International Architecture Competition

Pavilion Of Humanity:
First Contact

Edition #1

Results

Foreword

Competition organisers

Pavilion Of Humanity: 
First Contact Pavilion Of Humanity: 
First Contact

With the society deeply entrenched in the social, political, and economic complications of COVID-19 and climate change, this competition poses that now is the time to reflect on the positive aspects of humanity and its achievements.

The Pavilion of Humanity: First Contact ideas competition tasked participants with designing a structure encapsulating the best and brightest of our species in a way that, should we ever be visited by extraterrestrial lifeforms, would appropriately communicate the achievements of human civilization in a single space, constructed on a site chosen by the participants located anywhere on Earth.

Much like the Pioneer Plaques, placed aboard the 1972 NASA Pioneer 10 and 1973 Pioneer 11 spacecraft, that were intended to communicate a pictorial history of humanity, the Pavilion of Humanity is meant to represent the human race through architecture.

The jury gave preference to projects that established a clear conceptual, architectural position and that reconciled the abstract and theoretical with the physical. The jury was sensitive to each project’s position and the underlying assumptions driving each proposal’s conceptual framework. The shortlisted and winning projects contribute to architectural discourse on the purpose of form, meaning, abstraction, and experiential design. Bee Breeders teamed up with a fantastic jury panel with extensive experiences in exhibition or pavilion design. We thank this group for its time and thoughtful analysis of submissions.

Bee Breeders and its jury panel would like to thank all participants for their submissions!

Enter the next
competition edition!

ideas COMPETITION
Pavilion Of Humanity: First Contact
Edition #2

How would you represent the best that humanity has to offer through architecture?

Prize: MONETARY AWARD
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

Remind me
Mar 27
May 25
Jul 24
Register now

Pavilion Of Humanity:
First Contact

Edition #1
1st Prize Winner +
BB STUDENT AWARD

Project name

Human Civilization Monument

Authors

Jinghua Yuan
Siyu Li
Wenhai Zheng
Dayou Du

University

Tsinghua university
+178 points Buildner University Rankings!

China

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

Architecture competitions have been an important part of innovation in the field for centuries. Over the past decades, architectural competitions have been able to find the best and unique designs for projects, and sometimes even to focus on social issues and promote social development.

Jury feedback summary

The project proposes a floating architectural complex, comprised of a pixel-like aggregation of building blocks, organized according to binary code, each of the blocks represent an independent exhibition space corresponding to a singular topic in the history of human civilization. The blocks are divided into 5m, 10m and 20m cubes, depending on the amount of information they hold; topically-linked blocks are physically connected by passages and stairs, forming various routes of passage. The structure is intended to grow over time, coincidentally becoming exponentially more complex as topics are added and pathways intertwined. According to the jury, “This project represents, in its own open binary combinatorial structure, the entire world of human civilization. It reads like an encoded language and as a painting of magical realism at the same time. Although the language is fairly mono-dimensional and binary, the combinations are varied and generative.” In this proposal, math is taken as the communicative language of the cosmos, in the same vein as the material included on the Golden Record of the 1977 NASA Voyager spacecraft, which contained images encoded in analogue form.

2nd Prize Winner

Project name

The Visitor Center

Authors

Shahram Arashzad
Fatemeh Kazemi

United States

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

Participating in architecture competitions is not an easy task, whether you are a professional or a student. It takes time to prepare a good project for any competition, and, quite frankly, it is not easy to win them. So, surely, they could start to feel like a wasted effort and a drain of intelligence, as Rem has put it. But at the same time, architectural competitions provide a platform for both the student and the professional to deliberate on a dissimilar typology, which can be beneficial in a number of different ways.

Jury feedback summary

Located at the Hiroshima atomic epicenter, the project proposes an inverted pyramidal void, filled with a tangle of forms that result in a complex set of passages into and through the pavilion. According to the submission proposal, the form represents a “radically passive space meant to specifically point to the unknown and the [human’s] inability to have any definitive answers for ourselves.” The jury cites, - “The inversional qualities of  this proposal (going down, looking up, walking on the surface, which is the base of an inverted pyramid) establish a connection to the larger universe, while referencing the void created by mankind's most dramatic (self-)destructive event. It is an interesting analysis of abstraction, and a beautiful idea for a pavilion structured around a negative-excavated pyramid, like a place of query and investigation. A powerful experiential space.”

3rd Prize Winner

Project name

The Stanford Binary Array

Authors

Thiam Yi Donovan Ong

Australia

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

After graduating, opportunities to express and develop personal philosophies and ideas without constraints are rare for a young designer. Entering competitions has allowed me to do exactly this.

Jury feedback summary

The Stanford Binary Array proposes a pavilion set next to the Stanford Satellite Dish on the Palo Alto campus. Its form is inspired by the historic satellite – the first manmade object launched with the intent to make extraterrestrial contact. The jury writes of the project, - “It is a little bit naive and related to Sci-Fi language, but a powerful and beautiful presentation that turns infrastructure into a sublime landscape in many dimensions; a multidimensional, cryptic, and beautifully-illustrated project on a compelling site.” The 46m-diameter circular pavilion is programmed as an amphitheater with a stage at its center. The project is self-described, “Set beside the important Stanford Dish, the site draws parallels of form, function and, perhaps more importantly, shared hope.”

BB GREEN AWARD

Project name

Reforging the Ark of Humanity

Authors

Ryan Wai Yin Tung
Jacky ​Ho Yin Cheung
Long Kwan

Hong Kong

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

We believe competitions are a platform for us to express our thoughts on social issues with architecture. It is a great way to explore and refine our architecture ethos through different architecture competitions.

Honorable mentions

VIEWclose HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Project Name

The Embrace

Country

Singapore

Project authors

Karlotte Kang
Kia hong Ngiam

Project Name

future ruins

Country

Italy

Project authors

Marco Rosati
Lorenzo Rinaldi

Project Name

An Empty Room

Country

Mexico

Project authors

Alexa Burkle
Santiago Esquivel

Project Name

An Introduction to Humankind

Country

Italy

Project authors

Sanad Wir
Diogo André Gonçalves Ferreira
Juan Manuel Jaramillo Londoño

Project Name

Arcaibh

Company

Rerum architectes

Country

France

Project authors

Claire Roy
Adélie Collard

Project Name

The Treasury

Country

Sweden

Project authors

Ziyu Zhao
Yongyi Liang

Shortlisted projects

VIEWclose Shortlisted projects

Brazil

vera grieneisen
felicitas maria metzler kemmsies
ulf torsten kemmsies

Poland

agata marzec

France

Rerum architectes

claire roy
adélie collard

Chile

Universidad Mayor

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
matias bravo
fernando rodriguez

Italy

marco rosati
lorenzo rinaldi

Poland

Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk , Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Gdańsku

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
sonia szydłowska
paulina grosicka
daria lewandowska

New Zealand

ryan ford

United States

shahram arashzad
fatemeh kazemi

Colombia

Universidad de los Andes – Colombia

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
daniel eslava tovar

Germany

Technical University of Braunschweig (Technische Universität Braunschweig)

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
marcus simonet
sönke förster

Mexico

rolando jesús vázquez martínez
jose maría alvarado alvarado

Hong Kong

ryan wai yin tung
jacky ​ho yin cheung
long kwan

United States

jared barnett

South Korea

Washington University in St. Louis , WUSTL

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
gyo sun hwang

United States

jisun kwon
daphnie d'costa

United Kingdom

Cardiff University

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
arno decorte
nok yi leung
chayapa udombunditkul

United Kingdom

Cardiff University

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
rachel livesey

United States

silvia galdamez
aileene han
roberto villasante

Mexico

alexa burkle
santiago esquivel

Turkey

hüseyin gül
sezer yüzüak

Italy

sanad wir
diogo andré gonçalves ferreira
juan manuel jaramillo londoño

Australia

thiam yi donovan ong

France

roxanne makountz
julien chalancon

Bangladesh

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET)

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
saifur rahman

China

Tsinghua University

+178 points Buildner University Rankings!
jinghua yuan
siyu li
wenhai zheng
dayou du

Spain

Universidad Europea de Madrid (Campus Villaviciosa) (Universidad Europea de Madrid (Campus Villaviciosa de Odón))

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
manuel jesus ruiz valdivia
patricio josé martínez garcía
inés ruiz alcérreca

Colombia

nicolas enrique ocampo hurtado
andres felipe rodriguez restrepo
karen daniela león carrillo
christian gerardo arias guerrero

South Korea

Kookmin University

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
hye seung kim
so young yoon

Sweden

ziyu zhao
yongyi liang

Poland

Silesian University of Technology - Faculty of Architecture (Wydział Architektury Politechniki Śląskiej)

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
jakub jurga

United States

Illinois Institute of Technology

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
matteo calafiura-soleri

Brazil

ketelyn schiochet jardim
kauã domingues

New Zealand

University of Auckland

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
victor(seulmir) yu
geonhee park
eric lee
derek jeong

Netherlands

federico caputo

Ireland

The Dublin School of Architecture, DIT

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
ben mc quaid

United States

Washington State University

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
luming xiao
shanle lin
omar al-hassawi

Australia

yichen zhai
jimmy he

Singapore

karlotte kang
kia hong ngiam

Ecuador

sebastian guzman
ahmed mohamed

Ireland

Waterford Institute of Technology

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
thomas connolly
molly-ann fitzgerald
 

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Competition results

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