Architecture Competition Tiny Kiwi Meditation Cabin Honorable mention – Oonagh Davis and Elias Bennett

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to one of our Honorable mention winners for our “Tiny Kiwi Meditation Cabin” competition – Oonagh Davis and Elias Bennett from United States!

Oonagh Davis and Elias Bennett from United States

Oonagh and Elias met in 2015 as first-year undergraduate students at Cornell AAP’s Department of Architecture and have been in collaboration ever since. Their shared interest in craft, thinking through making, and methodological testing of ideas led them both to become Shop Assistants at the AAP Material Practice Facilities and Teaching Assistants at Cornell, where they helped their peers and each other refine and express architectural ideas. Together, their research spans from the impact of materiality on the sensory experience of space to the study of urban networks and the changing role of public spaces. In both formal expression and detail, their work seeks to reveal new relationships with physical, ecological, and cultural contexts. Since graduating with Bachelor of Architecture degrees from Cornell University in 2020, they have both held positions as Teaching Associates for the First-Year B.Arch Design Studio at Cornell. After numerous past collaborations, the Okioki Cabin is one of their first projects produced under the collective moniker OnE studio.

Oonagh Davis was awarded the Cornell Architecture 2018 Addison G. Crowley (B. L. Arch. ’38) Prize, and the 2018 Heritage Ball Scholarship on behalf of Weiss/Manfredi Architecture - made possible by the AIA NYC and the Center for Architecture. She was also the recipient of the 2020 Clifton Beckwith Brown Memorial Medal and was a 2020 Merrill Presidential Scholar. Oonagh will attend Harvard University’s Master of Architecture II program in the fall of 2021.

Elias Bennett was awarded the Cornell Architecture Seipp Memorial Prize in 2018 for exceptional representation and performance. He was a proud recipient of the AIA Henry Adams Medal and Certificate of Merit in 2020, and was the Degree Marshal for the Bachelor of Architecture Class of 2020 at Cornell University.

Brief information about the projects that you/your company have been involved with. For instance, what scale have you focused on/preferred, any significant projects where the company/ individuals have been involved?

OnE studio’s work tends to keep a small footprint, but always aspires to connect with broader contexts. From furniture and other body prosthetics to experiments with concrete and ceramics, to fully inhabitable spaces, each project is a new experiment that tests our understanding of material, form, site, and space.

What does architecture mean to you and what is the role of an architect in your society?

An architect constantly listens to and investigates their environment. As often as they can, they seize opportunities to re-frame, re-imagine, and re-organize the observed condition in a way that improves the lives of those they share it with.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

Architecture competitions are a place to iterate, collaborate, and produce with a self-driven rigor not often found outside of school. Competing keeps us on our toes.

What advice would you give to individuals who struggle to decide whether it would be beneficial for them to participate in architecture competitions?

Even a project that doesn’t make it as far as you’d like is an opportunity to hone your abilities. Ask what skills you will extract from the experience rather than what the competition will hand you if you win. When you experience the inevitable stress of being judged by a jury of strangers, remember that every designer you look up to once lost a competition for the first time. 

Open architecture competitions

  • Closest Deadline first
  • Project competitions first
    Selected winning projects have the potential to be constructed
  • Ideas competitions first
    Experimental competitions with the focus on pushing the boundaries of creativity
project COMPETITION
Sansusī Forest Food Court

Design a sustainable food court structure for the heart of a classical music festival

Prize: MONETARY AWARD + CONSTRUCTION
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

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Jan 10
Feb 08
Apr 06
ideas COMPETITION
The Home of Shadows

Design a home with no artificial lighting

Prize: MONETARY AWARD
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

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Dec 05
Jan 24
Apr 18
project COMPETITION
Portugal Elderly Home

Design a comfortable and accessible home for the elderly in Portugal

Prize: MONETARY AWARD + CONSTRUCTION
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

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Dec 06
Jan 25
Apr 19
project COMPETITION
Portugal Olive Guest House

Design a guest house and olive oil tasting room located in Portugal

Prize: MONETARY AWARD + CONSTRUCTION
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

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Dec 08
Jan 27
Apr 21
project COMPETITION
Yoga House in the Bog

Design a yoga guest house located within rich bog wildlife

Prize: MONETARY AWARD + CONSTRUCTION
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

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Jan 11
Feb 08
Apr 26

Reccuring architecture competitions

ideas COMPETITION
Silent contest
For this competition, NO DESCRIPTION TEXT is allowed. The architecture ideas must be communicated strictly with visuals.
Architectural Visualization Award
Edition #2

Present your best work and submit your favorite architectural visualization

Prize: MONETARY AWARD
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

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Mar 23
May 25
Jul 27
ideas COMPETITION
MICROHOME
Small living, huge impact! Edition #6

Design a new concept of small-scale home

Prize: MONETARY AWARD + PUBLICATION IN MAGAZINE
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

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Feb 16
Apr 18
Jun 16
ideas COMPETITION
Silent contest
For this competition, NO DESCRIPTION TEXT is allowed. The architecture ideas must be communicated strictly with visuals.
Museum of Emotions
Edition #3

Use architecture to create different emotional states

Prize: MONETARY AWARD
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

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Mar 17
May 19
Jul 21
Run repeatedly
Portable Reading Rooms
Edition #2

Design a portable reading room that encourages reading in any location

Prize: MONETARY AWARD + SCOLARSHIP
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

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Feb 13
Mar 23
May 15
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Run repeatedly
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

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Mar 27
May 25
Jul 24
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Run repeatedly
Children's Hospice
Home for the Terminally ill / Edition #2

Design a safe and supportive space for children struggling with a terminal illness

Prize: MONETARY AWARD
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

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Dec 06
Feb 08
Apr 06
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Run repeatedly
Milan Affordable Housing Challenge
Affordable Housing Series #15

Design a concept for affordable housing in Milan

Prize: MONETARY AWARD
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

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Dec 07
Jan 26
Apr 20
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Virtual Home
Edition #2

Design virtual home as architecture moves into the metaverse

Prize: MONETARY AWARD
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

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May 02
Jul 04
Sep 06
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Run repeatedly
Office
Office Design Challenge / Edition #2

Reimagine the workplace of the future, and design the new way of working

Prize: MONETARY AWARD
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

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Jan 03
Mar 01
May 04
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Creativity gym Short term competitions for you to exercise your creativity

T-SHIRT DRAWING COMPETITION
The Architect's T-shirt
Edition #18

Design THE architect's t-shirt!

Prize: 3,000 €
Eligibility: open to all

registration deadlines

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Feb 28
Mar 31
Apr 30
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ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO COMPETITION
The Buildner's Architecture Portfolio Competition
Edition #2

Submit your online portfolio!

Prize: 5,000 €
Eligibility: open to all

registration deadlines

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Mar 31
Apr 30
May 31
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Competition results

Hong Kong 
Pixel Homes

Hong Kong Pixel Homes

Affordable Housing Series #2
MICROHOME

MICROHOME

Small living, huge impact! Edition #4

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