Nka Foundation Announces the Winners of 3rd Earth Architecture Competition, Designing for the Arts

OKLAHOMA CITY - Dec. 5, 2015 - PRLog -- 3rd Earth Architecture Competition

The 1^st prize winning design is Abode+Abode by the design team of Chowdhury Mohammad Junayed, Sheikh Ahsan Ullah Mojumder and Erum Ahmed of the Sheikh Ahsan Ullah Mojumder & Associates in Bangladesh; the 2nd prize winner is eARThouse by Lorenzo Conti in Italy; and the 3rd prize is awarded toWeft Wall by the design team of Eddie Winn and Samantha McPadden in the USA. Four honorable mentions are awarded, each will receive a certificate of recognition. Ther honorable mentions go to the Sculptors Domain by the design team of Shahid Sayeed Khan, Dania Faruq and Mohammed Ansir in Pakistan; Bamang Earth Houseby Sanne Eekel in The Netherlands; Arthouse by the design team of Santiago Merello, Antonella Sinacore and Claudia Varin in Uruguay; and Asase House by the ASA Studio in Rwanda.You can downloadlarge files on the winning designs here: https://yadi.sk/d/5yVCbZAUhdKbu  and see all submitted competition entries: http://nkaprojects.boards.net/thread/41/submitted-design-... .

Through the 3rd Earth Architecture Competition, Nka Foundation issued a challenge to recent graduates and students of architecture, design, engineering and others from around the world to use their creativity to come up with innovative designs for modest, affordable housing for the arts that can be built with earth and other local materials in Ghana. The challenge was to design a mud house type of about 2400 sq feet that sleeps 8 to 10 persons to be built on a plot size of 80 x 100 feet. The construction site is Abetenim Arts Village, near Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The building was to be designed for use by either musicians, theatre artists, potters, sculptors, painters, textile artists, designers, writers, or media arts practitioners. Total costs of constructing the design entry was not to exceed $7,000 (USD) for materials and labor; land value was excluded from this price point. Because the construction of best design entires is a priority, each design team gets an opportunity to build their design entry at the arts village in Ghana.

The selection Jury consists of architecture professors, administrators with relevant experience and architects who have led building workshops at the Abetenim Arts Village. The jurors are Christina ANTONELLI, Construction Project Manager at Construction for Change in India; Gilberto Duarte CARLOS, Professor and a Researcher at ESG|Escola Superior at Gallaecia in Portugal; Paolo CASCONE, Associate Professor of Building Technology at the Milan Polytechnic in Italy; Jean GU, M.Arch Candidate at Columbia University in New York in the USA; Bruno MARQUES, professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Arts at Oporto Lusíada University in Portugal; Louis MAYES, Architecture student at the London Metropolitan University in the UK; Tai SCHOMAKER, DoYouSpace Architecture at Berlin in Germany; Christopher TOMASETTI, Rounding up work for Masters in Architecture and Masters in Real Estate Development at Columbia University in New York in the USA; and Anna WEBSTER, Part 2 Professional Diploma in Architecture at London Metropolitan University in the UK.The jurors used judging criteria involving functionality, aesthetics and technical matter toselect three prize-winning designs. Prizes for first, second and third place consist of a commemorative certificate and a choice of cash reward or construction of winning design in Ghana.

What is next?

THE BUILDING CHALLENGE!

As the construction of the best design entries is our priority, between May 2016 to December 2017, we are collaborating with some of the design teams in the competition to run construction workshops to build their design entries based on site in Ghana. Through an open call for participation, each workshop will bring together enthusiastic volunteers from around the world including students and recent graduates of architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, interior design, the arts and anyone interested in construction to join the workshop and play a part in line with their expertise. By immersing the design team in the full circle of designing and building their design, the team members will not only garner project management skills, we anticipate that at the completion of the design-build process, the emerging architects will learn to design what is buildable to to make a well-rounded graduate. For the professional, you will find the hands-on earth building experience a pause from your office work to rediscover the rudiments of architecture and nuances that can refresh your practice.

Do you have a passion for sustainable architecture? Proove it!  Join one of the buidling workshops to building a design entry in the 3rd Earth Architecture Competition!  The building workshop to construct the 2^nd prize winning entry, eARThouse will be held from July 13 – October 14, 2016; and workshop to realize the 3^rd prize winning entry, Weft Wall will be from June 3 - August 31, 2017. Whereas, workshop to realize the design entry, Asase House will run fromJune 3 - August 31, 2016. The workshop for the Sculptors Domain will be February 2 - April 30, 2017; and that for ArtHouse will be February 24 to May 25, 2017.Call for participation in these building workshops will be posted at http://nkaprojects.boards.net .

And so, we are inviting schools of architecture and design, architectural associations, volunteer-sending organizations, and community-spirited individuals to join us as project partners and supporters in building the best design entries in rural Ghana. Each building workshop will run for about 12 weeks. Volunteers can join at any time and participate for a minimum of two weeks. Students can use the workshop opportunity to fulfill their college requirements for internship, thesis, or to volunteer just for learning-by-doing on the prototyping project.

Interested? Then, contact us at info@nkafoundation.org / www.nkafoundation.org .