A competition has opened to rebuild Australia House in Japan, a base for exchanges between Australia and Japan — and at least one Australian must be on the design team.

Australia House is an art project which was launched as part of fourth Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale in 2009 as a base for exchanges between Australia and Japan. However, the building collapsed in the wake of the earthquake on March 12.

An abandoned old Japanese-style farmhouse was transformed into an art installation, where Australian artists could work in residence and exhibit their artworks through exchanges with the local Urada community and members of kohebi-tai (meaning 'little snake squad' in Japanese), a group of supporters from all over Japan.

Getting the house in order: Australia House before it was destroyed by a March 12 earthquake. TAKENORI MIYAMOTO + HIROMI SENO. Image: Japan Times

This Open Call for Design Proposals aims to select an appropriate designer or team of designers for the new Australia House as one of the main art projects of the upcoming Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale in 2012.

The new Australia House will continue the purpose of the original, providing space for Australian artists to live, work and present their artworks, and serving as a venue for joint projects between Australia and Japan.

In addition, it is hoped that the new Australia House will be a symbol of Japan's recovery from the earthquake, and therefore, it should be designed to thoroughly reflect disaster-prevention and environmental considerations.

In the process of designing and supervising the construction of Australia House, it is also a pre-requisite that the designer(s) will work together with Australian artists participating in the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2012.

According to The Japan Times, staff from the Australian Embassy "have been extremely enthusiastic in their support of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale right from the outset in 2000," and were quick to visit and examine the damaged site - and "within weeks" it was determined that the house should be rebuilt.

The design competition being held will encompass studio and residential space totaling about 130 sqm. to be built within a construction budget of some ¥20 million — half coming from Japan and half from Australia.

While that money will be from public sources in both countries, it’s expected that further funds for preparation of the site will also come from private donors in both countries.

"We hope the new building will continue this tradition (of hosting artists and curators working with the local community) by blending the cultures of Australia and Japan, with a strong focus on disaster prevention and environmental sustainability," the Australian Embassy said in a statement earlier this month.

Acknowledging that it is not a huge budget, Fram Kitagawa, the 64-year-old director of Tokyo's Art Front Gallery told The Japan Times they had opened the competition to architects who are not yet fully qualified. "I think we'll get a lot of entries from architecture students," he said.

The head of the jury is the world-renowned Tadao Ando, and Kitagawa hopes that young architects will see the competition as a potential high-profile launching pad for their careers.

The organisers says, “we look forward to excellent proposals integrating many meanings into a compact space - by representing the cultures of both Australia and Japan, serving as a residence, an atelier, a community centre and an exhibition space, and itself being a piece of art.

Reference websites:

·Echigo-Tsumari Art Field

·Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale

·The former Australia House