WINNERS OF MUD HOUSE DESIGN 2014 COMPETITION
(Reinventing the African Mud Hut Together)
Nka Foundation Announces the winners of the Mud House Design 2014 competition for Ghana.
The 1st prize winning design is Sankofa House by the design team: M.A.M.O.T.H from France; the 2nd prize winner is Eban Aya by Atelier Koe in Senegal; and the 3rd prize is awarded to Ejisu Earth House by Jason Orbe-Smith in USA. The competition was open to recent graduates and students of architecture, design and others from around the world. The challenge was to design a single-family unit on a plot of 60 x 60 feet to be built by maximum use of earth and local labor in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The client of the design entry is the middle-income family at any township in the region. Total costs of constructing the design entry was capped at $6,000; land value was excluded from this price point. The competition was designed to: (1) to generate mud house design alternatives to be available free to everyone to appreciate, use, or improve them to generate more practical and contemporary design solutions for the region; and (2) to make possible the construction of the best design entries through building workshops to realize prototypes, as examples to the local people that mud architecture can be durable and beautiful.
The jury involved a preselection jury and grand jury by use of judging criteria involving functionality, aesthetics and technical matters. Twenty top finalists were chosen by the Preselection Jury of architects, professors and administrators with relevant expertise, which were forwarded to the Grand Jury of architecture professors and others who are established in earth architecture. From the Top 20 Design Entries, three prize-winning designs were selected. Prizes for first, second and third place consist of a commemorative plaque and a choice of cash reward or construction of winning design in Ghana. Every design team of the Top 20 Design Entries receives a certificate of recognition.
| First Place | |||
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Sankofa House by M.A.M.O.T.H Country France |
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| Second Place | |||
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Eban Aya by Atelier Koe Country Senegal |
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| Third Place | |||
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Ejisu Earth House by Jason Orbe-Smith Country USA |
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GRAND JURY
Belinda van BUITEN, Director at FBW architects/African Architecture Matters at Utrecht (The Netherlands)
After her Masters Degree studies at TU-Delft, Belinda van Buiten worked in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania for L+ P architects and the Institute for Tropical Building. In 1990, she worked for Hubert-Jan Henket architects, where she worked during her studies. In 1992, in partnerships with Antoni Folkers en Geoffrey Wilks, she established FBW Architects with branches in Manchester, Dar es Salaam, Utrecht, Kampala and Kigali. Buiten was co -founder of ArchiAfrika (2001), which was in partnerships with Antoni Folkers, Berend van der Lans, Janneke Bierman en Joep Mol. Apart from her work in the FBW office, Buiten serves as a guest lecturer to various universities and schools for advanced education in the Netherlands. She has been president of Bouwnetwerk (2003 – 2005), a network for women active in the construction industry. Belinda van Buiten is a member of commissions for spatial quality.
Márcio Albuquerque BUSON, Professor of architecture and urbanism at the University of Brasilia (Brasil)
Márcio Albuquerque Buson has been a professor of architecture and urbanism at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Brasilia in Brazil since 1990. He obtained Sc in Technology of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Brasilia in 1998. He holds a PhD in Construction Technology from the University of Brasilia and with doctoral internship at the University of Aveiro, Portugal from 2006 to 2009. At the present, he is a professor of Construction Technology in the Department of Architecture and Urbanism of the FAU / UNB. Dr. Buson conducts research and works on earth architecture, sustainable and bioarchitecture building systems. His works operate on the following topics: construction, architecture, sustainability and architectural design.
Mariana CORREIA, Professor of Architecture at Escola Superior Gallaecia (Portugal)
Mariana Correia holds a PhD in Architecture and is the author of Vernacular Heritage and Earthen Architecture. She is a professor of „Theory and History of Conservation and Restoration on the Masters of Architecture and Urban Design at Escola Superior Gallaecia (ESG), a university in Vila Nova de Cerveira in Portugal. Prof. Correia is the President of the Board of Directors at ESG, and the Coordinator of the Masters Dissertations Unit at ESG. She is supervisor of PhD thesis and Master dissertations by national and international students. Correia is the Director of CI-ESG, Research Centre at ESG, and the Project Leader of the European Research Project „VerSus | Lessons from Vernacular Heritag e to Sustainable Architecture‟ that is funded by the Council of Europe. She is the Project Leader of the Scientific Research Project „SEISMIC-V | Vernacular Seismic Culture in Portugal‟ funded by FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology in Portugal. Prof. Correia also served as the Portuguese coordinator of several Iberian-American, European, Iberian and National research projects. At the present, Correia is the General Coordinator of PROTERRA | Earthen Architecture Iberian-American Network with 115 experts from 18 countries. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of two Iberian Heritage Foundations: the Portuguese Foundation Convento da Orada and the Spanish Foundation Antonio Font de Bedoya. Correia is an International ICOMOS Consultant for the assessment of World Heritage Sites, concerning site missions and desk reviews. She is a Steering Committee Member of WHEAP–World Heritage Earthen Architecture Programme of UNESCO (2007-2017). She is a member of the Board of Directors of ICOMOS-ISCEAH (International Scientific Committee on Earthen Architectural Heritage), an expert member of ICOMOS-CIAV (International Scientific Committee on Vernacular Architecture), and the Portuguese Chair holder of the UNESCO Chair-Earthen Architecture and Sustainable Development.
Toby CUMBERBATCH, Professor at The Cooper Union (New York)
Toby Cumberbatch was educated at The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology at Manchester in England. After gaining his doctorate he started work on the development of novel coating methods for II-VI thin film solar cells at the Thorn-EMI Central Research Laboratories in 1980. He extended this work at the University of Cambridge and then moved to the Interdisciplinary Research Center in Superconductivity to work on the deposition of superconducting oxide films. Dr. Cumberbatch emigrated to the USA in 1991. Dr.Cumberbatch has been teaching at The Cooper Union since 1994, as a member of the teaching staff at the Department of Electrical Engineering. He founded the Center for Sustainable Engineering, Art and Architecture-Materials, Manufacturing and Minimalism (SEA2M3) in 2005, which brings together students from the schools of Engineering, Art and Architecture to focus on problems that address the fundamental needs of energy, water and shelter in very poor communities in the less industrialized countries. Prof. Cumberbatch is a member of the adjunct faculty at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology at Kumasi in Ghana, and a visiting professor at the National University of Rwanda at Butare in Rwanda. Prof.Cumberbatch travels regularly to East and WestAfrican countries to research problems in underserved communities. From time to time, he takes students to Northern Ghana for projects related to energy and water audits, defluoridation filters, solar lighting systems, low energy housing and improved wood stoves.
Ahmad HAMID, Principal founder, Ahmad Hamid Architects (Egypt)
Ahmad Hamid Worked with Hassan Fathy at the Institute of Appropriate Technology. Hamid then founded his own interdisciplinary office in Cairo, and pursued post graduate studies in Islamic art and architecture. He participated in the design team with Skidmore Owings & Merrill for the World Trade Center Cairo, and with the international group of consultants involved in the planning and architecture for Sadat City Egypt. Ahmad Hamid consulted in Germany, England, Switzerland, Malaysia, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Abu Dhabi. Along with his office practice, he is teaching in several universities both local and abroad, on topics of art, industrial design, architecture,culture, sustainability, and Islam‟s art and architecture. Receiving a Fulbright design study grant in Pratt Institute New York 2005/6, the 2010 and again the 2013 World Architecture Award. The Frank G. Wisner Award 2008. The Nadia Niazy Mustafa Award 2010, and his firm’s website design was honored in 2011 with the American University Advertising Award. He designs several series of contemporary furniture, objects, textiles, and accessories and presents his work again and again in exhibitions. Ahmad Hamid acts as consultant to UNESCO and has served on several boards of international jurors; the11th annual Berkeley undergraduate prize 2009, and the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona 2010, and currently on the Nka foundation for the ‘Mud House design competition 2014’. Hamid’s design work has been featured in over 100 interviews and articles in eight languages. He is the author of the book: Hassan Fathy. Continuity in Islamic Art & Architecture: The Birth of a New Modern, 2010 AUC press.
Rowland KEABLE, UNESCO Chair on Earthen Architecture and Director Rammed Earth Consulting CIC (UK)
Rowland Keable is a graduate of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Keable is an honorary professor, UNESCO Chair on Earthen Architecture and Director of Rammed Earth Consulting CIC and Earth Building UK. Keable has worked with rammed earth technology since 1985. This includes building as a part of Passivhaus projects. Recently, this has included some local authority classrooms in Sussex and Lincolnshire where thermal and humidity loads are more of an issue than some domestic situations. We acted as consultants in each case, with the work being carried out very successfully by non-specialist contractors. Other work of Rammed Earth Consulting, www.rammedearthconsulting.com, includes the writing of construction codes and standards both in the UK and abroad, most recently in Africa. After the 15 countries of SADC voted to harmonise „Rammed Earth Code of Practice‟ the African Regional Standards Organisation has agreed to harmonise the standard across the whole continent. We are also currently working on a European wide skills training standard to complement work already completed on training standards for earth plasters.
Bruno MARQUES,professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Arts in Oporto Lusíada University (Portugal)
Bruno Gomes Marques completed his PhD in Architecture at Valladolid University in Spain in 2010, and earned another PhD in Civil Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Oporto in Portugal in 2011. His Masters degree was in Urban Planning from the Faculty of Architecture at University of Oporto. At the present, he is Professor and supervisor of Master dissertationson the Masters Degree program in Architecture and Urbanism at the Faculty of Architecture and Arts at Oporto Lusíada University. Dr. Marques was also the President of Centro de Estudos Africanos da Universidade do Porto-CEAUP from 2013 to 2014 and President of Núcleo de Arquitectos de Aveiro da Ordem dos Arquitectos-NAAV-OA from 2011 to 2014. He is researcher of CEAUP in the area of Sustained Economic Development in Africa on the topic of “Issues and projects of applied research: Applied research in Africa eco-development (architecture and urbanism)”. Since 2013, Dr. Marques conducted post-doctoral research on rammed earth and bamboo construction with bioclimatic approach in Africa. He has also developed research inthe field of Civil Engineering, within a multidisciplinary research team, under the title: Energy Efficiency in Residential Buildings–From Theory to Practice.
John QUALE, Director and Professor of Architecture at the University of New Mexico School of Architecture+Planning at Albuquerque (USA)
John Quale is Director and Professor of Architecture at the the University of New Mexico School of Architecture + Planning at Albuquerque in New Mexico. From 2000 to 2014, he was on the faculty of the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture and served as the Director of the Graduate Architecture program. Quale initiated and serves as Director of the ecoMOD / ecoREMOD project, an interdisciplinary effort to design, build and evaluate prefabricated and renovated housing units for affordable housing organizations. Quale also coordinated the award-winning 2002 UVA Solar Decathlon Team. He has received numerous awards, including the Architect Magazine R+D Award, the AIA Education Honor Award, the NCARB Grand Prize, the USGBC Excellence in Green Building Curriculum Award and finalist status for the UN World Habitat Award. Quale was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Tokyo and the Thomas Jefferson Fellow at Cambridge University‟s Downing College. Prof.Quale is the author of “Sustainable, Affordable, Prefab: the ecoMOD Project” and is also co-author of “OFFSITE: Constructing a Post Industrial Future,” forthcoming from Routledge in 2016.His work has been featured in various media outlets including CNN, HGTV, Metropolis, Architect Magazine, Architectural Record, Dwell, and The Washington Post. For four years, he was a project manager at Architecture Research Office (ARO), and also worked in several other architecture firms including Richard Meier & Partners, WG Clark Architect, and William McDonough & Partners. Quale is currently serving a three-year term on the U.S. Green Building Council‟s Board of Directors. He has given a keynote and invited public lecture at various U.S. and international venues, including the National Building Museum, the Urban Center, and universities including Cambridge, Oxford, the Architectural Association, Oxford Brookes, Sheffield, Tokyo, Princeton, Cornell, Ohio State, Michigan and several others. Previously, he has served on the international jury for the Masdar Headquarters in Abu Dhabi, the AIA-COTE Top Ten Green Projects Award, the Modular Building Institute Awards of Distinction, the New York City “What If?“ Competition, the Fulbright Scholar Review Committee, and the UVA Faculty Teaching Award Committee.
Ronald RAEL, Professor of Architecture in the University of California at Berkeley in California (USA)
Ronald Rael is an Associate Professor at the University of California at Berkeley with a joint appointment in the departments of Architecture and Art Practice. Prior to joining the faculty at Berkeley, he was the co-director of Clemson University‟s Charles E. Daniel Center for Building Research and Urban Studies in Genova, Italy. Rael has been a member of the Design Faculty at the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles, an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona, and a Senior Instructor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He earned his Master of Architecture degree at Columbia University in the City of New York, where he was the recipient of the William Kinne Memorial Fellowship. Since 2003, Rael has been running eartharchitecture.org, which in 2009 was ranked among the top 20 most important blogs on architecture worldwide. Prof. Rael is the author of Earth Architecture (Princeton Architectural Press, 2008) – a history of building with earth in the modern era to exemplify new, creative uses of the oldest building material on the planet. His creative practice, Rael San Fratello, established in 2002 with Virginia San Fratello, is an internationally recognized award-winning studio whose work lies at the intersection of architecture, art, culture, and the environment.
Humberto VARUM, Professor of Civil Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (Portugal)
Humberto Varum is full professor at the Civil Engineering Department of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto in Portugal. Prior to this, he was associate professor at the Civil Engineering Department of the University of Aveiro in Portugal, where he taught from 1997 to 2014. Prof. Varum holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Aveiro. Earlier, he concluded a Master’s Degree in Structures of Civil Engineering and a degree in Civil Engineering both from the University of Porto in Portugal. Prof. Varum has anextensive experience in research on the structural and seismic performance of rammed earth architecture and coordinates several international research teams on adobe and rammed earth buildings. His main research interests include assessment, strengthening and repair of structures, structural health monitoring, structural testing and modelling, earthquake engineering and structural dynamics, earth construction rehabilitation and seismic strengthening. He was a grant holder and temporary agent at the ELSA laboratory, Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Italy, for three years, where he developed research on earthquake assessment and rehabilitation of existing structures. He has supervised Master and PhD studies in the field of structural characterization and seismic retrofitting of structures. He has co-authored over 400 publications in international peer reviewed scientific journals, books and conference proceedings, in the fields of earthquake engineering, assessment and strengthening of structures, and earth construction rehabilitation.
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