Register: OCT/30/2018, Submit: OCT/31/2018, Eligibility: Architects, architecture graduates, students, engineers; individually, (interdisciplinary) teams up to 3 members, Fee: Indian nationals 1500 INR (Indian rupee), foreign nationals 60 EUR (AUG/01 – SEP/30/2018); Indian nationals 1,800 INR, foreign nationals 80 EUR (OCT/01 – OCT/30/2018); discount for a minimum of 5 teams from one architecture school or university, Awards: 1st Prize 1,00,000 INR (about 1,300 EUR), 2nd Prize 60,000 INR (about 780 EUR), 3rd Prize 40,000 INR (about 520 EUR), 10 Honorable Mentions
“When a man moves away from nature his heart becomes hard.” With each passing year and subsequent technological advancement, man is becoming more and more apathetic about the natural ecosystem he was once an indispensable part of. There has been unprecedented destruction of nature and its key elements like forests, foliage, wildlife and marine habitats in order to satisfy the whims and fancies of the human race. It has and will lead to cataclysmic reactions like global climate change, loss of habitat, depletion of natural resources and an increased risk of natural disasters.
Man can only understand nature and its components when he is ‘inside’ the natural ecosystem and not in some artificial built environment created by him. The human race needs to get up close and personal with natural habitats to try and understand the very essence of flora and fauna around it. He needs to understand Earth’s unique and diverse geography, nature systems like seasons, climates, food chains, wildlife and foliage and their symbiotic relationship with each other. Being just a small link of this vast ecosystem, man needs to connect more with nature so that we can have a sustainable future.
Amboseli National Park, located in Kajiado County, Kenya is a protected wildlife park i.e. 392 km2 in size at the core of an 8,000 km2 ecosystem that spreads across the Kenya-Tanzania border. Crowned by Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak, the Amboseli National Parks is one of Kenya’s most popular parks. The name “Amboseli” comes from a Maasai word meaning “salty dust”, and it is considered as one of the best wildlife viewing experiences in the world. Amboseli comprises of five different habitats ranging from the dried-up bed of Lake Amboseli, wetlands with sulphur springs, the savannah and woodlands. The local people are mainly the Maasai community who live around the park and experience their authentic culture.
Amboseli National Park offers some of the best opportunities to see African wildlife because the vegetation is sparse due to the long, dry months. The park is famous for being the best place in the world to get close to free-ranging bush elephants. Black rhino has unfortunately become extinct, but four of the other Big Five are present. The plains support an abundance of large herbivores including wildebeest, Burchell’s zebra and Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelle. Masai giraffe and impala can usually be found browsing from stands of acacia trees. A host of large and small birds occur too. It is claimed that the national park is a home to around 400 species of birds including water birds, pelicans, kingfishers, crakes, hammerkops, and 47 types of raptors.
MISSION STATEMENT
The aim of the competition is to design a free standing temporary pavilion in the heart of Amboseli National park that would allow visitors new ways to view and experience the wilderness and be close to nature. The proposal must be a poetic response for a pavilion structure in a very sensitive environment that would become the ‘eyes and ears’ for visitors who want to connect with the natural ecosystem and reflect upon nature in its true spirit.
Create a dialogue between man and nature through architecture. The pavilion should strive to become a ‘window’ for man to experience the natural vistas as a new viewpoint of reference. The pavilion should be a ‘zone of contemplation’ for the visitors that would transcend their olfactory, tactile and visual experiences. The pavilion space should have an immersive architectural quality that would let people reflect on the tangible and intangible components of a natural habitat. The participants are free to designate any kind of function (or not) to their pavilion that would fit in their narrative. The space could be a small retreat, an observation deck, a photographer’s pit, a meditation center or even a functionless vestibule depending upon its impact on a visitor’s mind.
Create an architectural response that complements the sensitive context. The participants must strive to create a perfect ‘built’ narrative in the relatively ‘unbuilt’ context. The participants must strive to create a space that does not end in specific limits, but merges with the surrounding greenery expanding the visual boundaries and transforming into a large three-dimensional canvas. The participants must respect the context and design a pavilion with minimal disturbance to the site. The pavilion should be of temporary or semi-permanent nature that would be constructed of durable and easy-to-maintain materials. The volumetric and material composition should be modular and permeable that adds vitality and a sense of identity to the space. The pavilion should be a low energy structure designed on the ideas of durability and sustainability.
Create an architectural landmark for Amboseli National park that would generate awareness towards nature. The pavilion must become an important landmark for the national park and an architectural icon that attracts more and more people towards natural ecosystems. The pavilion should become a strong reference point that would generate awareness towards the preservation of nature and adopt a cohesive relationship with the various elements of nature. The pavilion should promote communal harmony and enrich the lives of all kinds of organisms around it.
SITE
The site for the intervention is located on the observation hill in Amboseli National Park, Kenya. This cone shaped hill is situated in the Western portion of the park and is the only high point of the Amboseli National Park, it is also the only place where you can get out of your vehicle and take a walk.
- Google Earth: Latitude: -2°40’21”N Longitude: 37°14’17”E
- Max built area: 500 sq. meters
No specific function is mentioned in the briefs for the wilderness pavilion.
The participants are free to designate any kind of primary function or activities as per their interpretation or narrative. A pavilion is considered to be a freestanding structure whose function makes it an object of pleasure. The pavilion can any have any kind of function that puts it to good use for a broad range of daytime and nocturnal activities. The function of the pavilion should support the narrative of connecting man with nature and generating awareness towards natural ecosystems.ž
- The entire site can be used for the design/concept but the structure/covered area should be limited to 500 sq. meters.
- There are no height restrictions for the intervention.
Website: archasm.in