Home After Crisis Housing for Displaced Refugees in Nigeria Sponsors: Young Architects Competitions (YAC) and UN Migration Agency Type: International, student, one-stage Language(s): English, Italian Fees and timeline: 5 August 2023 – Early Bird registration ends ($25/team) August 6-September 9 – Standard Registration ($75/team) 12 September 2023 – Materials Submission deadline Awards: 1st Prize – €5,000 2nd Prize – €3,000 3rd Prize – €2,000 Gold Mentions (4) €500 Jurors: - Alejandro Aravena
ELEMENTAL - Robert Piper
UNITED NATIONS - Raul Pantaleo
TAMASSOCIATI - Tosin Oshinowo
CMDESIGN ATELIER - Anna Heringer
ANNA HERINGER ARCHITECT - Anupama Kundoo
ANUPAMA KUNDOO ARCHITECTS - Carolina Cordero-Scales
IOM - Filiep Decorte
UN-HABITAT - Ugochi Daniels
IOM - Abdu Usman
NIA - Ruqayyatu Bashir Tukur
NIA Background and Challenge: Since 2015, the North-East of Nigeria has witnessed an increase of violence, causing an unprecedented housing emergency. As of 2023, an estimated 3.5 million people lost their homes or lives in precarious conditions. This scenario, combined with one of the most sustained population growths in the world and a country-wide housing deficit, requires immediate response to provide sustainable, long-term solutions. This is the context of “Nigeria: Home After Crisis”, the competition promoted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Migration Agency and funded by the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF). The goal is to design a low-cost, incremental, modular and upgradable housing solution for populations disrupted by violence in rural areas of North-East Nigeria. Which places will millions of people be able to call home again? How to recreate identity, affections, happy memories through architectural design? In one of the key contexts of the contemporary housing emergency, young designers are called upon to design a place that can alleviate suffering and offer a welcoming environment where they can feel safe and start their lives over. A place they can call “home”. This competition has significant social impacts and aims to consolidate the role of architecture as a discipline fostering rights and social equity, meeting fundamental human needs not just in terms of efficiency but also ensuring quality ideas and aesthetic ambition. Indeed, humans, in all conditions and contexts, deserve dignity and beauty. To access the competition brief and enter, go to: https://www.youngarchitectscompetitions.com/open-competitions/home-after-crisis |
 Perkins & Will Carrying the label, “Artistic Ideas Competition,” five firms vied for a commission to design a new National Museum of the U.S. Navy. Household names, the five were Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) Copenhagen/ New York Gehry Partners (Los Angeles) DLR Group (Columbus, OH) Perkins&Will (Chicago) Winner! Quinn Evans (Ann Arbor) With a site not yet identified, it is possible that a final design will look quite different from the present submission. the Navy has expressed a preference for M Street SE and 6th Street SE, near the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. Young Architects in Competitions When Competitions and a New Generation of Ideas Elevate Architectural Quality  by Jean-Pierre Chupin and G. Stanley Collyer published by Potential Architecture Books, Montreal, Canada 2020 271 illustrations in color and black & white Available in PDF and eBook formats ISBN 9781988962047 What do the Vietnam Memorial, the St. Louis Arch, and the Sydney Opera House have in common? These world renowned landmarks were all designed by architects under the age of 40, and in each case they were selected through open competitions. At their best, design competitions can provide a singular opportunity for young and unknown architects to make their mark on the built environment and launch productive, fruitful careers. But what happens when design competitions are engineered to favor the established and experienced practitioners from the very outset? This comprehensive new book written by Jean-Pierre Chupin (Canadian Competitions Catalogue) and Stanley Collyer (COMPETITIONS) highlights for the crucial role competitions have played in fostering the careers of young architects, and makes an argument against the trend of invited competitions and RFQs. The authors take an in-depth look at past competitions won by young architects and planners, and survey the state of competitions through the world on a region by region basis. The end result is a compelling argument for an inclusive approach to conducting international design competitions. Download Young Architects in Competitions for free at the following link: https://crc.umontreal.ca/en/publications-libre-acces/ Six Firms Competed to Rethink the Future of a Major Museum  Aerial view of winning design ©Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos (courtesy Malcolm Reading Consultants) The history of the Dallas Museum of Art’s expansion has been punctuated by several moves, culminating in a new building designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes in 1984. The importance of this move to a new, somewhat desolate location in the city cannot be underestimated: it has led to the revitalization of what is now called the “Arts District,” with the relocation of various arts institutions to new facilities: the opera house (Foster and Partners), Dee and Charles Wyly Performing Arts Theater (REX/OMA), Nasher Sculpture Center (Renzo Piano), and I.M. Pei’s Meyerson Symphony Center being among the most significant. Read more…  Courtesy Malcolm Reading Consultants, ©Kengo Kuma & Associates A UNESCO World Heritage Site Again on the World Stage How does one approach a challenge when creating a design worthy of a park with a history dating back to antiquity? This was what four design teams faced when shortlisted for the design of a Visitor Center for the Butrint National Park in Albania. The park’s history is illuminating in this regard.
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Chungji National Heritage Museum Competition

Image ©Ona Architects + Jongjin Lee architects + Laguillo Arquitectos
For those unfamiliar with Korean Heritage and its symbols, the choice of the jury for a new complex to house artifacts, now located at various scattered sites, would seem to beg more information, especially when one views the designs of the non-selected finalists—all quite modern. Some of this can certainly be explained by the subject matter of the new museum’s holdings, another by the site in broader terms. Some might say that emphasis placed on the heritage element in the design brief fostered an interpretation leading to the choice of the winning design: “The site chosen for the new Chungji National Museum is logical: Chungju, located in the central part of the Korean Peninsula, is the center of the so-called ‘Jungwon culture,’ which has played an important role geographically and historically since ancient time. Jungwon culture developed around the Namhan River, which runs through the central region from east to west, and the relics showing this are currently scattered and stored in various museums.”
Read more… University of Florida’s College of Design Construction and Planning’s New Addition 
Development phase image courtesy ©Brooks + Scarpa
If architects have had one complaint concerning the planning and realization of a project, it has been with planners and especially construction managers, both of whom often display a lack of knowledge about architecture. The survival of a well-conceived design can hang in the balance when there is a knowledge gap at the planning and realization end.
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