Mud House Design Competition, Ghana Design Contest, African Architecture

Mud House Design 2014 Competition

Architecture Contest in Ashanti Region of Ghana, Africa

5 Apr 2014

Mud House Design 2014 Contest

MUD HOUSE DESIGN COMPETITION

Reinventing the African Mud Hut Together

Nka Foundation invites entries for Mud House Design 2014, an international architecture competition open to recent graduates and students of architecture, design and others from around the world who think earth architecture can be beautiful. The challenge is to design a single-family unit of about 30 x 40 feet (approximately 10 x 12 metres) to be built by maximum use of earth and local labor in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

Mud House Design 2014 Contest:

This is the design problem: In Ghana, as in other countries in West Africa, stereotypes about buildings made of earth persist because of poor construction. From the cities to the low-income villages, use of concrete – despite its dependence on imported resources – is considered indispensable for building. Yet an excellent, cheap and local alternative called laterite, red earth, is available everywhere in Ghana. The long-term goal is to enable the Ghanaian population and lots of other places, to overcome the stigma that mud architecture is architecture for the very poor.

Jurors will award prizes for first, second and third place consisting of a commemorative plague and cash prizes to the winning designs as follows: 1st prize- $1,500 or Construction of design in Ghana plus a short trip to Ghana for the opening ceremony once construction is completed (in case the winner is not located 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 and submission of entries runs from March 15, 2014 until August 31, 2014.

To register here: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/mud-house-design-competition-tickets-10697036123 and submit your design entry via mudhousedesign@mail.com

Mud House Design 2014

Reinventing the African Mud Hut Together

CHALLENGE STATEMENT.
The challenge is to design a single-family unit of about 30 x 40 feet 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 your design is the middle-income family in any township of your choice in the Ashanti Region.
Total costs of constructing the design entry must not exceed $6,000 (land value is excluded from this price point). The entry should serve as an example to the local people that mud architecture can be beautiful and durable.

DESIGN PROBLEM.
In Ghana, as in other countries in West Africa, stereotypes about buildings made of earth persist because of poor construction. Earth architecture is fast giving way to modern dwellings made of cement blocks and other modern materials that are not simply expensive but thermally and acoustically problematic. From the cities to the low-income villages, use of concrete- despite its dependence on imported resources – is considered indispensable for building. The rising cost of the modern building materials manufactured from imported resources makes it verydifficultfor low-income families to become homeowners. Yet an excellent, cheap and local alternative called laterite, red earth, is available everywhere in Ghana.

For example, in the Abetenim area, 98% of the homes are made of earth, however local stereotypes about buildings made of earth persist because there are several examples of mud homes that have eroded over time due to poor construction and water damage. That is why there is local stigma associated with mud architecture. The local perception is that mud buildings are only for the very poor.

We reason that a design intervention can help generate alternatives to resolve the problem.
In light of the problem, we are running Mud House Design Competition to encourage designers, architects and builders to use their creativity to come up with innovative designs for modest, affordable homes that can be built locally. The design should aim at creating a single family and semi-urban house type that is a place to live, a place to rest, store modest belongings, and feel safe. The first place winning entry will be built on a site in the Ashanti Region.

PREFERRED CONSTRUCTION METHOD.
The method to be used to construct your design concept can be cob construction, rammed earth, mud brick, cast earth (poured earth) byformwork, or any other earth construction techniques that can be easily learned by local labor.
Roofing design could be of vault, fired mud roof, or corrugated zinc sheets, which is the conventional roofing materials because zinc roofing stands the heavy rainfall better. Your design entry may therefore aim to accomplish a prototype, a durable mud house that promotes open source design for the continuity of building with earth under the feet for a more sustainable future.

Undeniably, the competition promotes open source design, as a sustainable development model. By Open Source, we imply that the submitted designs will be available for all to appreciate, use, or improve them to generate more practical and contemporary design solutions for the region. The long-term goal is to enable the Ghanaian population and lots of other places, to overcome the stigma that mud architecture is architecture for the very poor.

For additional information see:
http://www.prlog.org/12288229

Mud House Design 2014 Competition website:
http://www.nkafoundation.org/competitions.html

Mud House Design 2014 Dates

Registration Opens:
March 15, 2014

Registration Deadline:
August 15, 2014

Submissions Dates:
April 30 – August 31,2014

Selection by the Jury:
September 15 – 30, 2014

Winning Projects’ Press Release:
October 5, 2014

Design-Build Workshops to Realize
Two of the Winning Designs:
November 2014 – July 2015

A Traveling Exhibition of all Works
Received:
Scheduled To Be Announced

Mud House Design 2014 Awards

Of the twenty (20) nominated works, 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 plaque and cash prizes to the winning designs as follows:

1st Prize: $1,500 or Construction of design in Ghana plus a short trip to
Ghana for the opening ceremony once construction is completed (in case the winner is not located in Ghana and to a maximum of 1 person).

2nd Prize: Construction or $1,000.

3rd Prize: Construction or $500.

Honorable mentions may be awarded at the discretion of the jury but will
receive no cash prize.

Mud House Design 2014 Guidelines

An individual or a design team can submit an entry to the Mud House Design competition. The individual participant can be a student or a graduate since 31st of January 2010 and the design team can be two or more persons. A team can submit more than one entry. Each team shall identify one team member as its “Point of Contact” during the submission process.
To join, you must register here:
httpss:/ /www.eventbrite.com/ e/ mud-house-design-competition-tickets-1 06 97036123
With your entry ticket number submit your design entry via mudhousedesign@mail.com. The number on your ticket (6-digit code) is your registration number for one design entry. If you are submitting more than one entry, each design entry requires a separate ticket.
The registration fee per entry is $60for individual and $80for a team. If you want to pay by check, send an e-mail at info@nkafoundation.org with the following information: Team Name, Team Leader, Name, Phone Number and Email for Each Team Member.
Registered participants may submit questions, by email only, to the address:
mudhousedesign@mail.com. The deadline for questions is August 5, 2014. The promoter will continually post the replies to all questions received on the competition website:
https:/ /nkafoundation.org/competitions.html
Any person entering this contest shall certify and guarantee the organizers 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 on to inspire others. By entering the competition, all participants agree to all the conditions of participation in the competition.

Mud House Design 2014 Submission

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Text File. A Word Format containing the design statement (maximum of 600 words) for publication purposes. The design statement should include material description, budget in USD, and the entrants’ personal information including name, profession, address, and email.
Presentation Boards. Three (3) A1 Presentation boards submitted as JPEG files of high-quality resolution that when printed at 100 percent size would be 45cm(h) x 90cm(w) each (landscape format). The file size of each presentation board must not exceed 3MB. The upper right corner of each board must contain the entry ticket number.
There should not be any marks or any other form of identification. The files must be named after the ticket number followed by the board number. For example, 112334-1.jpg, 112334_2.jpg, &
112334_ 3.jpg.
Required submittals include the site plan, floor plan, elevations, sections, perspective views, roof plan, construction details and sequences (as appropriate) and project statement explaining the design. Submissions must be in English language. 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.
The body of the jurors is to be made public August 31, 2014, at the latest, on the
competition website: https:/ /nkafoundation.org/competitions.html

Mud House Design 2014 Jury

JUDGING CRITERIA
Functionality. Space patterns & usage, climatic performance, & sustainability over time.
Aesthetics. visual or aesthetic appeal.
Technical. adaptive or creative use of abundant local materials and labor to the degree
they enhance the design, resource efficient construction process, and attention to
scalability.
Decisions of the jury will be final and binding.

Mud House Design Background

BACKGROUND
Building with mud may sound primitive; it is not. It is used in modern day construction and the methods of using it vary in light of its ecological and aesthetic benefits. There are examples of airports, embassies, hospitals, museums, and factories that are built of earth. In fact, it is estimated that half of the global population, approximately three billion people on six continents, lives or works in buildings constructed of earth. The reason is not only because it costs little or no money to build with earth under the feet and is locally available worldwide; mud is a nontoxic material and is acoustically sound.
A wall made from raw earth serves as a natural air conditioner; it is comfortable year round. When the mud building is demolished, the earth returns to the soil and can be recycled indefinitely. Today, its ecological and aesthetic benefits attract the attention of an increasing numbers of contemporary architects and eco-builders.
Join us! The competition is a unique opportunity that challenges you to draw on universal design principles and the accumulated knowledge on the best ways to build in tropical climates. Our goal is to develop a contemporary earth architecture tradition for the region.

Nka Foundation

PROJECT ORGANIZER
Nka Foundation is a nonprofit organization registered in the USA, Ghana and Burkina Faso. Nka exists to serve underserved communities through focus on the arts, broadly defined to include earth building arts. On the fringes of environmental issues and Open Source concept, Nka Foundation is building an arts village at Abetenim, located 40 km Southeast of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Abetenim Arts Village is designed as a developing demonstration site and training center to provide stable places for creative people from the region and other countries to live, work, learn and create. Nka does this through investigating and incorporating vernacular materials and methods of construction used in the region to create buildings informed by our own design aesthetics.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Email: info@nkafoundation.org
Website: www.nkafoundation.org
See Mud House Design 2014 Competition page: www.nkafoundation.org/2014mudhousedesign.html

Design Build Workshops Ghana:

Show the world how to reinvent the African mud hut!

Mud House Design 2014 Competition information / images received from

Mud House Design Competition Ghana Design Contest – 2015

Location:Ashanti, Ghana, Africa

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