Pavilion Of Humanity:
First Contact

Competition introduction

Competition organisers

The Earth is in a chaotic and confusing state right now, with the future of our society not entirely clear. But in a world of COVID-19 and climate change, now is the time to reflect on the positive aspects of humanity and its many great achievements.

The Pavilion Of Humanity: First Contact architecture ideas competition tasks participants with designing a structure encapsulating the best and brightest of our species in a way that, should we ever be visited by other life forms, would allow them to learn about our achievements in a single space.

In the same way the Pioneer Plaques, placed on board the 1972 Pioneer 10 and 1973 Pioneer 11 spacecrafts, tell a pictorial story of humanity, the Pavilion of Humanity should represent the human race through architecture. The Pioneer Plaques included figures of a man and a woman, the sun and galactic landmarks, a schematic diagram of the Solar System, and a silhouette of the spacecraft. These drawings were designed to give extraterrestrials a basic understanding of humanity and the Earth.

[left] The illustration on the Pioneer plaque

Participants are asked to choose a site of their liking anywhere in the world, and as long as the structure is located on Earth and obeys the basic laws of physics, anything else goes. This is an opportunity for architecture and design enthusiasts to stretch the limits of their imagination and reflect on the greatest and most influential achievements of humanity.

What would you be most proud to show extraterrestrial visitors and how would you want to communicate our greatest accomplishments through architecture?

Download full competition brief for more information!

Competition is open to all. No professional qualification is required. Design proposals can be developed individually or by teams (4 team members maximum). Correspondence with organizers must be conducted in English; All information submitted by participants must be in English.