Annual International Architecture Competition

MICROHOME

Small living, huge impact! Edition #3 (2021)

Results

Foreword

Competition organisers

MICROHOME MICROHOME

MICROHOME/ Edition 3 (2021) is the third edition of an annual architecture competition launched as part of Bee Breeders Competition Organisers’ Small-Scale Architecture series and in partnership with ARCHHIVE BOOKS publications. As the affordable housing crisis expands to a larger number of cities around the globe, and as natural resources dwindle in the face of climate and economic crises, the competition seeks easy-to-replicate ideas for living small to better serve our changing world.

Even the smallest projects can contain big ideas. In describing Bee Breeders’ campaign to highlight innovative small-scale design work, UN Studio’s Ben van Berkel writes, “[These] projects sometimes generate ideas which can later be extended to larger scale projects. They not only perform as a testing ground for geometric, material, and construction related considerations, but they are also invaluable when testing ideas on a conceptual level.”

The MICROHOME competition series challenges participants to submit designs for an off-grid, modular structure to accommodate a hypothetical young professional couple. The only project requirement is that the total floor does not exceed 25 m². Participants are encouraged to rethink spatial organization and incorporate unique aesthetics, new technologies, and innovative materials. Projects can be set on any hypothetical site of any size, anywhere in the world.

Bee Breeders collaborated with an international jury that included: Brian Gaudio, CEO of the Pittsburgh-based Module Housing; Anne Cecilie Haug, the director of staffing, senior architect, and member of the research and innovation team at Snøhetta; Thomas Heyer, lead designer at Cover Technologies; Sheri Koones, author; Francesca Perani, founder of Bergamo, Italy-based Francesca Perani Enterprise, and co-founder of activist project RebelArchitette; Carlo Ratti, director of the research initiative MIT Senseable City Lab, and founder of CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati; and Patrik Schumacher, company director at Zaha Hadid Architects.

Bee Breeders and its jury team thank each of the designers who submitted ideas to this competition from cities around the globe. In partnership with ARCHHIVE BOOKS, we look forward to presenting some of these ideas and more in our upcoming digital and print books.

1st Prize Winner +
BB STUDENT AWARD

Project name

CIRCADIAN HOME

Authors

Michalina Linkowska
Wiktoria Ciszak
Karolina Kozłowska

University

Poznań university of technology
+176 points Buildner University Rankings!

Poland

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

Architecture competitions give us a lot of adrenaline. We can face our weaknesses and love sharing our time together, taking up ambitious activities. After the deadline we always have a feeling that we could explore the issue more, which leaves us even more motivated and curious.

Jury feedback summary

Circadian Home is a proposal for a flexible residence that adapts to varying natural light conditions in any location. It features a circular core with two radiating wings for independent use and positioning. Each of the pivoting armatures reinforces a user’s unique 24-hour cycle and processes of daily life. According to the jury, "The design is beautiful and well rendered. It is engaging despite the complexity of its implementation; in fact, it allows the building to fulfil an essential aspect – the opportunity of privacy given to each occupant despite the small living space. The design is future-oriented and feasible for construction. However, the designer could have better stressed the purposefulness of the project in the context of the ‘New Normal’, with today’s realities of two people living and working at home."

2nd Prize Winner

Project name

CLOUD CATCHER

Authors

Helmuts Nežborts

Latvia

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

To challenge and develop myself professionally.

Jury feedback summary

Cloud Catcher is a design for a rectangular unit composed of machine-like modules of furniture, enclosed by a perimeter water tank with a hydroponic garden, and topped by a roof of plywood, metal sheets, and panels of radioactive cooling film and photovoltaics. This structure is then enveloped by a light modular frame supporting a recycled polyurethane mesh fog catcher. The jury writes, “The concept of water collection and redistribution is carried out with consistency throughout the design, creating a unified vision for how to sustainably deal with water on a macro level. An added bonus is that the simple design is an aesthetic eye catcher – beauty is achieved through functionality. The concept is very straightforward and sensitive at the same time. Cloud Catcher is a project that expresses clarity in the ability to evoke a light, flexible structure deeply linked to the surrounding environment and its potentials.”

3rd Prize Winner

Project name

Switch

Authors

Emanuele Cavaglion
Baixue Fang
Xiaoxu Liang

Italy

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

We participate in architecture competitions because they offer rich topics and stimulate people's infinite imagination and creativity of architecture.

Jury feedback summary

Switch challenges standard living spaces by compressing functional furniture elements, which could then be expanded depending on the needs of the user. It is a house comprised of a casted basement with embedded furniture and topped by freely mobile suspended modules containing the resident’s personal objects. The user can easily transition between the night area (containing a bed, bathtub, and wardrobe) and the day area (containing a kitchen, dining table, desk, and sofa). The jury writes, “The design appears constructable and realizable. It is simple, well-developed, and original. It shows an in-depth thinking of the constraints of living in limited space with a well-designed water system.”

BB GREEN AWARD

Project name

Rooted house

Authors

Aleksandra Zhuikova
Sofia Velichanskaia
Elizaveta Gradusova

University

Politecnico di milano / polytechnic university of milan
+76 points Buildner University Rankings!

Italy

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

For us, this is an opportunity to challenge ourselves. It is a way to express some ideas you are insecure about; it is easier to let go and create without holding back. This is not always possible in your work or study projects.

Honorable mentions

VIEWclose HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Project Name

the cork hut

University

Università di genova - dipartimento di architettura e design
+72 points Buildner University Rankings!

Country

Italy

Project authors

Andrea Oriati
Elisa Pizzorno
Arianna Viola

Project Name

Fair and Square

Company

Ato - architectural thinking office

Country

France

Project authors

Mathieu Mainoldi

Project Name

Green-Nest house

Company

Gplusarchitects

Country

Vietnam

Project authors

Doan Bang Giang
Truong Minh Quan

Project Name

Rio Piedras

University

Clemson university, south carolina
+72 points Buildner University Rankings!

Country

United States

Project authors

Eric Bell
Diego Bazzani

Project Name

earth-lander

University

Escuela técnica superior de arquitectura universidad politécnica de madrid
+72 points Buildner University Rankings!

Country

Spain

Project authors

Miguel ángel Ygoa

Project Name

TENKAI

Country

United States

Project authors

Chizumi Kano
Masayoshi Nozawa

Project Name

AMALGAM

Company

Wen architects

Country

Australia

Project authors

Ricky Wang
Deidre Zhang
Alem Abulizi
Jack Xie

Shortlisted projects

VIEWclose Shortlisted projects

Italy

andrea grassini
giulio minuto
elia galatolo

Chile

claudio c. araya

Italy

emanuele cavaglion
baixue fang
xiaoxu liang

Finland

Savonia University of Applied Sciences

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
aapo wihersaari
eero koivu

United States

Clemson University, South Carolina

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
eric bell
diego bazzani

Croatia

Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture Osijek (Građevinski i arhitektonski fakultet u Osijeku)

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
lana lončarić
jakov jurković
Željko Šreng

Latvia

helmuts nežborts

United States

chizumi kano
masayoshi nozawa

United States

Pennsylvania State University

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
katie bair
brad feitl
quiad spicher

China

lixin liu
jinghua li
zhishan wu
junjie wang

United States

B.public prefab

jd scott
natasha ribeiro

Poland

West Pomeranian University of Technology, Zachodniopomorski Uniwersytet Technologiczny w Szczecinie, ZUT)

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
joanna korczyńska
katarzyna gniazdowska

Iran

farnaz jamehdor
parisa babaei
dorsay jalili
hossein sepandarand

Canada

amir moradi
hadi daliraqaei

France

Ato - architectural thinking office

mathieu mainoldi

Iraq

wasseem al-qaissy

Italy

Design on technologies - laboratory srl

antonella falzetti
chiara iegri
veronica strippoli
giulia pezzullo

Italy

Politecnico di Milano / Polytechnic University of Milan

+76 points Buildner University Rankings!
aleksandra zhuikova
sofia velichanskaia
elizaveta gradusova

Germany

Technische Universität München , The Technical University of Munich

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
ziyue chen
yi zhou
xuqianqian cao

United States

mikhail mykhailenko

United States

courtney kizer
laurielle shannon
ana sofia solano quesada
molly schmidt

Spain

giulia orlando

Vietnam

Gplusarchitects

doan bang giang
truong minh quan

Uruguay

FADU - Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo (Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo UDELAR

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
martín peluffo
mauricio gonzález

South Korea

Korea University

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
jiho oh
hyunwoo kim

Malaysia

Taylor's Lakeside Campus , Taylor's University

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
chang au siong
ang jia qin

Austria

lukas kienreich

United States

jennifer recinos
sunny zhong

Australia

Wen architects

ricky wang
deidre zhang
alem abulizi
jack xie

Italy

DAD - Dipartimento Architettura e Design - UniGe , Università di Genova

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
andrea oriati
elisa pizzorno
arianna viola

Canada

shawn bailey

Germany

sebastian orner
christoph zacharski

United Kingdom

ke yang

Spain

ETSAM: Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid (UPM)

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
miguel ángel ygoa

France

National Superior School of Architecture of Marseille - École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Marseille , ENSA - Marseille

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
constance jacquemin
zoé brouquier

Netherlands

Delft University of Technology, TU Delft , Technical University Delft

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
rik van de wijgert

Poland

Poznan University of Technology , Politechnika Poznańska

+176 points Buildner University Rankings!
michalina linkowska
wiktoria ciszak
karolina kozłowska

United States

brian andrews

Italy

University of Florence , Università degli Studi di Firenze , UNIFI

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
irene burroni

Mexico

maria fernanda nava alarcon
sarai montiel escandon
 

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Competition results

MICROHOME

MICROHOME

Small living, huge impact! Edition #4
Hong Kong 
Pixel Homes

Hong Kong Pixel Homes

Affordable Housing Series #2
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