Result: Transform the Future Competition

TRANSFORM THE FUTURE 2008
Colourful sustainable design for communities
RESULTS
"Textures make sense"
The second year of the Dalsouple 'Transform the Future' design competition attracted entries from every corner of the world. While last year's winner was close to home in the UK, this year the honours went to a remote corner of Argentina. Leonardo Bercovich Sisack and Noelia Canizares Majek, students at the National University of Tucuman, collaborated on a stunning design for the Luis Braille School for visually impaired children. The children helped select the Dalsouple textures and colours that were incorporated into the final design. Textured rubber was used to improve wayfinding, not only on the floors but on walls and corners around the school. Leonardo and Noelia also came up with a series of structured floor and wall games and puzzles, some using Dalsouple's magnetised rubber tiles, to create a lively, interactive learning environment.
The interpretation of sustainability encompassed not only the use of natural materials but also the broader context of improving quality of life for an often marginalised group - the visually impaired. Recognising that human interaction and social inclusion are key facets of the sustainability story, the Luis Braille school project used natural and sustainable materials to enable pupils to move freely within, interact with and learn about their environment. This small project 'contributes to the development of our society by making the built environment more adequate, beautiful and a truthful expression of our goals as human beings."
Highly commended awards were made to the following entries:
1 Charlotte Claridge, London College of Communication: Stormont House School, Hackney
2 Cristina de Saro & Ivonne Caballero, University of Texas: Avance Daycare Centre, San Antonio
3 Sarah Williams, Chelsea College of Art & Design: Holy Trinity School, Marlow*
4 Danielle Strzelecki, The Interior Design School: Pepper Pot
5 Ong Tien Yee, Lim Chee Way, Beh Ssi Cze & Chow Khoon Toong, National University of Malaysia: The UKM Special Education Centre
6 James Griffiths, Leeds Metropolitan University: The Exchange at Edgehill Station
7 Jorg Lunkenheimer & Andreas Reinhardt, University of Applied Sciences, Wuerzburg: Red Rubber Carpet
8 Michael Pfueffer & Peter Brewer, University of Applied Sciences, Wuerzburg: Parasite/Para-site?
*Sarah's design was actually installed during the summer of 2008, transforming a scruffy, bag-filled girls' cloakroom in the school to a clean, attractive locker room in vibrant shades of lilac and purple.
Next year's competition
To reflect the growing importance of sustainability in the design mix, Dalsouple will be running the competition again in 2009 in an expanded form. Entries will be welcome from both students and professional designers, and there will be an opportunity to submit product designs as well as interior projects using DalNaturel natural rubber.
For details visit www.dalsouple.com.�

Sham Spiritual Oasis Architecture Competition

Exhibition opening of "Sham Spiritual Oasis Architecture Competition" in Damascus, plus an on-line exhibition of participants' entries plus jury comments and reasoning of ranking.

Sham Spiritual Oasis is the name of the architecture competition that aimed at developing concepts for a facility of hospitality for travelers and pilgrims through Sham Region (Damascus Area). The Oasis is to serve as a visitor center, a place of spiritual growth and an opportunity to provide initiation to welcoming the other. This Visitor Center is located at the entrance of Wadi Deir Mar Musa Protected Area, near the town of Nebek, Syria.

The competition was launched in March 2008 by COSV (Comitato di Coordinamento delle Organizzazioni per il Servizio Volontario, Milan, Italy), Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi (The Monastery of St. Moses the Abyssinian, Nebek, Syria) and Tanween Arabian Cultural Centre (Prague, Czech Republic). Funds for the project were provided by the European Union as a contribution to the celebration of Damascus as the cultural capital of the Arab world for the year 2008. The competition was open to Euro-Mediterranean architecture and art students. Contributions from professionals from all over the world were also welcomed.
For more information about the competition: www.shamspiritualoasis.org�

Winner announced: University of Warwick Student Residences Competition

Page & Park Architects has won the competition for the design of new residences for 500 students at the University of Warwick. The University's main campus is on the south west edge of the city of Coventry actually straddling the border between City of Coventry and the County of Warwickshire. The new residencies will be on the Coventry side of the campus just a few minutes walk from the University's Library, central social facilities and Warwick Arts Centre.

Page & Park were one of six teams shortlisted to take part in the design phase of the competition and invited to prepare concept design proposals for the first phase of residences, with a target of 500 study bedrooms, within a site close to Rootes Residences.

The other teams taking part in this phase were:-

Fraser Brown MacKenna Architects
David Morley Architects
Richard Murphy Architects
Schmidt Hammer Lessen Architects Ltd
Stanton Williams

The Jury Panel, chaired by Penny Egan, Member of University Council, praised the enthusiasm and commitment of all the competing practices, and the quality and diversity of the design concepts shown in the various proposals.

The Jury were unanimous in selecting Page & Park as the winner and felt that their scheme not only best fit the operational needs of the project but also offered the best relationship between the built development and the high quality landscape context that exists.

International Symposium and Award Ceremony for “best private plots 08 – Die besten Gärten 2008”

The contemporary design of private outdoor spaces dares to embark on new, unconventional paths: The international competition best private plots - Die besten Gärten is now in its third year. This year, 71 architects, garden designers, landscape architects and garden owners from 17 countries responded to the invitation to submit their garden projects to the competition. An international expert jury composed of five members has nominated 28 projects, from among which the top three contestants will be chosen during the final jury meeting in Langenlois. The projects nominated for best private plots 08 – Die besten Gärten 2008 are published at www.privateplots.at/en/nominations.html.


The award recognizes exemplary achievements in the design of private outdoor spaces and gardens, rating sophisticated design ideas and aesthetic solutions, the innovative use of plants and materials, and the consideration of the ecological context.


The winners of best private plots 08 – Die besten Gärten 2008 will be announced on September 27th at 7 p.m. at the award ceremony in the auditorium of Grafenegg Castle in Austria. We look forward to celebrating with you afterwards with a buffet and wine offered in the open-air pavilion “Cloud Tower”, designed by the architects of the next ENTERprise, and located in the castle’s 250-year old park. For guests, a shuttle service from the Loisium Hotel in Langenlois to Grafenegg Castle will be available. Make your reservations at: www.privateplots.at/en/registration.html

As jury members, we have been able to enlist renowned experts from the fields of landscape architecture, architecture and design, who have investigated the topic of planning gardens and outdoor spaces in greatly varied and highly innovative ways. We expect their presentations at the symposium public spots on private plots to provide an exciting and productive impetus for discussion, as well as perspectives on gardens as aesthetic and cultural fields of experimentation – as open, varied and variable spaces.

The international symposium on garden architecture public spots on private plots will take place on September 27th, 2008, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Loisium Hotel in Langenlois, Austria.

Jane Amidon (USA) – landscape architecture | Petra Blaisse (Netherlands) – design
Erik Dhont (Belgium) – landscape architecture | Edouard François (France) – architecture

The participation fee for the symposium is EUR 50.00, and registration is required at www.privateplots.at/en/registration.html.

All projects nominated will be published in the bilingual catalogue “best private plots 08 – Die besten Gärten 2008 – Internationale Beispiele zur Gartenarchitektur”, which will be presented at the award ceremony. The catalogue can be pre-ordered at: www.privateplots.at/en/catalogue.html

Prototyping the city_international summer school_Torino World Design Capital 2008

Prototyping the City: Design Studio was a workshop organized by the Torino World Design Capital, the Architectural Association, the Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation at Columbia University and the Politecnico di Torino within the context of the summer school Designing Connected Places. It took place in Torino, between 14 July and 26 July 2008 and was conceived as an intensive collaborative section between 35 students from all over the world and has been realized with the support of Denaldi Legnami.

The task was to design and construct an installation, used as the Torino information desk of the six workshops of the summer school Designing Connected Places, held both in Torino and in Pollenzo: students were asked to design and construct the information desk by using advanced computational techniques and fabrication processes.

The wooden structure will remain on site until October 12th. and has been placed in the corridor, between "Le Nuove" and the "Officine Grandi Riparazioni delle Strade Ferrate" as this is an area of the city that has been abandoned for a few years and that has reborn as an exhibit pole during these months.

Official Blog: www.protocity.blogspot.com

ARCHIFEST 08: MAN + ENVIRONMENT

October 08

A month-long festival celebrating architecture and the built environment is due to return for a second year after the successful event held for the first time last year.

Look forward to a myriad of exciting events including Exhibitions, Forum, Architours and other Fringe Events at the Archifest. Be inspired by the gallery of the year’s best architectural projects; learn from watching the presentations of a stellar line-up of world-renowned architects; get up-close with some iconic and very interesting buildings on a guide tour. The festival is a public event packed with architectural-related activities and happenings for all to participate in.

The highlight of the festival will be the two-day Archifest 08 Forum: Man+Environment. The Forum brings together a stellar lineup of speakers who will be addressing the challenges of Man and our environment. Featuring a panel of carefully-selected speakers including Fernando Menis (Spain), Jo Noero (South Africa) and Andrew Maynard (Australia), the Forum will have an upbeat, broad and suggestive take on the topic "Man+Environment".

For more information, please visit www.archifest.sg.