Special Mention – 2007 Housing Competition
Project by: Dan O’Riley

We are still killing the Earth. The temperature is unbearable; the air is almost un-breathable. Our ever increasing population has overrun the planet to the point where there is little open land left and the one available is uninhabitable. We are huddled together in ultra-high density megalopolises like bees in a hive.

We could live in hexagonal prefabricated units to maximize the density of our cities in an attempt to reverse sprawl and for our own safety. Like the beehive, these hexagonal units efficiently stack and transfer load. These modular units can be stacked and clustered as high and as far as we care to place them. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention – 2007 Housing Competition
Project by: Ted Porter, Ted Sheridan, Meri Tepper, Ian Roll

In 1924 the Harlem Railroad covered the train viaduct extending from 48th to 96th Streets.  The resulting median is maintained as a generic green space, financed with contributions from high-income residents along Park Avenue.  Median Income Housing (MIH) proposes a much-needed alternative use for this space while maintaining its green nature. 

As of the 2000 census there are 3,021,538 household units in New York City with a median income of $38,293.  Current zoning guidelines encourage residential developments that combine 80% market rate units with 20% qualifying income units.  This project proposes to remedy the current imbalance of Park Avenue housing by adding units for median income users.  With 6 to 10 units per block there is the potential to house over 960 middle and lower income residents in apartments ranging from 400 to 800 square feet. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention – 2007 Housing Competition
Project by: Larisa Kuvtyreva

Kokuy Housing

This project is a redevelopment idea for the waste grounds in the suburbs of the Russian city of Kokuy. The majority of the existing houses will be restored and three new egg-shaped buildings will provide the new necessary housing. These structures will be covered with solar panels that will move according to the sunlight. Movable screens cover the entire outer skin and are used to regulate the temperature and the illumination. The main structure is formed by four columns that support a secondary structure around the ‘eggs’. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention – 2007 Housing Competition
Project by: Kyuseon Hong, Kyungjae Kim, Yongju Lee

The water-edge condition of Manhattan has been gradually changed from a swampy sloped wet land to a horizontal hard concrete structure. Even though we have more area for development along the hardened horizontality, the natural environmental qualities have been drastically reduced. Furthermore, the concrete edge is also limiting the boundary of Manhattan’s growth with strict lines. Read the rest of this entry »

The eighth annual international awards competition has named a total of eight category winners, with sixteen additional projects awarded a “Highly Commended” prize by the panel of judges, selected from the hundreds of entries received.  The winning projects showcase an international range of projects and practices, with schemes hailing from Austria, Denmark, Japan, Lebanon, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the UK.

The Awards celebrate excellence in design whether for projects on the drawing board which may never be realised, through to projects where construction may have commenced, has created the showpiece design event during the MIPIM conference and exhibition. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention – 2007 Housing Competition
Project by: Laurent Saint-Val, Alexandre Sarazin, Shahyar Shakiba

This project explores ‘Mikado’, a pick-up sticks game, as a way to establish design rules and physical/spatial connections for housing organization. The challenge is to create a mediating structure between physically adjacent conditions and public/private programs. This structure is formed by series of architectural ‘sticks’ which have different functions. The first type consists of connectors or bridges, which are used to link different programs. The knots are the areas where different activities are mixed-up and generate a new type of architecture that is physically and theoretically different from traditional dwellings. Finally, the third group is made of flexible voids that provide balance and stability to the system. It is an investigation about fullness and emptiness and its relation to program and circulation. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention – 2007 Housing Competition
Project by: Rainer Erdkoenig, Mark-Anton Siskov

The concept behind this project is the creation of a ‘Railway Housing’ network across New York City. This is a housing unit that has the ability of moving through the entire network, a temporary living, leisure or business location. It is also possible to buy permanent units in the designated areas. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention – 2007 Housing Competition
Project by: Joseph Choma

Architecture Redefined

 All throughout history people have attempted to redefine the basic meaning of life.  How do you design for the future?  What is the future of housing?  When looking back on history, pre-fabrication became a popular process of mass production of similar units that could be easily assembled.  This process was invented during the industrial revolution when it became crucial for guns to have inter-changeable parts. Now, in an era of mass customization what does being pre-fabricated really mean? 

In the past, machine like processing has always had a direct correlation to human musculature, and making things easier and quicker to build.  Could a machine be based on conscience instead of muscle… like a computer science program? Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention – 2007 Housing Competition
Project by: Geoffrey Elander, Sang Duk Mo

Hybrid Evolutionary Lifestyles

Accumulation Strategy
This is a community which will grow over time according to market demand. It is not a commercial tower, nor a residential tower, but a constant evolution of both. Central cores define a point of departure for the housing units to attach to and define circulation paths across the building. This system enables development over time and provides an elongated view of the site.

Site Strategy
The surrounding context is defined mostly by large residential and commercial towers which are outlined by areas of industrial and low-rise housing. In response to these conditions two main gestures define the organization of the building throughout the site:
1. Continuation of the density along the main corridor of the towers and creation of an open public space or urban plinth at the main intersection.
2. The height of the new development references the adjacent towers to provide visual continuity between the new construction and the existing buildings.

Structural Strategy
To support the prolonged growth of the new development, the vertical and horizontal circulations are used as structural cores in which the housing and commercial units attach to with their own secondary structure.

Unit Strategy
Two housing units were designed for single individuals and families. The family unit has the ability to expand with an additional module. Temporal units can be rented and placed for a few days or weeks at a time.

Special Mention – 2007 Housing Competition
Project by: Zui Lig Ng

Shotgun Chameleon

Inspired by the Shotgun Houses in the Gulf Coast and the Creole Cottages in New Orleans this project is a prefabricated prototype designed to adapt to different types of climates and accommodate a wide range of programs.

The chameleon-like front screen provides a myriad of facade possibilities for different urban contexts and solar/wind orientations. The sides are made out of wood that can be painted in different colors to blend with the existing context. Billboards for commercial use are feasible in the ground floor and louvers allow breezes, provide privacy, and block direct sunlight. Vine trees could cover the screen and act as thermal regulator like the balconies in the French Quarter. The ground floor is delineated by two parallel load-bearing C.M.U. walls on post-tensioned concrete foundation. The rest of the house (floor, walls, and roof) is constructed with structural insulated panels that are economical, quick to install; an advantage of pre-fabrication. Read the rest of this entry »