Friday, May 20, 2005

Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition 2005

for the The 2005 World Sustainable Building Conference in Tokyo

Theme
ACTION for SUSTAINABILITY

Competition Purpose
The 2005 World Sustainable Building Conference (SB05Tokyo) will be held from September 27th to 29th, 2005. To mark this event, The SB05Tokyo National Conference Board, Shinkenchiku-sha, Co., Ltd., and Yoshioka Foundation will jointly sponsor The Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition 2005. Each year since 1965, The Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition has called for entries that explore new potential in architecture through the design of the residence, a place for human dwelling,” asking an architect of international standing to serve as a judge in selecting the winning submission. This time, in a departure from past competitions, two architects, Tadao Ando and Richard Rogers, will serve as judges. Shuzo Murakami (The Chief of the National Conference Board and Professor of Keio University) will serve as coordinator. The judging will be done in two stages, with the second-stage public jury to be held at the SB05 Tokyo conference.

Theme Description
In the 20th century, mankind attained prosperity by creating a culture of mass production and mass consumption. For that prosperity we must pay a terrible price, however, for we now confront a crisis of global proportions—our destruction of the earth’s ecosystem. The signs of impending catastrophe are numerous. They include global warming, ozone destruction, receding glaciers, and the depletion of mining, farming, and marine resources.
Since 1987, when the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations popularized the concept of “sustainable development,” sustainability has become a paradigm for an age of environmental awareness. Numerous hopes are confided in this word, among them a desire for intergenerational ethics, for preservation of the ecosystem, and for historical and cultural continuance. Under pressure from accelerating global population growth, however, sustainability is growing increasingly difficult to maintain.
Beginning with the Club of Rome, organizations of authorities, in all sectors, have issued warnings. If mankind maintains his present economic and industrial systems, it is believed, catastrophic change will occur in the earth’s ecosystem within 50 to 60 years. We have little time remaining. We must act for the sake of sustainability. This is the purport of our theme this time: Action for Sustainability.
The building sector consumes 30 to 50% of the earth’s resources and energy. As such, the building sector bears a great responsibility to advance the cause of sustainability, and expectations are high that it can do so. SB05Tokyo, a global conference on sustainable building, will be held in Tokyo next autumn. Opinion leaders in such fields as industry, government, education, and business, from around the world, will gather at the conference to discuss sustainable building from wide-ranging perspectives. We plan to hold the second-stage public jury for this design competition at SBO5 Tokyo. Through the residential design proposals submitted to this competition, we seek to send a strong message to the conference, one that will stimulate thoughtful discussion among the experts in sustainable building who gather here from many nations. (Shuzo Murakami)

Application and Entry

Contents
Site plan, floor plan, elevation, section, perspective drawings and axonometric drawings in any scale. Photographs of models may be used. You are free to append detailed drawings and other charts or descriptive texts that make your design clearer. Descriptive texts should be in either English or Japanese.

Complete all drawings, illustrative materials, and texts on ONE sheet of A1 size (594mm~841mm). Include two copies with the original. DO NOT USE A PANEL.

Media
You may use blueprints, pencil, ink, color, or photographs. NO ELECTRONIC MEDIA

Identification
On the back side of the original and each of the two copies, the entrant must show his or her name, occupation, age, address (home and office), telephone and facsimile number and e-mail address. All of these items should be typed for sake of legibility. Cover this information with a strip of opaque paper that may be easily removed later

Deadline
All entries must reach the competition office no later than June 13th (Monday), 2005. Mail entries to the following address

attn. Entries Committee, The Shinkenchiku Residential Competition 2005
Shinkenchiku-sha, Co., Ltd.
2-31-2, Yushima, Bunkyo-ku,
Tokyo 113-8501, Japan

Judging Method
Judges will each select three finalists. First stage finalists (6 teams or less) will be notified of their selection by the end of July.

The finalists will present their proposals at the SB05Tokyo conference (September 29th, 2005) and the Jury will choose the winner before the public. The finalists will be invited to the SB05Tokyo conference. (One person from each finalist team. A part of his or her traveling and accommodation expenses will be paid by the hosts).

Announcement of Winners
Winners will be announced in the 2005 December issue of SHINKENCHIKU and vol. 60 issue of THE JAPAN ARCHITECT.

Prize
The prize (total: 1,500,000 yen will be distributed at the discretion of the Juries.
Notice

* No registration is necessary for entry in this competition.
* Entries must never have been made public in any form previously. Nor can they be submitted simultaneously to any other competition.
* The hosts reserve publication rights with regard to all entries.
* Questions will not be answered by the hosts. All matters not covered in the regulations listed above are left to the discretion of the entrants.
* The work must not (in total or in part) infringe on a copyright. Do not use images copied from magazines, books or Web sites. If a copyright infringement is discovered in the winning entry, the award may be taken back at the hosts’ discretion.
*No entries will be returned.
* Entries will only be accepted if they adhere to all the rules appropriately.
* All necessary costs for submission (airmail charge, air courier charge, tax, insurance, etc.) must be fully paid by entrants.

lifted from the japan architect website.
complete details

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

bukidnon design workshop (details)

FORMAL LETTER FROM TFA:
Greetings!

The UP-Task Force Arki, a student organization based in the college of architecture of University of the Philippines, Diliman, in cooperation with Arch. Anna Maria M. Gonzales, and the Kitanglad Integrated NGO’s (KIN), is planning to conduct a Community Design and Planning Interaction Workshop for representatives of three of the local tribes inhabiting the Mt. Kitanglad Range National Park (MKRNP). This is viewed as a venue for which the indigenous peoples, namely; Bukidnons, Talaandigs, Higaonons, can provide inputs and participate in the design of the MT. KITANGLAD CULTURAL AND HERITAGE CENTER, a structure that will serve the following purposes:

a. The center will serve as an institutional structure which will empower the local tribes in allowing them to assert their rights over the land which they have been cultivating and protecting since the time of their ancestors. It will also stand as a symbol of unity and cooperation among the tribes.

b. The center will serve as a venue for cultural understanding between and among different IP’s, between mainland-settlers and the IP’s, and between IP’s and the LGU’s. It will house spaces for cultural activities such as a museum, library, ritual/religious area, and a multi-purpose area.

c. The center will serve as shelter for the 3D-scaled model of the Mt. Kitanglad Range, constructed by the tribes themselves, with the help of a volunteer geologist, John Ong. The map serves as an important tool for the tribes’ ability to communicate their concerns to the LGU’s and participate in the protection and management of the MKRNP.

d. The center will also serve as a support facility for the tourism activities to be held in the park. It will allow the tribes to take on a more active role in the protection and supervision of MKRNP. It will also provide employment opportunities for the tribes.

In view of the forthcoming activity, we would like to approach your institution under your leadership and explore whether you or your networks are interested to support us on this goal. Currently, we are soliciting funds to defray the cost of travel to Bukidnon while the KIN is seeking sponsors for the expenses for communicating the architects and food for the participants. The workshop will take three days (May24-26, 2005), excluding the trip and trek to the site. The workshop needs at least P45, 000 to materialize. The Bukidnons would also counterpart the venue where the workshop would be held.

We hope that you can help us search those people who can counterpart or shoulder part of the expenses to realize this upcoming activity in Bukidnon. Attached herewith is the preliminary planning workshop design with the budgetary requirement. You may contact me via the following contact info:

tel: (02)2594959, (02)4357181
cell: 0920-4230277
email: tfa_up@yahoo.com , superpaoie@gmail.com

We are extending our gratitude as early as now, and we hope for your favorable response. May god bless us in this endeavor of sharing the benefits of architecture with our brothers in Kitanglad.

More power and all the best!

Paolo B. Aguila
UP-TFA Chairman
AY 2004-2005

Jhun Lenard Fabrero
UP-TFA Projcom Head
AY 2004-2005

***
THE DETAILS:
Community Design and Planning Interaction Workshop
Preliminary workshop design (March 31, 2005)

Objectives
Over-all:
Prepare and agree on design criteria for community cultural, heritage center/map shelter

Specific:
® Share and discuss ideas on sacred spaces and importance in community life
® Discuss how the importance of and how to come up with design criteria from goals and proposed activities
® Demonstrate how criteria can and cannot be transformed into actual designs
® Appreciate sense of space, natural and built environment
® Appreciate the connection between ecology and the built environment
® Present preliminary ideas for discussion

Materials:
® Rope
® Bamboo
® Tools for splitting and cutting bamboo
® Cardboard or matt board (for model making)
® Glue
® Manila paper for listing criteria
® Digital cameras
® Laptop
® Preliminary designs

Participants
Community leaders and members – 30 pax

Facilitators and Resource Persons
Architect/Planner: Anna Maria M. Gonzales
Architecture students: Paolo Aguila and Jhun Fabrero
KIN staff: Easter Canoy and Doming Decan


Proposed Schedule
Day 0: Arrival and briefing; preparation
Day 1: AM Travel to site, Getting to know (persons, place, things)

PM
® What they know about design and planning
® Cultural retrieval
® Sharing of forms and their meanings
® Sharing of what activities they would like to hold in a physical center; discussion of programs

Day 2 AM
Short Discussion on design criteria development
Sensual (senses) criteria
Functional criteria
Manageability criteria
Ecological criteria

Exercise: Develop criteria checklists per type of criteria
Presentation of three designs

Exercise:
Using criteria that they presented comment on the designs
How do they appear to them in terms of sense, function, manageability, ecological criteria; in terms of “meaning” and symbolism

PM
Exercise:
Build the three designs (three groups) - massing only
Presentation of models; sharing of experience

Day 3 AM
Exercise: Choose one to lay out on the ground, using rope, bamboo and other available material

PM
Continuation
Discussion and sharing of experience/ walk through (imaginaries)
Celebration: Solidarity night

Day 4 AM
Re-visit and finalize criteria
What to do next?
Agreements

PM
Travel back to Malaybalay center or Cagayan de Oro
Discussion and debriefing with KIN

Day 5
Flight back to Manila


THE BUDGET
Airfare Fee of Architectural Team
3 pax (Anna, Paolo and Jhun)
(7, 000 roundtrip x 3 pax)
Subtotal P 21, 000

Land Transportation Allowance (Taxi and Bus Fares)
(P1, 000 x 3 pax)
Subtotal P 3, 000

Accommodation
(P500 x 2 Rooms x 3 days)
Subtotal P 3, 000

Honoraria
P 8, 000 for Sr. Architect
P 3, 000 for Student Architects
P 2, 500 Food Allowance
Subtotal 13, 5000

Materials and Supplies
Subtotal P 2, 000

Food & Ritual for Community Workshop
KIN Counterpart
(P6, 000)

Contingency
P 2, 000

Grand Total
P 44, 500

Monday, May 09, 2005

inspiring design blogs

if you have time to kill (while pretending to work in your offices, hehe), visit these design blogs and read about the latest in industrial design, architecture, eco-friendly living and technology. i guarantee you'll find a lot of cool ideas.

www.mocoloco.com
www.landliving.com
www.core77.com
www.sensoryimpact.com
www.we-make-money-not-art.com"
www.worldchanging.com
www.treehugger.com
www.metaefficient.com