macau [ morphosis ]: WATERFRONT FUN PALACE is our first architecture competition to invite architecture students, young architects, landscape architects and planners to envision: What could be post-casino entertainments for Macau? Like the original Fun Palace was conceived to promote art, culture, technology and science or the 2014 reinterpretation: FUN PALACES realised the utopian idea in many communities across the UK, and internationally, to encourage cultural participation.
The original Fun Palace –
is an architectural concept co-created by theatre director Joan Littlewood and architect Cedric Price in 1961:
“Choose what you want to do … dance, talk or be lifted up to where you can see how other people make things work. Sit out over space with a drink and tune in to what’s happening elsewhere in the city. Try starting a riot or beginning a painting – or just lie back and stare at the sky”
However, the Fun Palace never realised.
The new interpretation of Fun Palace –
the utopian idea remained; it materialised differently. In 2014, the Fun Palaces project kick-started an experimental approach — an annual festival takes over cities with temporary fun palaces — on 4 and 5 October across the UK and far away
In the spirit of a ‘laboratory of fun’, we launch the mOOO’s first architecture competition to create a platform to discuss a simple yet challenging idea of social spaces for fun. We revitalised a utopian vision that serves as a particular lens to look at the city of Macau and thus, it creates a focus to initiate a productive discussion. What is next for Macau?