14 May 2009

Re-Growth House Competition

Winners of international Re-Growth House Competition announced.

Sparked by the desire to help the residents of Kinglake who lost their homes in the ferocious bushfires three months ago, this competition critiqued designs for a new family house to contribute to the re-building process of this devastated district.

This competition aimed to not only establish a dialogue within the design community but generate a new vantage point on the life of those in Bushfire prone areas.

First prize was awarded to the project ‘Tanked,’ by Tom Morgan of Sharkmouse.

The calibre of the work was so high that judges decided to award equal second place to ‘Re-Growth House’ by Umberto Emoli of Emoli Petroschka Architects, and the untitled work of Shane Plazibat of plazibat+jemmott architects.

Third place was given to ‘Outpost 2.0’ by Traian Cimpeanu.

InDesign Magazine also offered a bonus prize that was judged by editorial director, Paul McGillick. Gasparovics Attila, Arkt Architecture Studio, Hungary, wins a 2 year subscription to Indesign Magazine for the entry ‘First Aid’.

Congratulations to all the winners.

info@regrowthpod.com

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I have to compliment the architects on the shortlist of the â€œRe-growth House Competitionâ€ for their great designs, but does it really help the general bushfire victim?

The question is can we re-build a complete town with the winning design? Can a â€œhomeâ€ in Kinglake that has to last for decades be a collection of containers? To help the bushfire victims of Kinglake the attention should be on how to make a basic house for the Australian people and their families.

With the attention on engineering, the re-growth house should be designed to be built quickly and cheaply with improvement of the bushfire protection and the possibility to give the house its own identity.

It is not about presenting an academic idea with a sophisticated picture in a glossy magazine.

Bert May 16 2009

Bert
Thanks for your input, and your opinion is of course valid. I would like to point out however that we were not intending to rebuild an entire community from the shortlisted designs, simply we wanted to provide options and inspiration for people who are going through the unfamiliar task of 'selecting' a new home by making the resources of the international design community available to them. As a kinglake resident i can say from driect experience that people do not neccesarily want to live in over engineered houses built as a monument to the fire. It is a complex and diverse debate, we need to remain open to all suggestions and most importantly work with the local people to determine practical and effective solutions, rather than trying to impose rigid opinions.