International Architecture Competition

New York Affordable Housing Challenge

Affordable Housing Series #1

Results

Foreword

Competition organisers

New York Affordable Housing Challenge New York Affordable Housing Challenge

Official Partners

New York Affordable Housing Challenge New York Affordable Housing Challenge New York Affordable Housing Challenge

The New York Affordable Housing Challenge arises from a critical awareness of the various demands that shape contemporary urban experience. In the thick of an historic period, an apogee of capitalism and globalization, a profusion of issues abound in the city: concurrent growth of population, services, and economic opportunity, in parallel with disparate inequality and inflationary real estate. For many, the consequence has lead to a housing market vastly out of reach, either by affordability or geography. A culture once distinguished by ownership and private property is stipulated by lease and scarcity. This competition recognizes the responsibility of architecture and its discipline in a systemic issue entwined between the built environment, policy, economics, and culture.

Successful entries challenge conventional and precedented architectural solutions, to an issue in all fairness, unique in scale and proportion. Well considered submissions engaged polyvalent solutions, to sites scattered throughout the greater metropolis of New York City. Projects most notable pursue invention through the agency, and instrumentality of an architectural element or system, redefining the culture, economy, and experience of urban domesticity by means of space, material, morphology, or structure. These projects are distinguished by rationality, singularity, and imagination.

Enter the next
competition edition!

ideas COMPETITION
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

New York Affordable Housing Challenge

Affordable Housing Series #1
1st Prize Winner

Project name

The Table Top

Authors

Lap Chi Kwong
Alison Von Glinow

United States

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

We participate in architecture vision competitions when we find extra time in our office work. The value we find in participating in these competitions is that is builds our vision, challenges us to think of design issues that we do not work with everyday, and brings more and more ideas into our firm’s oeuvre. It is a great way for us to be inventive and to be engaged in what is relevant in the discipline.

Jury feedback summary

The success of the first place proposal for the New York Affordable Housing competition lies in its use of a few simple modular elements aggregated to create a heterogeneous whole which serves to generate new modes of interaction between the inhabitants, their neighbors, and the public. Three basic unitized forms - circle, square, and rectangle - each made up of a slab and four columns stack, rotate, collide, and aggregate to create different unit types. The associated cost of the formal relationship between units is offset by the basic post and slab construction system of precast concrete. A simple storefront glazing system mediates between the units and the exterior while wood cabinets enclose private spaces and bathrooms. These stackable “table tops” are also scaled and dimensioned to adapt to disparate site conditions, from a one unit wide walk-up, to a tower with setbacks of cascading balconies. Most importantly, the rotations and collisions create apertures in the slab between units which form a liminal realm that serves as both public circulation and communal courtyards. These spatial juxtapositions generate unique thresholds, serving as intimate spaces for prolonged or chance encounter reflecting an updated notion of the stoop or porch ideal in the age of distraction.

2nd Prize Winner

Project name

Out-Of-Site

Authors

Peter Wong
Christopher Jarrett
Nazinin Modaresahmadi
Robert Stubbs

University

University of north carolina at charlotte
+100 points Buildner University Rankings!

United States

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

Idea competitions are a venue to test ideas and speculate on the possibilities of architecture. They are a luxury of sorts, free of many typical constraints, but they also have their own hidden challenges. They are also sometimes a necessity to land the next commission. Competitions have the capacity to bring critical ideas and innovative thinking and design to the public sphere in ways that other kinds of professional activity cannot. Competitions push ideas forward. They have the capacity to advance the discourse of architecture through visual projection. Most significantly, idea competitions tend to advance the discipline of design. New design strategies, methods and design techniques often emerge to the benefit of not only the design team but the discipline of design at large.

Jury feedback summary

The second place proposal stands out for its successful implementation of modular units to create a morphological housing strategy. Drawing from Le Corbusier’s unit type for the Unité d'Habitation, the second place proposal employs an L-shaped housing unit, both in plan and section, to create a variety of massing arrangements. Rather than proposing a dense housing block of modular components, the combination achieves various organization and form uniquely weaving exterior space throughout. The courtyards developed between units break down traditional barriers between public and private in social housing, creating opportunities for public engagement between neighbors and the city at large. At the smallest scale of the Harlem site, units are organized to engage the street in a similar manner to the surrounding context while providing an additional layer of public engagement through voided balconies. At the scale of the UN site, a strategy of larger voids is introduced to maximize exterior surface for greater opportunities of daylight, cross unit engagement, and connection to the street. At the East River Site, the units are combined to reinforce a horizontal massing lifted on pilotis, allowing continued public use of the waterfront pier. The selection of three varied New York sites demonstrates how morphologically robust the modular unit is by adapting to sites of different scale, shape, and context.

3rd Prize Winner

Project name

New York Affordable Housing Challenge

Authors

Liyang Chen
Yao Zheng

China

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

We want to encounter more design opportunities, and make our works visible.

Jury feedback summary

The third place entry for the New York Affordable Housing Challenge was unique in its proposition for a new paradigm of living that is as much social as it is spatial. The proposal is a simple slab and column structure with vertical circulation and mechanical systems pushed to each end to create a free plan. Each inhabitant has the ability to erect their own non-structural columns with fabric retractable walls, creating a terrain of private rooms within the common space of the floor. The spaces of the building can accommodate many types of users and family sizes, adapted to fulfill any requirement, indexing through use the varied and changing nature of its inhabitants. The deployable partitions create landscape of public and private space, achieving a rich and interior urbanism of zones and functions negotiated between each inhabitant. This new model for domesticity is a powerful interrogation of how affordable housing can be achieved by minimizing costly and redundant private spaces in order to utilize shared infrastructures and amenities. Through the collectivization of common areas, the proposal creates a generosity of space that is both flexible in its use and its function, creating a home that is no longer a series of bounded rooms with a predefined set of behaviors.

RISING STAR AWARD (STUDENTS ONLY)

Project name

New York ParaSiTe housing

Authors

Antonio González Viegas

University

Escuela técnica superior de arquitectura de sevilla
+54 points Buildner University Rankings!

Spain

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

Architecture vision competitions are very stimulating, especially for students, offering an open space for sharing ideas from all over the world. I cannot think of a better way of learning, discovering new perspectives and ways of thinking a reality. Furthermore, they are one of the best incentives to test ourselves and improve.
NYB GREEN AWARD

Project name

Forging The Upward Frontier

Authors

Ryan Anthony Ball

United States

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

It is important to question. Too often, standardized practices or routines blind us from potential inquiries. While it is not helpful to re-invent the wheel, I find that architecture vision competitions to be a necessary freedom from this daily reality. In that freedom, it is truly possible to consider anything, and these unbiased visions I feel are essential in realizing our potential.

Honorable mentions

VIEWclose HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Project Name

Angle 10

Country

United States

Project authors

Petar Petricevic
Ksenia Chernobrovtseva

Project Name

The Adaptive Platform: Affordable Housing Above the City

Country

United States

Project authors

Seth McDowell

Project Name

Activity-Stacked Neighbourhood

University

Chuhai college of higher education
+72 points Buildner University Rankings!

Country

Hong Kong

Project authors

Jasmine Sik Chi Chan

Project Name

Instant City: Living Air-Right

Country

United States

Project authors

Chang Kyu Lee
Beomki Lee

Project Name

Marcy Houses: A Case Study of Social Housing in New York City

Country

United States

Project authors

Hans Maarten Wikkerink

Project Name

The "Bricks"

University

University of california berkeley
+72 points Buildner University Rankings!

Country

China

Project authors

Steven Huang
Eko Liu

Shortlisted projects

VIEWclose Shortlisted projects

United States

niccolo baldi
anne mcternan
frederick cooke

United States

Smith College

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
julia franchi scarselli

United States

University of Oregon

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
joel-laurent mbala-nkanga

United States

kit von dalwig
philipp von dalwig
susana de zarraga

United States

City University of New York

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
marija gjorgjievska

United States

Blackney hayes architects

yang dai
sarah hayes
scott axel
ariel vazquez

Canada

University of Toronto

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
yin ting wong

Brazil

livia zanelli de morais
thamires bressan
gabriel costa macorin
eduardo rodrigues ferreira

United States

lap chi kwong
alison von glinow

United States

elizabeth roberts
richard delpilar

United States

petar petricevic
ksenia chernobrovtseva

Russian Federation

Moscow Institute of architecture - MARHI , Московский архитектурный институт - МАРХИ

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
anna vylegzhanina

United States

christine williams
jeremy jerge

United States

ian sheng
yifan wu
ning zhao

Italy

simone zanini
luca soldati
andrea lui
carlo andrea vescovi

China

University of California, UC Berkeley

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
steven huang
eko liu

United States

adham kasem
john russell beaumont
christopher gardner

Russian Federation

alexey sirotkin
mikhail sergeev

United States

bronwyn breitner
luigi ciaccia
scott mikawa
catherine earley

United States

Bailey edward

ellen dickson
robin whitehurst
damon wilson
alejandro martinez

United States

UNC Charlotte: The University of North Carolina at Charlotte

+100 points Buildner University Rankings!
peter wong
christopher jarrett
nazinin modaresahmadi
robert stubbs

United States

david yum
danielle fleischmann
eujin son
sara karine falque

Netherlands

arjan hebly
lennart aben
bjarne van der drift
lennart aben
bjarne van der drift
lenneke slangen

Brazil

renata becco pedrosa
rebecca campos leite alencar
aline aguiar
isabelle carvalho

China

wenyi zhu
jia qi
miao xu
yiyuan qian

Australia

John henry architects

john henry
michael rostami

Italy

rosa carlino
amanda campodonico
caterina pendolino
lucia carrubba

Brazil

giuliana bello
fernanda hardt
guilherme takahashi

United States

chang kyu lee
beomki lee

United States

george kontaroudis
michail-karolos keranis
dimitrios stivaros

Hong Kong

Chu Hai College of Higher Education

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
jasmine sik chi chan
 

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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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

Remind me
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

Remind me
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

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
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
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
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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

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

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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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