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4th EARTH COMPETITION – School for Ghana

Submission: April 30, 2016
Registration: April 25, 2016
Language: English
Location: Abetenim near Kumasi, Ghana
Prizes: 1st Prize: 1500$, 2nd Prize: 1000$, 3rd Prize: 500$
Type: Open

 

Nka Foundation announces a call for entries for its 4th Earth Architecture Competition: Designing a School for Ghana, an international architecture competition open to graduates and advanced students of architecture, design and others from around the world who think earth architecture can be beautiful.

WHAT IS THE CHALLENGE?

The design entry will emphasize sustainable architecture and costefficient construction by fully integrating local materials and passive solar design. The challenge is to design an earth architecture type that will be built as a unit of a community secondary school for students of ages 12 to 18 years in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The school will consist of the following building types: classrooms, offices for school administrators, library, laboratories, dorms for boarding students, cafeteria hall, teachers quartre and sports ground for a population of 600 students. This means that your challenge is to design one of the following types for the school: a classroom type, laboratory type, office building type, dormitory type, group toilet type, cafeteria type and a dwelling type for the teachers. You should design the type for construction by maximum use of earth and local labor. Total costs of constructing the design entry must not exceed $8,000 (USD) for materials. The local community will supply local labor for the construction and land value is also excluded from this price point. Because the construction of best design entires is a priority, each design team gets an opportunity to build their design at Abetenim in Ghana. Be a part of this! Let’s create change where it is most needed.

CONSTRUCTION

What is the preferred construction method for the winning entries? The method to be used to build your design can be rammed earth, poured earth or any other earth construction technique that can be easily learned by local labor. Roof design should involve metal roof with such as corrugated zinc or aluminium roofing sheets, which is the conventional roofing material in the region. Other roofing methods such as vault roof, tiled stone, ferro-cement roof and canvas roof are all possibilities but not duly tested to stand the region’s torrential rain storms.

PRIZES

The jurors will use judging criteria involving functionality, aesthetics and technical matter to select three prize-winning designs. Jurors will award prizes for first, second and third place consisting of a commemorative certificate and cash prizes to the winning designs as follows: 1st prize- $1,500 or construction of design in Ghana plus a trip to Ghana for a workshop to build the winning design (in case the winner does not reside in Ghana and to a maximum of 1 person); 2nd prize- Construction or $1,000 and 3rd prize- Construction or $500. Honorable mentions may be awarded at the discretion of the jury but will receive no cash prize.

REGISTRATION

Registration runs from February 15 to April 25, 2016; and submission of entries will be from April 15 to 30, 2016. The registration fee per entry is $40 for individual and $60 for a team. Here is where to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-earth-architecturecompetition-tickets-20450604308 and submit your design entry via mudhousedesign@mail.com. For additional information, see the competition discussion board: http://nkaprojects.boards.net.
Be a part of this! Let’s create change where it is most needed.

CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION

(1) An individual or a design team can submit an entry to the 4th Earth Architecture Competition. Each team shall identify one team member as its Point of Contact (“Point of Contact”) during the submission process.

(2) In order to enter the design contest, you must register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-earth-architecturecompetition-tickets-20450604308 On your Eventbrite ticket, you will see a 9-digit order #. This is your registration number for one design entry. If you are submitting more than one entry, each design entry requires a separate ticket. With your entry ticket number submit your design entry via mudhousedesign@mail.com. If you want to pay by check, send us an e-mail: info@nkafoundation.org / www. nkafoundation.org and the following information: Team Name, Team Leader, Name, Phone Number and Email for Each Team Member. To submit your design, place your ticket number and the title of the project (no name) on all pages of your design submission to allow the jury to select blindly.

(3) SUBMISSION FORMAT: (1) Text file (Word format) containing the design statement (300 words max) for publication purposes. The design statement should include material description, budget in USD, and the entrants’ personal information including name, profession, address, and email address. (2) One A1 presentation board submitted as a JPG file of high-quality resolution (15 MB) to be printed in landscape format. For uploading to the competition’s projects board, the file size of the presentation board to be submitted must not exceed 600 kb. The upper right corner of the board must contain the entry ticket number. There should not be any marks or any other form of identification, less the entry is disqualified. The file must be named after the ticket number followed. For example, 112334567.jpg (for your presentation board). The presentation board includes the floor plan, roof plan and elevations. The project statement should explain the design. Submissions must be in English language.

(4) Of the nominated projects (20), there will be three winning projects, according to the highest scores. Jurors will award prizes for first, second and third place consisting of a commemorative certificate and cash prizes to the winning designs as follows: 1st prize- $1,500 or Construction of design in Ghana plus a trip to Ghana for a workshop to build the winning design (in case the winner does not reside in Ghana and to a maximum of 1 person); 2nd prize- Construction or $1,000 and 3rd prize- Construction or $500. Honorable mentions may be awarded at the discretion of the jury but will receive no cash prize.

(6) Judging criteria involve: (1) Functionality: space patterns and usage as a school, climatic performance, and sustainability over time; (2) Aesthetics: visual/aesthetic appeal; and (3) Technical: adaptive/ creative use of abundant local materials and labor to the degree they enhance the design, resource efficient construction process, and attention to scalability and construction budget. Decisions of the jury will be final and binding.

(7) Q&A: Registered participants may post questions or share materials at http://nkaprojects.boards.net or by email to the address: mudhousedesign@mail.com. The deadline for questions is April 14, 2016. The organizer will continually post replies to questions received on the competition discussion board: http:// nkaprojects.boards.net

(8) Any person entering this contest shall certify and guarantee the organisers that he/she is the sole author of the project and by participating, each contestant grants their free and exclusive consent that all designs and ideas will be published and shared to inspire others. By entering the competition, all participants agree to all the conditions of participation in the competition.

(9) You can pay the entry fee by: (1) Teaming up with one or two other people who have a credit care and can pay via Eventbrite; or (2) You can pay by check or international money order that can be withdrawn at a Bank in the United States. Mail it to Nka Foundation, 2633 SW 92nd Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73159, USA.

After, you have mailed the check, send us an e-mail via info@nkafoundation.org / www.nkafoundation.org. Include the following information: Team Name, Team Leader, Name, Phone Number and Email for Each Team Member.

Go to the competition’s website