Register: SEP/03/2018, Submit: SEP/03/2018, Eligibility: Architecture students, architects or related professions; individually, teams up to 8 members (members can be from different universities and countries, and from all disciplines: artists, philosophers, photographers, etc.), Fee: 35 EUR (JUN/18/2018 – JUL/23/2018), 50 EUR (JUL/24 – AUG/13/2018), 70 EUR (AUG/14 – SEP/03/2018); +IVA 21%; for every 10 teams 30% discount, Awards: 1st Prize 1,500 EUR, 3 Accésits 500 EUR each, 10 Honorable Mentions
We inhabit a world that presents an obviously bleak panorama. It may seem a catastrophist statement, but it is obvious that the planet is in crisis, and not only the economy is responsible for this risk: the situation is unsustainable, overpopulation, overexploitation of natural resources and pollution cause it to become less the life expectancy of our planet. We are undergoing a change. If it is provoked or it is a natural cycle of the planet, there is already someone who doubts it. There is a global change – which is not only climate change – and what this change can cause is disastrous. The main consequence of a rise in the temperature of the planet would be the rise in sea level caused by the melting of the poles, which will cause the salinity of the water. Increasing the temperature increases the amount of energy to counteract it and the expense will be much higher. For this reason new forms of energy – renewable – but still economically weak, are beginning to proliferate.
Respect for nature has been lost, it no longer exists; and whether we want it or not, it has produced a change, a great global change that also implies an overflow of the ecological footprint, an increase in social inequalities and a loss of biodiversity. This causes a global crisis and with it proposals to counteract it. Our objective is the investigation and diffusion of the problems that we suffer and that we must solve. We must always start from a general vision. You cannot learn architecture without first going to school and learning language, history or geography. Broadly speaking we start from a broad general base where we focus on one part without ever losing the notion of the whole.
Natural disasters only try to balance what the man unbalances. Even with huge disasters like the meteorite that caused the disappearance of the dinosaurs, after thousands of years, life reappeared. This leads us to think that the problem is not planet but of man. There is no ecological crisis, but socio-ecological. Environmental problems are the result of social problems. What is at stake is not the continuity of nature, but the life of man. What seems to happen is that a series of catastrophes would end our life until we manage to balance what we are unbalancing.
And now well, will we react? Can you unite the whole world for a common good? What is needed for this? Is the problem only of misinformation? The problem is one of high complexity and the search for transversal solutions that cannot be given from a single discipline.
ARCTIC SEA ICE
The ice shelf or sea in the Arctic region is crucial in maintaining the global climate due to its reflectivity. The melting of this ice can also increase global warming due to positive feedback effects, where warming generates more heat as solar absorption increases. The loss of this layer of ice can represent a turning point in global warming, when the ‘decontrol’ of climate change starts.
The Arctic Thaw
So far, scientific analysis has not detected that the Arctic Ocean has never been seasonally thawed for the last 700,000 years, despite warmer periods, and scientists continue to study the causes and consequences of altered atmospheric circulation. Arctic ocean warming or the alteration of the marine current as the Gulf Stream.
The intergovernmental group of experts on climate change (IPCC) reported: “Arctic warming, indicated as maximum and minimum daily temperatures, has been equivalent to that of any other part of the world.” As the ice surface is reduced, the albedo effect decreases and reflects less solar energy to space, therefore, the reduction will be accelerated.
PROGRAM
We cannot be pretentious and think that a single device that we build will be the one that changes the dynamics of an entire planet, but it is true that a place where in situ is investigated the causes, effects and, ultimately, how fast it is affecting therefore make repeat in our way of life as a society.
That is why the approach of the contest is to create an advanced position in research. A research center for two people where they can collect samples, study the air, the submarine current, the air quality, …
The interior should be conceived as a minimum research station which isrespectful of the environment, eco-sustainable, self-sufficient and comfortable. Bearing in mind that they must develop at least the following spaces:
- 1 room with two single beds
- 1 study area and sample analysis
- 1 observation platform
- 1 bathroom
- 1 warehouse
The square meters of said spaces will be decided by each individual person. There is no specific situation in the Arctic. This program is indicative and therefore can be modified by the participant. That is why you can expand the number of stays as considered while it is fully justified in the proposal.
The design freedom is absolute and the intervention surface is free, this contest suggests that the participant investigate the forms of intervention in a singular landscape. Study limits, the horizon, scales, views, access, materiality are the keys to follow.
It will be positively valued to investigate the sustainability techniques that make the research station self-sufficient in its entirety.
NOTE
Being a contest of ideas, participants are free to modify the proposed surfaces. This report should be taken as a reference of the spaces necessary for the project to be functional and as a measure of the total dimensions of the project. Participants can suggest new areas not proposed in this document, as well as eliminate or combine some of those already mentioned.
Website: rethinkingcompetitions.com