Videotect,
Architecture Minnesota magazine's first-ever video contest, inspired everything from a 3D battle rap to a History Channel-style spoof documentary about skyways.
The contest got people of all ages and backgrounds thinking about what the skyways mean to them and what impact they have in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul, and other areas.
It drew 24 submissions from people who worked in teams of one to six people, according to Chris Hudson, who edits the magazine, which the American Institute of Architects Minnesota publishes.
While architects are often critical of skyways because they take away
from the life of the street, "We were surprised that when we opened it
up to non-architects how much people celebrated the skyways," he says.
The results came at a sold-out screening at the
Walker Art Center on March 31.
A team led by Jim Davy, which produced a highly stylized video clip showing a progression of walkers through a skyway that leads to nowhere, was the grand prizewinner, receiving $1,000. Three other teams, one named IDE[A], the others led by Benjamin Lindau and James Tucker, got Honorable Mention in this category, along with $500 apiece.
The Tucker entry, which also received the Viewer's Choice Award and the $1,000 prize, imagined a future wherein global cooling had pushed people out of the northern climes. "Once the glaciers retreat they come back and find the skyways," he says.
The contest seemed to hit a nerve. "A lot of smart people came forward and got what we were after, with thought-provoking commentary on an architectural topic."
Besides the 350 seats that were filled at the Walker, 1,600 people cast a vote online between March 7 and 18.
The crowd that was "way into it," he says, adding, "There was a lot of noise from the crowd, laughing, cheering and whistling."
Source: Chris Hudson, Architecture Minnesota editor
Writer: Anna Pratt
Watch the Grand Prize winner:
Jim Davy, Pete Mikelson, Steve Berg, Danny Sim, and Steve Busse from Architecture Minnesota on Vimeo.