Competition Announcement

IAHH has hosted three international student design competitions during 2002-05. The first IAHH student design competition focused on the issue of housing for the urban poor. 37 entries were received from among 52 student teams who had registered for the competition from 15 different countries. The second competition took up the subject of revitalization of an urban area as a sustainable community. 28 entries were received out of 51 student teams who had registered for the competition from 15 different countries. The third competition focused on the issue of creating enlightening learning environments, 28 entries were received in time for the jury. We do hope to receive more entries this time around!

We are living in an information and knowledge society, which is driven by an intelligent and creative work force in different sectors of the economy. Each country, region and urban area has developed programmes for facilitating the provision of work opportunity to the respective citizens. It is the ideal of all countries to have full employment, but the reality leaves a lot to be desired. Places of work in human habitats may be variously located, inter alia, in the historic cores or newer urban nodes.

It is the purpose and intent of the competition to study such work place nodes, which are undergoing transformation due to new technology and a variety of development impulses. The participants shall undertake surveys and analysis of such work place nodes and identify potential developed / redeveloped to provide meaningful work opportunities in different branches of the economy, excluding strictly industrial areas. The surveys shall include the work places spanning commercial facilities, formal and informal shopping, business parks, workshops and studios, IT work centres, activity centres, cafes and food courts, related public facilities and open spaces, access for people, vehicles and goods, adequate parking places and communication facilities. The competition brief does not include industrial work places, such as factories and heavy manufacturing, which generally require a different context in our habitats. Nonetheless, work place nodes may well include small scale manufacturing.

The project brief shall focus on an urban node with a variety of work places to provide diversity and a mosaic of different work cultures. It shall be large enough to generate a work community of about 1000 people and attract a much larger section of the urban population as users and visitors. It should include a hierarchy of open spaces suitably landscaped and provided with amenities for rest and repose of the citizens to make the urban node come alive. It may include mixed land use and provide some housing facilities and hotel and guest-house accommodation in the vicinity. It should become an important public place to make the city or town a more interesting living environment and contribute to the shaping of an appropriate image of the city.

The site shall be sensitively serviced and landscaped ensuring its sustainable development. The proposed design shall provide for safe and secure pedestrian movement and provide adequate parking for cycles, motorbikes, cars and buses. The architecture of the work places should reflect humane concerns: it should make appropriate and intelligent choices of materials and technologies and contribute to the development of a sustainable and humane work place. The aim should be to evolve work environments that will inspire and stimulate a quest for excellence. ...
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Jury Report Fourth IAHH: Sustainable and Humane Work Places

"I say I seek you: he says you will reach there
 I say be my love: he says if I can
 I say the morning breeze brings good weather
 He says the cool breeze comes from the house of my beloved"
 
Hafiz
 

The Jury met on 25th and 26th January 2006 at the Rizvi College of Architecture, Mumbai. The Jury elected a chairperson and decided on issues and criteria for evaluation.

The competition entries evaluated were 22 in number, and were from Iran, Austria, Japan, Pakistan, Mexico, Chile and India.

The evaluation of the project generated discussion on the following key issues - sustainability, work, community, urban context, building, and design synthesis.

The Jury appreciated the variety of site locations and cultural context presented in the projects. It was commendable that a great deal of thought was evident in the entries in terms of understanding the implications of sustainability of working places and the contextual frameworks of the project sites.

The jury chose the first three prize-winning projects and selected five more projects for Honourable Mention.

The mentioned projects were commended for clarity of approach and significant expression highlighting the conservation of historic built environment, addressing basic civilizational needs, maintaining ecological balance and generating a contemporary paradigm for a society faced with abundance of technology choices.

The third prize winning project successfully combined ecological concerns with spiritual dimensions in architectural expression, using water as the symbolic elelment to restore a historic quarter of the city of Tabriz.

The second prize winning project was distinguished by a philosophical perspective on the contemporary urban condition. The scheme explored the possibility of regenerating an urban wasteland by a sensitive architectural synthesis of workplace with leisure activity, access to information, and physical mobility.

The Jury was unanimous in its choice of the first prize winning project for its brilliant synthesis of nature and the built environment, represented by the concept of an urban garden integrating work spaces with cultural activity, playgrounds and leisure places, while clearly organizing vehicular and pedestrian movement to knit the site with the surrounding urban fabric. The concept was strengthened by a development strategy which emphasized peoples' participation while enhancing creative potential in social interaction. The design was distinguished by its architectural clarity in blending technology choices with historic imperatives to create a civilized and humane environment.

The order of merit is as follows:

1st Prize

Entry code 0643522: Islamic Azad University, Iran;
Navid Rouhi Broujeni, Niloufar Khalooesmaily, Mahsa Mehrpour Darestani, Foad Habibi

2nd Prize

Entry code 7257275: Universidad Central de Chile, Chile;
Particio Echeverria Esinoza, Andres Soriano Romero, Andres Bustos Araya

3rd Prize

Entry code 6273533: Tabriz Islamic Art University, Iran;
Sindokht Rezaee Lipaee, Mohammad Mohajer

Honourable Mention

• Entry Code 1921380: University of Technology, Graz, Austria
  Iva Prus
• Entry Code 8375100: Iran University of Science and Technology
  Marzieh Emami Maybodi
• Entry Code 2225724: Tabriz Universiy of Islamic Art, Iran
  Ailar Yapang Gharravi
• Entry Code 2T2iNHJ: University of Kitakyushu, Japan
  Sae Masuda, Reika Iida, Nobuhiro Monji, Hidefumi Nagatomo
• Entry Code 8375109: Iran University of Science and Technology, Iran
  Mostafa Gholipour Gashniani

The Jury:

Ar. M. N. Ashish Ganju, India, Chairman sd/-
Dr. Parvin Ghaemmaghami, Iran sd/-
Dr. Ashraf Salama, Egypt / Saudi Arabia sd/-
Ar. Ludovic Jonard, France sd/-
Ar. Anil Nagrath, Co-ordinator. sd/-

26th January 2006

PS: An entry 0770077 from USA was received late after the jury was over.