Finding a job in an established company is becoming increasingly difficult for recent graduate architects. This is due to the fact that the traditional study model is in crisis and the very essence of architecture has been overhauled in recent years.
Architects who want to start their own businesses face high entry barriers, such as lack of support from financial institutions, poor training in entrepreneurship and a lack of specific programmes to support architecture start-ups.
The Arquia Foundation, in collaboration with Factoría Cultural / Vivero de Industrias Creativas in Matadero, Madrid, has announced one Entrepreneurship and Innovation Grant for the development of a business project in any of the fields of the architect profession, in order to promote and support the creation of business initiatives and encourage innovation in fields related to Architecture, thus fostering the creation of jobs.
Enrolment allows architects to adapt to the future through training and the opportunity of exploring new ways of working and understanding their craft in the framework of a prestigious institution among creators and innovators such as Factoría Cultural / Vivero de Industrias Creativas in Matadero, Madrid, where they can benefit from the cross-disciplinary and collaborative environment. The business initiative will be developed in a stimulating and experimental environment that promotes personalised learning, exchange and networking in the various areas that make up the cultural and creative industries.
The programme is structured around annual calls, via which successive jury panels select innovative and viable projects with a potential impact on the field of architecture.
The call is launched during the first two quarters of the year; during this period, the award-winning grant will be selected. The Factoría Cultural grant lasts for six months, coinciding with the incubation and project development period. Finally, to conclude the process, in the two months following the end of the grant, a crowdfunding campaign will be managed to fund the project.
