Foreword
Buildner is pleased to announce the results of its first annual Memorial for Witches International Competition!
The persecution of women perceived to be witches took place throughout Europe and America over several hundred years. Women who were classed as witches because of their non-Christian practices were tortured and killed from as early as the mid-1400s in Europe. Roughly 80,000 were put to death between 1500 and 1660.
The Memorial for Witches competition is the first in an annual series seeking to remind the public of the ways in which society once dealt with irrational fears. Participants were asked to choose any injustice that is either currently ongoing or an issue from the past and select any site, real or imaginary, that would be an appropriate location for a theoretical memorial structure. Submitted designs could function as a source of education about past events, or a method of raising awareness of ongoing injustices.
Buildner worked with an excellent international jury panel whose members are experienced either as designers with completed memorial work, or as academics with backgrounds related directly to the topic at hand: Rachel Christ-Doane is the Director of Education at the Salem Witch Museum: Bartosz Haduch is an architect, academic teacher, and publicist who runs run the interdisciplinary collective NArchitekTURA, based in Poland; Sebastian Letz is a Partner and Creative Director at Milla & Partner, in Germany; Katie MacDonald is Cofounder of After Architecture and Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia; Paul Monaghan is Director at AHMM in London; Hans Olof Furberg is Head of Culture and Education in the county council of Västernorrland and development manager of the Witch Museum in Torsåker Sweden; Elke Sterling-Presser and Nicolas Sterling are Co-founders and Directors of Sterling Presser Architects and Engineers in Berlin; and David Telerman is founder of Paris-based studio Atelier David Telerman.
Buildner and its jury panel thank each of the participating individuals and teams that submitted ideas and proposals to this event.
1st Prize Winner
The Weightless Being
Joining architecture competitions let us jump out of daily practice once a while and the process of brainstorming really provided us more inspiration and insights. Also, it made us pay more attention to the society around us and expanded the scope of architecture itself.
Read full interview
United StatesJury feedback summary
The Weightless Being is a memorial space with two dueling appearances representing propaganda versus reality in China’s recent handling of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. One appearance, false, is that of peace and prosperity. The second, true, is of a revelation of lies, commemorating those harmed by misunderstanding. The proposal posits that all social injustices discriminate against people that have lost the right to defend themselves. The memorial space is within an abandoned shelter / hospital. Suspended white sheets float above the ground in place of the beds once there. Puddles of disinfectant alcohol reflect and reveal a complex grid of weights hung beneath each of the sheets, these weights inscribed with injustices of the anonymous. The ambition of the memorial is, ultimately, to unmask the injustices of the silenced.
A powerful and original design that would engage the viewer through its multiple viewpoints. The concept works well with the tension in the project narrative.
Paul Monaghan / Buildner guest jury
Executive director and Head of Design Studio AHMM, United Kingdom
A strongly activating and participative idea. The monument is perpetually co-designed by the interaction of the visitors, giving it an expression that is as powerful as it is subtle and authentic.
Sebastian Letz / Buildner guest jury
Partner at Milla & Partner, Germany
It is a timely project, which is an interesting reaction to the events of recent years. Despite very specific means of expression referring to the times of the pandemic, individual elements can also be perceived in a more abstract and universal way, which is a great advantage of this proposal. Noteworthy is the continuous evolution of the presented space and its variability over time.
Bartosz Haduch / Buildner guest jury
Architect, academic teacher, publicist, winner of numerous architecture competitions, awards, and scholarships, NArchitekTURA, Poland
Buildner's commentary, recommendations and techniques review
Order your review hereThe submission uses an intelligent mix or renderings and diagrams to clearly describe a complex conceptual thesis. The clear drawings are a testament to the author’s control and sensitivity to graphics and analysis. The imagery also succeeds in describing the space’s change over time. In describing a spatial experience, the presentation is excellent. As an architectural project, however, the presentation would benefit from further drawing of the larger space. Do the Chinese medical facilities really look like that which is shown? What are the characteristics of the existing medical facility? It would be beneficial to have an example of such a building and where it exists within the city, assuming this is a project for an urban medical facility. How does one enter the memorial and experience it within an urban context? The presentation would also benefit from detailing and annotation of the materials used How are the ‘beds’ and their weights attached and hung? Does one really need to sit in a wet puddle to read the texts suspended below the beds?
-
10/10 Linework
-
10/10 Quality of drawings
-
10/10 Balance of color
-
10/10 Layout
-
10/10 Hierarchy
-
8/10 Annotation
-
9/10 Text
-
10/10 Clarity of story
-
10/10 Clarity of diagrams
-
10/10 Quality of overall presentation
Enter an open architecture competition now
The Architect's Chair
Los Angeles Affordable Housing Challenge
Beyond Isolation: Senior Housing
The Legendary Highway 14 Tower
The Last Nuclear Bomb Memorial
Workplace Reimagined
Museum of Emotions
2nd Prize Winner
Barefoot under the Weight of Injustice
You are given the chance to challenge yourself to the maximum, to refine and sharpen your skills, from the birth of the idea to the most expressive and honest way of transmitting it.
Read full interview
RomaniaJury feedback summary
Memorial for Witches: Barefoot Under the Weight of Injustice consists of a wooden skeletal structure which contains three inverted triangular volumes clad with blackened timber. The silhouette of these volumes is received visually as a sharp and heavy object. This is suspended above footprints molded within the ground. The project effectively experiments with opposing representations - softness and fragility versus hardness and heaviness - to signify the weight borne by the now-lost individuals tormented under oppression. On a second level, a planted space of red-berried plants symbolizes hope and fortitude through all seasons.
Through the architectural formulation, visitors experience a sense of threat and their own vulnerability: they could also become victims. The site of remembrance and forgiveness is reminiscent of bloodstains in the snow and combines poetry and horror with a strong image.
Sebastian Letz / Buildner guest jury
Partner at Milla & Partner, Germany
An inverted pitch becomes both a spatial divider and intimate space directed toward the sky.
Katie MacDonald / Buildner guest jury
Co-founder of After Architecture, USA
A strong architectural proposition that uses masterful perspectives to bring one through the scheme. There is a real sense of journey in this design as one walks through the creative and bridge-like structure.
Paul Monaghan / Buildner guest jury
Executive director and Head of Design Studio AHMM, United Kingdom
Buildner's commentary, recommendations and techniques review
Order your review hereThe presentation uses a successful layout to describe the project, with a primary full-span rendering at the top supported by a row of plans and diagrams at the center and a series of vignettes at the base which describes the spatial experience well. The project is primarily black and white though cleverly uses spots of red in various locations across the page to achieve uniformity and color balance to avoid what could otherwise be received as visually monotonous imagery. The primary critique is in regards to text. The author makes use of a descriptive paragraph which is far too lengthy and small to make sense of easily. Dimensionally the single text column spans the entire landscape-oriented page. Attempting to read such text in full is tiring and frustrating for a reviewer. Keep in mind there is a strong reason why newspapers and magazines utilize short-span columns of text - because it is easier to read and digest! It is highly recommended that the author divide up text into shorter paragraphs for future presentations. To complete the architectural design, the linework drawings would benefit from annotation, one or two typical details, as well as the inclusion of human figures to make sense of the scale. As drawn it is difficult to comprehend how the structure is built and how it is inhabited.
-
9/10 Linework
-
10/10 Quality of drawings
-
10/10 Balance of color
-
9/10 Layout
-
9/10 Hierarchy
-
8/10 Annotation
-
7/10 Text
-
9/10 Clarity of story
-
9/10 Clarity of diagrams
-
9/10 Quality of overall presentation
3rd Prize Winner +
Buildner Student Award
Buildner Student Award
dialogue
We love to explore the world of architecture through unique themes. Especially in this competition, for us, the brief of Memorial for Witches is very interesting. This competition encourages us to build a strong idea about injustice uniquely. We did several discussions to find a connection between injustice in the past-present- and how our final product will be able to give a meaningful impact in the future.
Read full interview
IndonesiaJury feedback summary
Dialogue draws on both the ongoing pandemic as well as the symbolic representation of the ‘scale of justice’. It is a form of kinetic architecture that works like a see-saw, remaining in imbalance as visitors enter the structure from either end, and maintaining stasis when users are focused at the central joint. The project is representative of the instability that is subdued once people engage in dialogue. It is proposed to be constructed in various cities around the world where political and social injustices are and have occurred.
The project explores our social distancing and our relation to space during and through COVID. A good subject to deal with responsibility, space and political oppression!
Elke Sterling-Presser / Buildner guest jury
Co Founder and Director of Sterling Presser Architects and Engineers, Germany
The drawings and imagery have great clarity. The universal dialogue concept is a well found idea that resonates and a timeless answer to the brief. Instead of addressing a given design for a single cause, the project deals with a way forward: balance.
Nicolas Sterling / Buildner guest jury
Co Founder and Director of Sterling Presser Architects and Engineers, Germany
The concept is exciting and is possible to apply in different contexts. A weakness is that it seems to require two participants interacting. The presentation could benefit with better illustrations on page one.
Hans Olof Furberg / Buildner guest jury
Head of Culture and Education in the county council of Västernorrland and development manager of the Witch Museum, Sweden
Buildner's commentary, recommendations and techniques review
Order your review hereThe presentation is bold and clear. It makes use of a simple architectural-structural gesture and simply describes why this has been applied and how it is developed in the project. The layout appropriately uses color, diagrams and scale figures to express the design intent as well as the spatial experience of the project. The presentation would benefit from additional annotation in the two renderings at the base of the sheet. It would also benefit from additional detailing. What is the materiality of the space? How are the LED screens and red lights integrated into the walls? A clear plan drawing would also more fully describe how one enters and traverses the structure, as well as give some clarity on the dimensions of the project in the transverse direction, given all drawings are in the longitudinal.
-
8/10 Linework
-
8/10 Quality of drawings
-
9/10 Balance of color
-
8/10 Layout
-
9/10 Hierarchy
-
9/10 Annotation
-
9/10 Text
-
10/10 Clarity of story
-
10/10 Clarity of diagrams
-
9/10 Quality of overall presentation
Buildner Sustainability Award
THE REITERATION OF JUSTICE
Architect is a thinker; we should use our knowledge from what we learned to share the ideas to the society. And Buildner gives us an opportunity to do so.
Read full interview
United KingdomJury feedback summary
The Reiteration of Justice is a landscape memorial designed within the With Memorial Park in Salem. It is a simple pond and flower bed, effectively a memorial within a memorial, designed for visitors to reflect on the many injustices experienced by those women tortured in Salem 300 years ago. A simple project, it intelligently considers systems such as irrigation and maintenance, and is certainly a project that could be easily realized in its proposed location. It should be noted that the ‘swimming test’ which it labels as an injustice inflicted upon the women, is not a practice that occurred in Salem.
The design has been beautifully presented through meticulous drawings and a lot of thought about the site and its placement. The symbolic design is subtle and intriguing but maybe needs a bit more impact.
Paul Monaghan / Buildner guest jury
Executive director and Head of Design Studio AHMM, United Kingdom
The project presents a vision of an almost invisible, modest monument, within which negative meanings and forms are replaced by positive ones. Water, natural materials and plants create a friendly landscape, involving the local community in its maintenance, care and further development. It is a sustainable landscape project based on local materials and plants, positively affecting the climate and integration of the local community.
Bartosz Haduch / Buildner guest jury
Architect, academic teacher, publicist, winner of numerous architecture competitions, awards, and scholarships, NArchitekTURA, Poland
The proposal is simple, yet effective and shows the trial tests in innovative ways. The materials are sustainable and require mainly gardening maintenance.
Hans Olof Furberg / Buildner guest jury
Head of Culture and Education in the county council of Västernorrland and development manager of the Witch Museum, Sweden
Buildner's commentary, recommendations and techniques review
Order your review hereThe project is for the most part clear and effectively communicated. The renderings are beautifully done, as are the plans and section, which enters into detail and expresses the project as architectural in nature. The layout presents the project at an urban level as well as at a larger scale. It also clearly describes the formal and material decisions as representative of the various topics at hand, though its design could be perceived by many as an overly formal gesture. The three renderings are quite similar in scale and the information communicated. The author would benefit from replacing one of these with a more intimate up-close image of the pond to encompass all scales of the project, rather than simply expressing the pond within the space of the existing memorial. The text is far too lengthy and small for the reader to make clear sense of with ease. It requires the reader to strain, as it is not digested easily. Even though the topic is complex and requires some historical narrative, it is recommended that the author divide the amount of text by half.
-
10/10 Linework
-
10/10 Quality of drawings
-
10/10 Balance of color
-
8/10 Layout
-
9/10 Hierarchy
-
8/10 Annotation
-
7/10 Text
-
8/10 Clarity of story
-
8/10 Clarity of diagrams
-
9/10 Quality of overall presentation
Honorable Mentions
Shortlisted projects
Romania
The adolfo ibáñez university - universidad adolfo ibáñez
+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Chile
The knowledge hub universities, coventry university branch in egypt
+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Egypt
United States
United States House for the dead
Poland The Reclamation - A Cultural Infrastructure
Belgium
United Arab Emirates Barefoot under the Weight of Injustice
Romania The Spell of Polesie
Canada 
A LAMENT / A MONUMENT
Turkey THE REITERATION OF JUSTICE
United Kingdom
Ion mincu university of architecture and urbanism - uauim
+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Romania MEMORIAL FOR UYGHURS
Kaywon university of art & design
+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
South Korea
Canada 
South Korea
United States
United States 
Egypt 
France The forgotten women sanctuary
Belgium
France
Cornell university college of architecture, art, and planning
+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
United States The House of 19 Gables
United States
Ensa , école nationale supérieure d'architecture de paris-belleville
+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
France The Weightless Being
United States
Poland 
Tied in Embrace
New Zealand Whispering Copper Memorial
Chile Project ID 88557
Taylor's lakeside campus , taylor's university
+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Malaysia
Psp architekten
Germany 