FuturArc Prize 2010: Sustainable Homes in Asia

This year, Asia's leading Green design competition, FuturArc Prize 2010, invites architectural professionals and students to share their vision of a Home for Ecological Living in Asia. The competition, organized by FuturArc Journal, is supported by the World Green Building Council and various architectural and Green building institutions in Asia and Australia, including Ikatan Arsitek Indonesia (IAI) and Green Building Council Indonesia (GBCI).

COMPETITION BRIEF: sustainableHOME@Asia a PROTOYPE for ecological living

A home is more than a house; it is a concept deeply rooted in our collective psyche encompassing physical and emotional well-being: shelter from elements, connectivity with family, community and nature, and—in a rapidly changing world—a sanctuary of sorts, recourse from uncertainty.

How we should be designing homes in Asia is far from understood. The real estate market seem to allow, with impunity, the right to transplant concepts of mass housing and lifestyle statements from one part of the world to another, leaving us socially alienated with expanding ecological footprints. We need a new mindset to craft the new Home, one that addresses old challenges and new, embraces modernity and traditions, and offers us ways of coping with change.

The FuturArc Prize 2010 seeks to find new paradigms for designing the Home, as varied as the communities, climates and cultures in which they are situated.

The competition calls for a prototype for single or multiple family units amounting to no more than 10,000 square metres in total built-up area. Site selection is at the entrant's discretion and should be explained clearly in the submission. Only sites in Australia and Asia will be considered. Registration for the competition is free. All entrants are required to register online via the FuturArc Prize 2010 competition website at www.futurarc.com/prize. More information on the registration and submission requirements can also be found at the competition website.

TIMELINE & PRIZES

The competition is open from now till 15 December 2009. Entries must be submitted online at www.futurarc.com/prize. Winners will be notified on 31 March 2010. Awards and cash prizes (totalling up to SGD30,000) will be awarded in subsequent prize giving ceremonies.

Winning entries will be determined by an international jury of Green building experts. Dr Nirmal Kishnani the jury's chair said, "The FuturArc Prize, now into its third year, has become a veritable snapshot of the region, from Hong Kong to Sydney. Last year's entries raised the question of what sustainability means to different communities: urban and rural, modern and traditional, rich and poor. This year we expect more local perspectives and solutions to what is essentially a global problem. With each successive round, the bar has been raised higher; the jury has high expectations for 2010."

THE JURY

Nirmal Kishnani, PhD, is Chief Editor of the FuturArc Journal. He is both an educator and practitioner in the area of Green buildings, presently teaching at the Department of Architecture of the National University of Singapore. He has lectured and written widely on the subject of Greening in Asia and has been a consultant to projects across the region, most recently as head of a sustainability unit operating from Singapore. Dr Kishnani is Jury Chair of FuturArc Prize 2010.

Ray Cole, PhD, is the Director of the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of British Columbia and Academic Director of the School's Design Center for Sustainability. Dr Cole was selected as a North American Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Distinguished Professor for "sustained commitment to building environmental research and teaching" in 2001. In 2003 he received the Architectural Institute of British Columbia Barbara Dalrymple Memorial Award for Community Service and the US Green Building Council's Green Public Service Leadership Award.

Peter Head, OBE FREng FRSA, is a Director in Arup (UK) where he heads a global team for planning and integrated urbanism. He is project director for the planning and development of the Dongtan Eco-city demonstrator on Chongming Island in Shanghai, and the Wanzhuang Eco-City in LangFang near Beijing. He was featured in the October 2008 issue of Time magazine, nominated as one of 30 global eco-heroes. In that same year, he was awarded the Sir Frank Whittle Medal by the Royal Academy of Engineering for his efforts to deliver an environmentally sustainable built environment. Peter is also strategic adviser to the Chair of the C40 Large Cities and Climate Leadership Group and the Clinton Carbon Positive Programme.

Kazuo Iwamura, M.E. is a Professor in the Faculty of Environment and Information studies at the Musashi Institute of Technology in Yokohama Japan and CEO of IWAMURA Atelier Co., Ltd. He is also Chair of ARCASIA's Committee for Green & Sustainable Architecture, UIA Councilor of Region IV (Asia + Oceania), Director of the UIA Work Programme Architecture for a Sustainable Future and a member of the board of the World Green Building Council.

Chrisna du Plessis, PhD, is a Principal Researcher at the Built Environment unit of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa. With a background in architecture she is currently concentrating on urban sustainability science at both a theoretical and technological level. She was an ad hoc spokesperson on sustainability issues for the International Council for Research and Innovation for Building and Construction (CIB), and prepared the CIB/UNEP Agenda 21 for Sustainable Construction in Developing Countries. She is a member of CIB Working Group 116 on Smart and Sustainable Built Environments and the International Initiative for Sustainable Built Environments (iiSBE).

About the Competition

The FuturArc Prize was launched in 2007 by the BCI Group of Companies through its publication arm, FuturArc Journal, to seek out innovative Green building designs for sites in Australasia. The Competition has two objectives: first, to create a platform for talented individuals—professi onals and students—who are keen on environmental issues; second, to encourage the construction industry as a whole to move towards sustainable design.

About the Promoter

FuturArc Journal is the Competition Organiser. Published quarterly, the Journal is the region's leading voice in sustainable architecture and design as it recognises the impact of buildings on society and the environment. FuturArc promotes architecture that demonstrates creativity and social and environmental responsibility. For more information on the magazine, visit www.futurarc.com.

The Competition Registrar is BCI Asia Construction Information Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of the BCI Group of Companies.

FuturArc Prize Competition Registrar
371 Beach Road, #02-25 KeypointSingapore 199597t +65 6538 6836f +65 6538 6896e competitionregistra r@futurarc. com