Architectural research initiative ‘arch out loud’ has announced the winners of the HOME competition. Entrants were asked to answer the question: ‘What is the future of HOME?’ A winner was identified for each category: Overall, Innovation, Adaptability, and Pragmatism.
As changes in global circumstances give rise to new design and living trends, the traditional definition of the home as a private place of permanence and stability has altered to accommodate these transitions. The competitors were asked to consider these changes, such as the impact of population shifts, the unpredictability of our changing ecosystem, contemporary forms of community housing and community relations, and newly engineered materials.
Overall Winner
HAPPI: Integrated Apparatus / Massimilian Orzi, Studio Orzi
The overall winner, Studio Orzi, designed ‘HAPPI’, a series of tri-level structures composed of a mixture of extracted sand from neighboring river banks and epoxy resins. The density of this material does not deter from the overall lightness of the HAPPI structure that, upon first glance, looks as though it is hovering above the landscape, with minimal disruption to the surrounding environment. The structures embrace the current trend of ‘smart’ technology spearheaded by rising tech companies. HAPPI, short for, ‘Housing and Power Production Infrastructure’ refers to the housing network’s ability to function as a series of small hydro-power plants.
Innovation Award
Above the Tire / Dazhong Yi, University of Pennsylvania
‘Above the Tire’ combines the technological advances of self-driving cars with microscale living. In cities like Los Angeles, the proposed site for the prototype structure, this form of housing could revolutionize the relationship between the vehicle and the home, and maximizing the benefit of this form of new technology.
Adaptability Award
The Not-For-Long Home / Stav Dror and Liran Messer, Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design
‘The-Not-For-Long Home’ experiments with a transitional approach to urban living. The home is transformed into an accumulation of things or collectibles, arranged in a specific way to accommodate the needs of the individual. As a composition of individual units, walls lose their traditional function as the primary delineators of space. Each of the isolated, functional units are easily moved to accommodate the constant changes and sometimes unpredictable needs of the individual. The designers describe the design as a compositional matrix: "The act of moving units in time becomes the new household and the changing appearance of the home indicates on he who lives in it."
Pragmatic Award
Urbanism of Stuff / Jacob Comerci, Princeton University School of Architecture
‘Urbanism of Stuff,’ veiled by the overarching concept of pragmatism, explores what aspects of the traditional home were private and what was public. The definition of the home as a private, eclectic space becomes a perception of the past. Instead, the home is a shared domestic space, a constellation of materials, furniture, and objects. The personal and privately owned elements of the home are minimized and redefined as simply the bed and the small storage space – all other aspects of the home become part of the public domain.
News via arch out loud
