MOHAMMAD SHAHEER LANDSCAPE TROPHY|2020-21

INTRODUCTION

Landscape Design: An Art or Science?

“Intellectuals from the early times till present, those who dared to alter their surroundings, not
only gave purpose to 'space', but also a life to it.
The perception of the environment can be altered through certain specialized fields and
these fields come together to make architecture at large.”
(Quoted from the 63rd NASA Theme 2020-2021 document)

A good Landscape Design is a perfect balance between art, science and nature. It is
artistic because it involves design aesthetics in terms of the outdoor form, space and order.

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It is scientific because it involves logic & understanding of natural processes and systems
along with precise knowledge of the plant world. And the ultimate expression of all this is in
close connect with nature, all of it orchestrated in the larger landscape space. A perfect
balance between the three results into physical experiences that can uplift mental spirits,
expand interactions, and invigorate the lives of people, thus making it meaningful for them.
How can landscape design be all of the above?

THE DESIGN BRIEF

The design brief encourages the participants to explore the act of balance between art,
science and nature and create a landscape design that demonstrates it through a
landscape intervention. How can a landscape intervention be meaningful for its people
while it is a work of Art in itself? How powerfully can it represent an idea or a phenomenon?
Can it respond to natural processes and systems in a direct or an abstract, indirect way?
In what ways can the design include Nature and make people engage with it actively?

SITE SELECTION

The design intent is to transform the identified institutional site into a meaningful landscape
design for user engagement. The participants are required to:

● Identify an/a part of an institutional or public campus (educational/ work-based/

commercial/industrial) with a dominant user group (e.g. students in an educational
campus). The size of the site should range between 2 and 4 acres. The site can be
a single defined identity or a series of smaller land patches within the same campus.
● Study and analyze its potential in terms of its ecological, socio-cultural, aesthetic,
functional values
● Recommend meaningful and innovative design intervention/s that respond to the
idea of LANDSCAPE being an act of delicate balance between ART, SCIENCE and
NATURE.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

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1. The project should be expressed within a maximum of 8-10 A3 size

sheets. The submission MUST include a Design Concept Note of not
more than 200 words in the sheets itself.
2. A presentation (PowerPoint/pdf/any other audio-visual format) of NOT
more than 15 slides or running time of 5 minutes.

EVALUATION FORMAT

The evaluation shall be done in 2 stages, in the following manner:

● Stage 1: Closed jury of all valid entries, declaration of the shortlisted entries
● Stage 2: Open jury with audio/visual presentation by the shortlisted entries.

JUDGEMENT CRITERIA

● Exploration of the research question – understanding of the relationship between

art, science and nature in landscape design and its practical applications.
● Quality of the Central Idea or Concept in the proposed Landscape Design and
the ability of the proponent to explore and to develop thoughtful, functional,
planning and design concepts consistent and supportive of creating a responsive
open space
● Degree of Artistic or Abstract quality in the proposed design and the sensitivity to
existing processes and systems on-site.
● Ability of the proposed design to offer its users a deeper meaning in the landscape
spaces.
● Ability to clearly communicate the proposed ideas in drawings, images and words

PRIZE MONEY

Prize money of One lakh Rupees is allotted to the trophy and it will be divided according
to the number of the Citations and Special Mentions

IMPORTANT DATES

● Release of Brief: 28th September 2020, Wednesday

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● Registration Deadline: 2nd December 2020 1800 hours, Wednesday

● Queries Deadline: 21st October 2020 1800 hours, Wednesday
● Stage 1 Submission Deadline: 30th December 2020 1800 hours, Wednesday
● Stage 2 Submission Deadline: Will be Announced along with Shortlisting

GENERAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Failing to comply with any of the guidelines may lead to disqualification at the
discretion of the executive council.

● The format of the sheets should clearly mention the name of the trophy
followed by the year i.e. “MSL 2020-21”
● All text should be in English.
● The format of the sheet should contain a square box of 25mm*25mm at
the bottom right hand corner, next to the ISOLA logo which should have
the unique registration number allotted to the participants after
registrations.
● The scale is left to the discretion of the participant(s) to the condition that
the scale should be in the metric system and all the drawings should be
clear and legible.
● Manually rendered entry should be scanned at least in 300*300dpi (dots per
Inch) resolution.
● Video submission should be done through an unlisted YouTube Link with
the Entry Code as the Title of the video and no description. The video
should be free of any copyrighted visuals or audio.
● The soft copy (non-editable format) of the sheets and if any, report/video link,
along with authentication letter, declaration letter and any other required
documents prescribed in the submission requirements should be uploaded
on the website by the submission deadline.
● The soft copy file of the sheets should not be corrupted or incomplete or in
low resolution.
● It is mandatory to produce the original copy of the Authentication Letter for
each entry (entry code should be mentioned) with the name of participant(s)
and stating the unit will abide by whatever may be the final results and also
agree that this entry is a property of both the institute and NASA India.

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● The Authentication Letter should be signed by the Appointed Unit Secretary

of the college for the year 2020-21 on behalf of the HOD/Principal/Director in
lieu of the Covid-19 pandemic.
● It is mandatory for the colleges to produce the original copy of the
Declaration Letter for each entry (entry code should be mentioned) signed
by the participants stating the work submitted is genuine and they have
endorsed copyrights for the same and to adhere by all the rules and
regulations, jury process and the results.
● The Prize Money Authenticating Letter signed by the Director/ Principal / HOD
in the college letter-head specifying the account details (Account Name,
Account Number, Bank Name, IFSC Code) in which the money is to be
credited for each entry (entry code should be mentioned if allotted) shall be
collected at a later stage.
● The working files in editable formats of the Shortlisted Entries should be
submitted to the Council, failing which, the submission requirements would
be deemed incomplete leading to the prize money being withheld.
● Shortlisted Entries with manual hand-done sheets should submit high quality
scans (min. 300*300 dpi) along with the content in a word document of the
shortlisted entries should be submitted to the Council, failing which, the
submission requirements would be deemed incomplete leading to the prize
money being withheld.
● Any misconduct such as exposing identity through college name/ stamp
participant(s) name or college code on the sheets or the video will be
disqualified.

NASA INDIA LOGO GUIDELINES

Failing to comply with any of the guidelines may lead to disqualification at
the discretion of the executive council.

● NASA India Internal Logo shall always be placed on the right-hand

bottom corner of the sheet.
● NASA India logo should not be merged, overlapped etc. with any sort of
text, graphic, image, etc.
● NASA India logo should be in true black with a perfectly white

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background.
● FOR A3 SHEET NASA INDIA LOGO SIZE SHOULD BE 20MM X 35MM WITH
10MM CLEAR BORDER ON ALL 4 SIDES.
● The logos are available at www.nasaindia.co/download.

CHECKLIST FOR SUBMISSION

● Online Submission.
● A presentation (PowerPoint/pdf/any other audio-visual format).
● Original Copy of Authentication Letter.
● Original Copy of Declaration Letter.
● Editable Format of the Sheets (Applicable if shortlisted).

OTHER INFORMATION

● Maximum Three (03) Number of Entries Will Be Accepted Per College.

● The entry can be an individual project or a team entry having not more than 4
participants.
● Queries can be put forward through the trophy page on the
website(http://www.nasaindia.co/trophy)
● Registration should be done by the Unit secretary in NASA India website
before the registration deadline.
● Registration of the trophies will be final and cannot be changed or
withdrawn henceforth.
● All the entries should be uploaded separately during the time of online
submission.
● Late Registration and submission will not be entertained and
henceforth the defaulters shall be disqualified.

ANNEXURE

A few but not all examples of case studies across the globe for a better
understanding of such explorations:
● Bank of Thailand Learning Centre (BOT), Bangkok, Thailand by SHMA

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● KEIO University, Tokyo, Japan by MDP Michel Desvigne Paysagiste

● Minneapolis Courthouse Plaza, Minneapolis, USA by Martha Schwartz
● Monk’s Garden, Boston, USA by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
Inc
● Supremus Offices by Aniket Bhagwat, PBB
● The Red Folding Paper in the Greenway, Qian'an City by Turenscape
● The Wave Field Project, University of Michigan North Campus by Maya
Lin

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