Kaira Looro Architecture Competition 2021, African Cultural Center Architectural Contest

Kaira Looro 2021 Competition

11 July

Kaira Looro 2021 competition winners

The Winners of the 2021 Kaira Looro Competition for a Women’s House in Africa

The objective of this year’s edition of the Kaira Looro international architecture competition was to design a women’s house created to promote gender equality as a determining factor for development in rural Africa. Participants from all over the world submitted their architectural proposals, based on innovative and sustainable design and destined to accommodate awareness-raising activities and training initiatives aimed at developing the village, in the name of equality. The winners were selected by an international jury.

Kaira Looro 2021 Competition winning entry:

Rural development, a reduction in discrimination and the creation of a sustainable environment all depend on the hard work which every member of society invests, both directly and indirectly, in the collective. Gender equality is crucial to the construction of an equitable society in which everyone can make a fundamental contribution to sustainable development.

Equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary condition for a prosperous world. That’s why it’s number five on the list of “Sustainable Development Goals” established by the United Nations: eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence, safeguard the rights of all genders, and provide social protection services, thus guaranteeing female participation at all levels of decision making.

Based on these considerations, the objective of the 2021 edition of the Kaira Looro International Architecture Competition was to select an architectural model for a “Women’s House” to be built in Africa, as well as to raise awareness in the international community regarding the topic of equal opportunity in developing countries and to support the charity projects promoted by the Balouo Salo humanitarian organization.

The architecture requested by the competition was a symbolic and ecological 300 square meter space inspired by local traditions, that can be self-constructed with the benefitting community itself. A space in which associations and members of society can meet and discuss the topics of equality and human rights, guaranteeing involvement and emancipation of the female community in favor of the region’s social, economic, and political development.

The project area is in southern Senegal, where Balouo Salo has been active since 2014 with the creation of various infrastructural projects that have facilitated access to potable water, encouraged education, and promoted sustainability and human rights. This is one of the least developed areas in Senegal: the poverty rate is approximately 90%; sanitary conditions are among the worst in the country with only 8% of the population having access to filtered water; and 70% of the population lives in homes without access to electricity.

Winning project of Kaira Looro Competition 2021 Edition – Project by Juan Pablo Lopez Isabella from Uruguay:

2nd place of Kaira Looro Competition 2021 Edition – Project by David Gonçalves, João Dias, Gonçalo, Santos, Pedro Gomes, Daniel Simões, from Portugal:

3rd place of Kaira Looro Competition 2021 Edition – Project by Annachiara Trabacchin, Elena Paccagnella, Gloria Aiolfi, Alberto Martini from Italy:

The competition, announced in January 2021, was open to young architects, engineers and designers in teams or as individual participants. The Jury is listed further down this post.

On May 20th the organization announced the 30 winning projects, which include 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place, 2 honourable mentions nominated by the president of the jury, Kengo Kuma, and by the Balouo Salo Organization, 5 special mentions, and 20 finalists.

The winning team will receive a cash prize of € 5.000 and an internship at the prestigious “Kengo Kuma & Associates” architectural firm in Tokyo, Japan. The second place winner will receive € 1.000 and an internship at the “EMBT – Miralles Tagliabue” architectural firm in Barcelona, Spain. The third place winner will receive € 500 and an internship at the “SBGA – Blengini Ghirardelli” in Milan, Italy.

Kaira Looro 2021 Competition winner:

Furthermore, the winning project will be built by the Balouo Salo humanitarian organization as a charity project in a small village in southern Senegal to promote equality and combat discrimination and violence, encouraging emancipation of the female community in a rural context in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The winner of the 2021 edition is Juan Pablo Lopez Isabella from Uruguay. The second prize was won by a team from Portugal made up of David Gonçalves, João Dias, Gonçalo, Santos, Pedro Gomes, Daniel Simões. The third place, however, comes from Italy with a team made up of Annachiara Trabacchin, Elena Paccagnella, Gloria Aiolfi, Alberto Martini.

Two honourable mentions were nominated, one selected by Kengo Kuma and the other by the Balouo Salo Organization, the teams come respectively from Vietnam and Poland. The first is composed of Quý Ngô Thanh, Nghĩa Nguyễn Đức, Sơn Đào Thanh, Long Cao Hoàng, Ngân Phạm Thị Thanh. The second, instead, composed by Weronika Paczkowska, Aleksandra Kubiak, Marta Mojsik, Piotr Gajdak. 5 special mentions were awarded to team projects from Canada, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Brazil and Greece. The other 20 finalist projects were teams from Romania, Latvia, China, Canada, Holland, Germany, Guinea, Brazil, Hong Kong, Portugal, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay, Lebanon.

Kaira Looro 2021 Competition winning design:

4 Jan 2021

Kaira Looro 2021 competition (Women’s House in Africa)

Africa Architectural Contest organised by International Nonprofit Organization Balouo Salo

The theme of this year’s contest will be the design of a Women’s House in Senegal, which will be built with the proceeds of the competition. This architecture will make it possible to promote gender equality and reduce discriminations in favor of rural development.

In the official website (www.kairalooro.com) there is all information: jury, calendar, awards, faqs, registration form.

The registration will open on 16th January 2021.

The entries received will be evaluated (in June) by a jury made up of prominent architects and institutions, among which: Kengo Kuma (Kengo Kuma & Associates), Benedetta Tagliabue (EMBT Miralles Tagliabue), Urko Sanchez ( Urko Sanchez Architects), Agostino Ghirardelli (SBGA), Oulimata Sarr (Regional Director of UN Women West and Central Africa), Lehau Victoria Maloka ( Director of Women Gender and Development Directorate of African Union Commission), Salimata Diop Dieng (Minister of Women, Family, Gender and Child Protection of Senegal), Azzurra Muzzonigro (Sex and the City).

Awards will be given to 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd places, 2 honourable mentions, 2 special mentions, 20 finalists, and 20 Top 50. The winning project will receive a cash prize (5.000 €) and an internship at Kengo Kuma & Associates studio in Japan, as well as the construction of the project and its adoption on the part of the Ministry at the national level. The other internships will be awarded to the 2^nd place team at the EMBT Miralles Tagliabue studio in Spain and to the 3^rd place at the SBGA Blengini Ghiradelli Archtiects in Italy.

Registrations will be open from January to the end of April.

Following all deadlines:

Kaira Looro Architecture Competition 2021 information / image received 040121 from Project Earth 2

Previously on e-architect:

Kaira Looro Architecture Competition 2022 – Children’s House, Senegal, West Africa
Kaira Looro 2022 Competition

20 May 2018

Kaira Looro Architecture Competition Winners

Kaira Looro Design Competition 2018 Winners

Firt Place Team: OMONIOALY346 from Italy
Project design by: Giacomo Spanio, Sergiu Cernea, Paolo Reali, Nicola Puppin.

Kaira Looro Competition

Location: Senegal, West Africa

Architecture Competitions

Architecture Competitions – architectural selection below:

Belgrade Concert Hall Design Competition 2020, Serbia

Belgrade Concert Hall Design Competition

The Labyrinth Design Competition by ARCH8

The Labyrinth Competition 2020

Urban Adaptation Competition
Urban Adaptation Competition

International Design Competition for Central City Square of Rahovec, Kosovo, Europe
Central City Square of Rahovec Architecture Competition

International Competition of Integrated Urban and Architecture Masterplan for Suwon Dangsu District 2, Suwon, S. Korea
Masterplan for Suwon Dangsu District 2 Competition

Senegal Buildings

Architecture in Senegal – architectural selection below:

University of Bambey Building, Diourbel
Design: IDOM

photograph : Francesco Pinton
University of Bambey Building

House in Dakar
Design: SAOTA – Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects and Antoni Associates

image from architects
Senegal Property

Dakar Railway Station
Project Consultancy: Iglo Architects

image from architects
Dakar Railway Station

Radisson Blu Hotel in Dakar
Design: SAOTA – Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects and Antoni Associates

photo from architecture office
Senegal Hotel Building

Solar Well, Sambacounda village, Senegal, Africa
Design: Raoul Vecchio Architect

picture from architects practice
Solar Well in Senegal

African Architecture

Comments / photos for the Kaira Looro 2021 Competition: Women’s House – African Architectural Contest page welcome