Architecture Competition Modular Home Design Challenge 2021 Honorable mention – Ruo Shen and Yihan Zhou

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to one of our Honorable mention winners for our “Modular Home Design Challenge 2021” competition – Ruo Shen and Yihan Zhou from Germany!

Ruo Shen and Yihan Zhou from Germany

Ruo Shen: I graduated from Leibniz University Hannover in Germany with my masters’ degree. Before I came to Germany, I already got the primary architecture education in China, as well as 2 years of experience as an architect. After graduating, I worked in a German office S+S, and at the moment I am still working in Germany. We are still a team of two, and maybe later we will try to create our own office. We have worked as a team since we studied together in Leibniz University Hannover. In this time, we have found that we usually have similar ideas, and we could always work together harmoniously, so we decided to keep working together as a team.

Yihan Zhou: I received my first architecture education in China. After graduation, I went to Europe to seek further understanding of architecture. I completed my master’s degree at Leibniz University Hannover in Germany in 2018. After that, I returned to my homeland China and have worked in an architecture office until now.

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?

Ruo Shen: My individual experience is little unusual. I switched from study to practice and from practice to study, and I also used to work as a cultural researcher. After studying, I am now concentrating on practice projects, such as low-cost housing, modular building, and prefabrication, which can solve the social problems facing us now and in the future. At the moment I am working on a social low-cost residential building in Frankfurt, which includes about 140 apartments.

Yihan Zhou: The projects of my current office are quite comprehensive. During 3 years of working, I have participated in several typical residential projects, as well as some cultural projects. Relatively speaking, the scale of the projects is quite large. For instance, the total area of the residential community project that I did recently in southeast China is over 258,000 m2.

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

Ruo Shen: This is quite a big question for me, to be honest, I must recognize that I am just on my way to finding the answer. But maybe some points we can't avoid: the process of creating the building is huge social work, and the architect should take the primary responsibility for cost, function, and stability.

Yihan Zhou: Architecture for me is a practical way of turning one’s imagination of the world into reality. As I have studied and worked in both Europe and China, I found the work process is quite different. The working pace is obviously faster in China. To my understanding, architects in Europe are more dominant and expressive in projects, while Chinese architects have to spend more time balancing personal ideas and client opinions. Luckily, the situation is becoming better thanks to those who have completed more and more outstanding projects.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

Ruo Shen: I think the most important reason for me for participating in architecture competitions is that we want to spread and showcase our ideas for possibly better solutions of the modern social problems.

Yihan Zhou: I sometimes lose my passion in such high-intensity work. I could feel that the theoretical knowledge I learned for so many years had no use. Participating in competitions for me is a chance to jump out of the design cliché of the market and to really think about what I want to design.

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

Ruo Shen: Maybe it won't be easy for you, but it is still a good way to present yourself and practice. Just try to get through it to improve yourself.

Yihan Zhou: My teammate and I are both working for architecture offices. We do competitions in our free time, which means we need to give up our weekends and holidays. But it’s the only way to express our own design ideas, instead of our bosses, and test out our professional abilities in the larger world. Our daily work is like chopping wood, and doing competitions is like sharpening the axe.

Work for yourself, even if for a weekend!

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

Remind me
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

Remind me
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

Remind me
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

Remind me
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

Remind me
Jan 11
Feb 08
Apr 26

Reccuring architecture competitions

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

Remind me
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

Remind me
Mar 17
May 19
Jul 21
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

Remind me
Mar 23
May 25
Jul 27
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

Remind me
Dec 06
Feb 08
Apr 06
Register now
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

Remind me
Dec 07
Jan 26
Apr 20
Register now
Run repeatedly
Virtual Home
Edition #2

Design virtual home as architecture moves into the metaverse

Prize: MONETARY AWARD
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

Remind me
May 02
Jul 04
Sep 06
Register now
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

Remind me
Jan 03
Mar 01
May 04
Register now
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

Remind me
Feb 13
Mar 23
May 15
Register now
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

Remind me
Mar 27
May 25
Jul 24
Register now

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

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

Submit your online portfolio!

Prize: 5,000 €
Eligibility: open to all

registration deadlines

Remind me
Mar 31
Apr 30
May 31
Register now

Please enter your email address to receive download link

Thank you!

The download link will be sent to your email shortly

please check the spam folder
in case you can not find it
OK

Competition results

Hong Kong 
Pixel Homes

Hong Kong Pixel Homes

Affordable Housing Series #2
MICROHOME

MICROHOME

Small living, huge impact! Edition #4

Sign up for our newsletter

Be the first to know when
new competitions are launched!