IAHH

Report of Jury: 8^th IAHH International Student Design Competition 2010

Fifty one competition entries from at least one dozen countries were examined by the jury on 27-28 January 2010. Professor Peter Schreibmayer was delayed in travel and joined on the 28^th; hence he was unable to participate in the assessment for awards, but assisted in the deliberations.

The competition theme, Affordable Housing in Sustainable Humane Habitats, presented a formidable architectural challenge, and the jury was happy to note that the entries overall addressed very well the relevant issues arising from the theme. Viewpoints varied from a historical perspective of dwellings of indigenous people, to the integration of foreign migrants into the builtscape of industrial societies; from the rehabilitation of slum dwellers trapped in the expanding metropolis, to reinstating marginalized communities in pastoral landscapes being encroached by  machine civilization.

It was noteworthy that the creative energy needed to find design solutions was perhaps derived from a studied focus on the dispossessed and marginalized sections of our societies. Design was approached generally as a process, starting with research into the context of the built environment reinforced with surveys and typological inventories to derive area planning strategies and a building methodology. Given the general high standard of work, the deliberations of the jury were lengthy and intense, leading to the selection of three quite evenly matched award schemes and six schemes for honorable mention.

1^st Prize 372574

The first prize was awarded to a design for urban renewal of a historically rooted community in India now surrounded and threatened by the contemporary culture of the metropolis. The significant contribution of the scheme was to try and understand the collective mindscape by a series of surveys, including an inventory of house types, leading to a sensitive adaptation of dwellings while preserving the collective character of the public spaces. The scheme was distinguished by analytical rigour combined with a sensitivity towards plastic form and a generous acceptance of the human condition.

2nd Prize 260380

The second prize scheme takes up the challenge of communities on the urban fringe in a predominantly agricultural region in Cameroon. The design proposal, to quote from the report, ‘depends on natural resources rather than artificially produced and supplied resources” and is “ culturally and socially sustainable since it reinforces social values and habits ….” The planned configuration of the built fabric maintains the existing water canals and the vegetation alongside to structure the new neighborhoods. There is an exemplary emphasis on pedestrian mobility, techniques for rainwater harvesting and open space organization for community benefit. A strategy for phased transformation of the  built fabric to integrate new development is demonstrated in the design.

3rd Prize 861203

The third prize scheme addresses the housing requirement of marginalized farming communities in a region in Malaysia where urbanization is causing cultural and environmental degradation. The proposal posits an ecological approach while emphasizing solutions appropriate to the local people, their socio-economic conditions, and the natural environment. The building design sensitively combines modern technology of  a light weigh steel structural framework with vernacular practices using locally sourced materials for infill and containment.

Six schemes were chosen for honorable mention . These  were characterized by:

• Exemplary site analysis leading to appropriate environmental structuring ;
• A historical understanding of traditional building typology extended to cater for contemporary requirements;
• Taking up the challenges of recycling the industrial infrastructure in a bold and imaginative way;
• Responding to the needs of migrant workers by sensitive re-design to rehabilitate  industrial wasteland;
• A close look at the traditional housing o f indigenous people and proposing an architecture to integrate with present realities;
• Self-build as an approach to empower the urban poor, negotiating architectural solutions through mediation by not-for- profit people’s organizations like SPARC (Society for Promotion of Area Resource Centre) and NSDF (National Slum Dwellers  Federation).

The jury felt that although the standard of presentation was marked by clarity of thought and expression, there was a sense of mismatch between the sensitive appreciation of the fragility of the lives of marginalized people and the hard edge quality of computer generated images in some of the drawings. Yet the jury would like to record its satisfaction  with the high quality of work by entrants to the competition and for their rigorous engagement  with very difficult  but important challenges.   The jury would also like to congratulate IAHH for this effort in the promotion of a valuable cause.

The jury unanimously decided on the following prizes:

1^st Prize 372574

• Miss. Neelima Panoli

Kamala Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental Studies

Mumbai University, Mumbai, India

2nd Prize 260380

• Sara Cipolletti
• Deema Mahmud
• Angela Leuzzi
• Sylvie Laure
• Roselyn Tepongning

University of Camerino, School of Advanced Studies, Camerino, Italy

3rd Prize 861203

• Mr. Chua Poh Ang
• Mr. Lee Swan Peng
• Mr. Song Kee Jiunn
• Miss. Ng Wen Chiat

University Technology Malaysia

Faculty of Built Environment Taman University,

Skudia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Special Mention 070183

• Ms Teresa Moran

ETSAM

Escuela Tecnica Superior De Arquitectura de Madrid

Madrid, Spain

Special Mention 7801229

• Ms. Masoom Moitra

Kamala Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental Studies

Mumbai University

Mumbai, India

Special Mention 122420

• Azam Sadat Hosseini
• Solmaz Shamshiri
• Zahra Khoshamad
• Asghar Motea Noparvar

Tabriz University

Tabriz, Iran

Special Mention 678645

• Miss Chunyan Zhao
• Miss Lei Zhao
• Miss Lin Jin
• Mr. Xiao Liu

Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Graduate School

Shenzhen, China

Special Mention 471712

• Mrs. Duygu Ergin
• Mrs. Necla Ruken Bars
• Mrs. Aysegul Arkuden
• Mr. Oguzhan Sur

Yildiz Technical University

Istanbul, Turkey

Special Mention 1989076

• Ying Tan
• Haiyun Wang
• Qianhong Tan

School of Architecture of Tsinghua University

Beijing, China

Signed by the members of the Jury of 8^th IAHH International Student Design Competition

Peter Schreibmayer

Rodney Harber

Anna Rubbo

Parvin  Ghaemmaghami

Ashish Ganju (chair)

January 28, 2010