Shelter International Architectural Design Competition for Students 2011

Shelter Corporation of Japan invites under-graduate or post-graduate students at universities or at tertiary institutions (including: junior colleges, colleges of technology, and other relevant vocational schools) as of September 26, 2011, to participate in their annual Student Architectural design Competition.

This year's theme is "House in the Wilderness".

In ancient times we lived with the Wilderness, fighting against its severity and its roughness, and receiving the benefits of its fertility. The wildness of nature was directly related to our lives. In our current age, we live in cities. A city is a large, man-made environment, in which we no longer think much about the power of nature, except when we are shocked by occasional natural disasters, such as storms, floods, droughts and earthquakes. However, we still instinctively recall the lives of our ancestors, and have complex feelings of fear and yearning for life in the Wilderness.

Design “A house to live in the Wilderness”, for modern city dwellers - which are us.

The Wilderness can be of any type: deep forest, thick forest, a vast meadow in the African savannah, the South Pole, a desert, or in the sea. Or, you can design a shelter against natural disasters such as storms, earthquakes or heavy snow. The structure of the house can be timber, masonry, rammed earth, or ? if necessary - it can be made with the super-alloys that are used for spaceships.

Suggest a house in the Wilderness, in which we modern-age humans can feel both the richness and the toughness of the Wilderness, and sense our relationship to it.
Ryue Nishizawa

Initial Jury: August 6, 2011

Final Jury (Tokyo): September 26, 2011

http://www.shelter-inc.net/compe/