I need to specify the location of my design?
A: Yes, you should specify the place and country of your INTERRUPTION site in your supporting statement. You will also be asked to input the location coordinates of your site in latitude and longitude into the online competition platform.

Q: What location do I enter into the online competition platform if my design has multiple sites?
A: If you have more than one site, write "Multiple Sites" and input the location details of one or two primary sites. e.g., Multiple sites worldwide – Philadelphia, USA (39.9523, -75.1926), Beijing, China (39.9166, 116.3833), etc. 

Q: How do I find the coordinates of my site?
A: You can easily find the coordinates of your site using Google Maps. Just right click the location of your design and the coordinates will appear. You can copy and paste it directly into the platform when you make your submission.

Q: Does my design have to be in a city?
A: No. You can locate your design anywhere you like.

Q: Does my site have to be terrestrial?  **NEW**
A: No. If you can answer the brief off-land, or even off-earth, go for it!

Q: Can I erase buildings, infrastructure, or other things to make way for my design?
A: Yes, but your text should explain the value of doing this.

Q: Is it OK to hypothetically relocate a community to realize my design?
A: Yes, but your text should explain briefly why it’s necessary to do so.

Q: Do I have to comply with any regulations governing my site?  **NEW**
A: No. 

Q: Do I have to show a benefit stemming from my designed INTERRUPTION?
A: Yes. Your design should productively interrupt its cultural and spatial context in some way. It can do this by injecting something new and different to make a meaningful and beneficial change.

Q: What is considered beneficial and how do I show a benefit stemming from my designed INTERRUPTION?
A: Benefits are necessarily context dependent. Designers can set their own parameters as to what is beneficial in the specific context and these parameters should be explained in your supporting statement. For example, in some contexts a very small intervention could be beneficial to the economy, ecology, and/or culture of the place.

Q: Are there any limits to the form or content of my INTERRUPTION?
A: Your designed interruption could be anything —an artwork, a space, a thing, a garden, a performance, a program, an institution, a barrier, an opening, an intervention, an ambience, a catalyst, a folly—just make sure it is physically located on a site or sites and that it answers the brief, i.e. that it somehow productively interrupts its cultural and spatial context.

Q: Does the thing being INTERRUPTED have to be physical? **NEW**
A: No. For example, your intervention could be designed to interrupt a particular policy; however, the INTERRUPTION itself must be spatially realized.

Q: Does the INTERRUPTION have to be permanent?  **NEW**
A: No, but you should give us a sense of the timeline of your intervention in the supporting statement, and don’t forget that you need to demonstrate some value stemming from the INTERRUPTION.

Q: Is there a prescribed scale?
A: No. Your design can be at any scale, but please specify a scale on your plan, which should be incorporated into sheet 2.

Q: Do I need to provide a plan?
A: Yes. A scaled plan is required to be included in sheet 2 of your submission.

Q: Can I provide a scaled plan-oblique instead of a straight plan?  **NEW**
A: We understand that sometimes a concept is more architectural in nature and might be easier to show using a plan-oblique rather than a straight plan. If that’s the case with your project - go for it! Just make sure the plan-oblique is scaled and placed on sheet 2 of your submission.

Q: Do I need to provide a section?
A: A section is not required by the competition, but may be featured in your supporting imagery if you wish.

Q: What do you mean by “concept image” on sheet 1?
A: The image that a magazine or newspaper would publish to best convey or market your concept in a single image. In other words, give us your design’s best view!


ENTRIES + SUBMISSIONS

Q: Who can enter LA+ INTERRUPTION?
A: The competition is open to students and professionals from any discipline and from anywhere in the world. No professional qualifications are required to enter.

Q: Can we submit a team entry?
A: Yes; however, teams are strictly limited to a maximum of three (3) persons. No exceptions, so please don’t ask.

Q: Can we submit an entry on behalf of a professional office?
A: Absolutely, but the maximum team member rule still applies. Individual team members (a maximum of 3) must be specified by name in the official entry. There’s a space to do that on the online form.

Q: What will the judges be looking for?
A: Conceptual rigor, research, novelty, ingenuity, and imagination. You should aim to strike a balance between feasibility and idealism.

Q: Do I need to conform with the Competition Template?
A: Yes. It’s important that submissions conform to the page dimensions provided in the LA+ INTERRUPTION Competition Template, which is designed to assist journal layout for awarded entries and other entries selected for publication. The competition template is available for download in .pdf, .indd, and .idml formats. Please note that while Sheets 1 + 2 are required to enter LA+ INTERRUPTION, Sheet 3 is optional. Each image file must be under 10MB and with a minimum of 300dpi resolution — .jpeg, .jpg, .tif, .tiff image files are accepted. Do not reveal your name or other identifying information on your image files.

Q: What’s the significance of the margin lines indicated on the Competition Template?
A: The margin lines are included for layout reference. It is important to consider that you are producing your competition graphics with the goal of having them published in LA+! You may wish to consult previous LA+ competition publications to see how entries have been laid out in print.

The primary layout consideration is to ensure that your entry conforms to the page dimensions shown on the template. Sheet 1 should be 8.75 x 10.5 inches (that’s the page size of LA+ Journal) and in portrait orientation, and Sheet 2 and the optional Sheet 3 should be 17.5 x 10.5 inches (that’s a full double-page spread of LA+ Journal) and in landscape orientation. Images can bleed in any direction to the edge of the page; but if you do want to use margins in your design (to leave negative space around your images), we ask that you align to the margins provided, as it helps us achieve visual conformity across the publication.

Q: What sort of things constitute “supporting imagery” for Sheet 2 (and the optional Sheet 3)?
A: Images, design details, sections, views, supporting data, artistic evocations, photographs of models, artworks, illustrations, infographics, anything you like! Both Sheets 2 and Sheet 3 should be 17.5 x 10.5 inches and in landscape orientation, as per the Competition Template. Sheet 3 is optional.

Q: Do I have to provide 3 sheets of imagery?
A: No, only Sheets 1 and 2 are required. Sheet 3 is optional. Use it if you feel you need extra space to convey your design ideas.

Q: Can I provide more than 3 sheets of imagery?
A: No, only 3 sheets are permitted. You must provide Sheets 1 + 2 to enter. Sheet 3 is optional.

Q: How important is the supporting statement?
A: The supporting statement is a very important part of your submission and will be judged along with your design. It should be under 300 words supporting and explaining the what, why, where, how, and benefit of your designed INTERRUPTION. The text should be of publishable quality. Spellcheck it! DO NOT reproduce your supporting statement on the image sheets. Instead, you will be asked to input your statement online separately during the submission process. This is to enable judges to be able to read the statement easily and also for the journal to print the statement to introduce your design if it is awarded.

Q: Should the supporting statement appear on the image sheets?
A: No. It is important to note that for layout purposes of the final journal and for ease of reading by the jury that the supporting statement DOES NOT appear on the design sheets. You will be asked to input your statement into the online platform separately during the submission process.

Q: Can any text at all appear on the image sheets?
A: Absolutely, but keep in mind that any text has to be easily readable at the size of the journal, as indicated by the dimensions of the Competition Template. There is a minimum size 6 font. Please SPELLCHECK all text before submission.

Q: Do I need to give my entry a name or title?
A: No.

Q: What file formats do you accept for image submission?
A: .jpeg, .jpg, .tif, .tiff image files are accepted. Files must be under 10MB each and with a minimum of 300dpi resolution.

Q: Are there rules about anonymity and eligibility?
A: Yes. See the Conditions page on this website (tabs above) for details. Participants who breach the conditions and non-conforming entries will be disqualified.

Q: Will you accept physical/mailed submissions?
A: No. All submissions must be made digitally through the competition platform: https://laplus.slideroom.com. See the Submissions page on this website for more details.

Q: Can I submit a physical model, drawing, or artwork of my design?
A: LA+ encourages the production of physical models/drawings to illustrate your INTERRUPTION, but the final submission must be digital images of such content. We don’t accept physical submissions.

Q: Is there an entry fee?
A: Yes. Payment of the competition entry fee of US $50 is the last step before submission. You'll receive official confirmation of your entry upon submission and payment. Major credit and debit cards are accepted.

Q: How do I submit my entry?
A: See the "How to Enter" section on the Submissions page on this website. Submissions must be made through our online platform (https://laplus.slideroom.com) between January 10 and July 1, 2022. You'll be asked to sign up to a SlideRoom account to register your details and review entry requirements. You can log in to progress and finalize your entry at any time. You'll also have a chance to review your materials before final submission and you don't need to pay the entry fee until you submit.

Q: If I entered LA+ IMAGINATION, LA+ ICONOCLAST, or LA+ CREATURE, will my SlideRoom account login be the same?
A: Yes, your login credentials with SlideRoom remain the same, although you may create a new login with a different email address if you wish and you may wish to update your contact details. Note that the team members do not have to be the same as your previous entries – you’ll get a chance to identify your new team members during the entry process.

Q: Can I enter more than once?
A: Yes, you may make multiple entries but you must make a separate application (using a new SlideRoom account under a different email address) and pay a separate fee for each entry.


AWARDS + PUBLICATION

Q: When will I know if I have received an award?
A: Award-winners will be announced on Wednesday, August 31, 2022. Contact will be made within 12 weeks of announcement to arrange transfer of prize monies.

Q: Will I be able to view the winning entries?
A: Yes, winning entries and honorable mentions will be published on this website. They will also be published in LA+ INTERRUPTION (spring 2023), along with interviews with each juror about their thoughts on the competition entries, a Salon Des Refusés of select notable entries, and a feature essay on the theme. Even if you are not a winner, your entry may be selected for publication and/or exhibition. Click here to subscribe to LA+ Journal for $29.90/yr (print) OR $10/YR (digital) for 2 issues. Individual digital issues are $5.95. Our upcoming issues are on the themes GREEN, SPECULATION, and BEAUTY.

Q: What could I win?
A: See About page for details of prize money and awards. Team members of each awarded team will receive a certificate and free print copy of LA+ INTERRUPTION.

Q: If I did not win an award, how will I know if my work will appear in LA+ INTERRUPTION?
A: You'll need to buy the journal in spring 2023 to find out! Select non-winning entries may be published in whole or in part. We’ll be revealing some of the non-winning entries selected for the LA+ INTERRUPTION Salon des Refusés on our social media accounts. You can follow us @LAPlusJournal on twitter, instagram, or facebook by clicking on the icons to the left of your screen.

Q: If my work is chosen for publication, how will it appear in LA+ INTERRUPTION?
A: The way in which entries selected for publication appear in the journal (or associated exhibition or promotion) is solely at the discretion of LA+ Journal and will be subject to considerations of overall layout and aesthetic continuity, among other things. Selected entries may be published in whole or in part. By entering you give LA+ Journal a license to use, publish, exhibit, distribute, edit, alter, and make derivatives of your submitted materials. For further information, see the Conditions of Entry.


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