Foreword

Iceland has a landscape like no other place on earth. An arctic desert with active volcanoes and hot springs, one can also find mountains, lakes, glaciers, waterfalls, fjords, and a rich trove of unique flora and fauna adapted to extreme cold and wind. Equally complex, Iceland’s sky brings travelers from around the world to view the stars free of city lights, and to catch a glimpse of the aurora borealis - these northern lights caused by solar winds fill the night sky with varying shades of green, red, and blue, creating forms that change constantly in shade and shape.

This competition tasked participants with envisioning a concept for a guest house, where visitors can privately observe and directly engage with this unusual geographic setting. The chosen location adjacent to Mývatn lake, is a site of 9 hectares in the northeast region of Iceland. Near to the Krafla volcano and thermal pools, the lake was created by a basaltic lava eruption 2300 years ago; it is surrounded by wetlands that are also nesting ground for waterbirds, an important natural space monitored by the Mývatn Research Station since 1975.

Competition participants were asked to deliver design proposals for accommodations to house permanent hosts and up to 20 temporary guests. Submissions were asked to include host facilities in addition to a series of simply-designed single and double transportable guest room modules, with the capacity to sleep up to four, and a skylight through which to view the northern lights at night. In order to be relocated on site, these guest rooms are to moveable, without permanent foundations. Due to the delicate nature of the region no permanent construction is to take place within 200 metres of the lake. The brief also requested the inclusion of spaces to house a dining area, facilities to serve all users simultaneously, additional common spaces for group use, and a barn for 10 Icelandic horses which live outdoors year-round.

The jury was impressed by the quality and number of submissions. As with all Bee Breeders’ competitions, innovative proposals with thought-provoking design ideas were viewed favorably. Each of the winning proposals is lauded in particular for experimentation with a specific material, for its distinct interaction with the site and sky, for achieving a design that could be scalable, and for providing cost-effective solutions and construction methods in consideration of the extreme and natural environment. Bee Breeders would like to thank each participant for their participation.

COMPETITION ORGANISERS
Iceland 
Northern Lights 
Rooms

1st Prize Winner

Project name

In-Visible

For us, taking part in architectural vision competitions is a big chance for experimentation with space and structure, an opportunity to celebrate the design process and to face unusual topics.

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Authors Kamila Szatanowska, Paulina Rogalska,
Country Poland

2nd Prize Winner

Project name

Bleikur

I participate in this type of competition because the architectural program and the location is unique. The challenge to be met is even bigger when you know that there are many young talents who participate. Moreover, it goes about a competition that enjoys great international visibility. Beyond all this, the personal challenge is to excel while having fun.

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Authors Francois Bodlet,
Country Belgium

3rd Prize Winner

Project name

Northern Lights

Architecture vision competitions allow artists to explore the possibilities of the framework to its latest extent, something that is sometimes difficult when third party interests are involved. We consider these opportunities unequalled chances to present our conversation with context as a pure manifestation as a designer could expect.

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Authors Catarina Oom de Sousa, Carla Romagosa Girós, Eftalia Proios Torras,
Country Spain

BB STUDENT AWARD

Project name

Marimo

I participate in architecture vision competitions because they allow me to use my original ideas in architectural designs. I am sure that developing my imagination has improved the quality of my daily work in the office.

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Authors Magdalena Pająk,
Country Poland
+74 points Buildner University Rankings

BB GREEN AWARD

Project name

Of crater and hearth

Architecture competitions of this nature allow anyone to challenge, and provide a fresh approach to existing design dogmas. It is an incredible chance to step away from the conventional means of execution, and present a different perspective to a broader audience. It helps to facilitate the change in the profession through exposure and discussion, as well as one's own professional growth.

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Country United States

Honorable Mentions

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Project name

Enlightened Lightrooms

Authors Madina Zhazylbekova,
Country Kazakhstan
Project name

Northern Lights Rooms

Authors Maria-Alexandra Antal, Greta Samiș, Andra Samiș,
Country Romania
Project name

Northern Lighthouse

Authors Tyler Mcbeth, Veronika Smetanina, Benjamin Dossett
Country Japan
Project name

Human Space

Authors Giovanni Simioni, Maximilian Rietschel, Lewis Williams, Damiano Toffanin
Country Denmark

Shortlisted projects

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Obscura Borealis

Sarah Ives

Ron Noble

Newton Xian

Margot De man

Canada

Mývatn crystal's room

Louis Lévêque

France

AMPLIFIED NORTHERN LIGHT

Jaebong Jeon

Keunyoung Lim

United States

Regina Gutiérrez badillo

Alan Figot

Mexico

The Circle

Kinga Grzybowska

Michał Hondo

Vera Swahn

Erpinio Labrozzi

Denmark

Northern Lights Guest Rooms

Elliott Dennis

United Kingdom

Light ring

Luca Fogliata

Cristian Fracassi

Roberto Carollo

Gabriele Uberti

Italy

AURORA CASTLES : A Landscape of Occupied Erratics

Kelly Mackinnon

Charles Fernandez

Taylor Grindley

Northumbria Univeristy

United Kingdom

Green Rhythm Retreat

Gabriel Ciosu

Beatrice Anton

Switzerland

sky eyes

Nina Mohammadgholi songhori

Arstoo Mohamdgholisonghori

Jacopo Ginanneschi

Italy

Framing Northern Lights

Mette bruun Banke

Anne skytte Christensen

Denmark

Nous

Daniele Conticchio

Aurora Del Sette

Beatrice Bella

Vincenzo Copogna

Nousfera Lab

Italy

Mývatn Lake Cabins

Jesse Ewart

Jason Tan

Tyler Harlen

victoria University of Wellington

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
New Zealand

TWISTED PAVILIONS

Fruzsina Golles

Noemi Ivan

Kata Varga

Árpád Szilágyi

Studio IN-EX Kft

Hungary

The Northern Harbour

Adrian Moreno

Luis miguel Murillo

Switzerland

Ales Javurek

Jiri Buzek

Czech Republic

LANDMARKS

Florence Côté

Francis Gaignard

Gabriel Lemelin

Canada

Northern Lights House

Kuo Han

Taiwan

Northern Lighthouse

Tyler Mcbeth

Veronika Smetanina

Benjamin Dossett

Japan

Back to the Future

Kevin Veenhuizen

Netherlands

Skala

Omid Kamvari

Masoud Saeedian

Faraneh Ghahremani

Kamvari Architects

United Kingdom

Jessica Wetherell

Kelly Douglas

United States

Seven Peaks

Emma Hardie

Tyler Hardie

United States

Bleikur

Francois Bodlet

Belgium

THULE

Matteo Pegorin

Massimo Fontana

Francesco Quattrone

Italy

Northern Lights

Catarina Oom de Sousa

Carla Romagosa Girós

Eftalia Proios Torras

Spain

Map of the sky

Tommaso Delia

Italy

LAVA FIELD

Aleksandra Matczak

Dagmara Sienkiewicz

Filip Symonowicz

Alicja Sawicka

GK Architects

United Kingdom

Sublimate

Shoshanna Sidell

Jonah Pruitt

University of Cincinnati

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
United States

Hay & Turf

Yunsi Hua

China

THEY SEE ME ROLLIN...

Hannes Heitmüller

Sophie Weber

Bauhaus-University Weimar

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Germany

Rocks & Shards

Joanna Hobbs

William Foster

United Kingdom

Ship floating on tall grass tickeld by the wind

Lagrutta Roberto

Rossetti Antonio

Di gregorio Roberto

Italy

NL house

Marcin Janulewicz

Agata Ślusarek

Patryk Jaskulski

Poland

GHOST SHIP: EARTH.SKY.MEMORY.

Reihaneh Noori

Hannah Vaughn

Nader Nikgoftar

Mehran Rezvan

United States

DOTS PODS

Danail Machev

Technical University of Vienna

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Austria

Skyvertexes

Nelson Hochstetter

John Miller

Chile

Northern Lights Rooms

Maria-Alexandra Antal

Greta Samiș

Andra Samiș

Romania

Norðurljós hús

Adrien Thivolle

France

FELULEIKUR

Siyka Georgieva

Patricia Fredborg

Italy

In-Visible

Kamila Szatanowska

Paulina Rogalska

Poland

AURORA SANCTUARY

Inci lize Ogun

Karolina Pajnowska

Karolina Mieszczanek

Denmark

Panoramic Shelter

Dia sebastien Mallory

France

Shiva Shahidi

Maryam Iemaniemadi

Farshid Mehdipour

Mahsa Ettehadi

Baravord Sazeh Mazand

Iran

40.00.01

David Fenster

Shahab Ahghari

Andy Brandt

modulus

United States

MÝVATN northem lights ROOMS

Jaime Cubero zapata

Spain

Mývatn Skàla

Orlane Guillouet-lamy

Emilie Botella

France

Rolling Stones

Norbert Pánovits

Orsolya Méhes

Zsuzsanna Köninger-Péter

Olla Architect Studio

Hungary

HENGE

Payam Ashjae

Sasan Norouzi

Canada

Lightbox

Anna Caldana

Emanuele Crainich

Valentina Schiano

Italy

northern lights

Tom Irwin

Square Peg Bureau

United Kingdom

Carmen Cañamero

United States

Project ID 10652

Mattia Palumbo

Italy

Revealed perception

Sabine Rothengatter

Alwin Pluim

Windesheim University of Applied Sciences

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Netherlands

Ljósið

Juliette Cottereau

Mathilde Dassonville

Pauline Mortreau

France

VegvisirAurora

Valentino Donnini

Flamina D'aria

Elia Fontani

Tommaso Piccardi

Italy

Northern Light Retreat

Martin Kohlberger

Jakob Czinger

Anna Orbanic

Academy of Fine Arts Vienna

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Austria

Alexandra Ramirez

Jahaan Scipio

United States

The Light Units

Pablo Forero

Colombia

Marimo

Magdalena Pająk

Poland

Bar-Dock

Conrad Hu

Mike Ma

United States

Human Space

Giovanni Simioni

Maximilian Rietschel

Lewis Williams

Damiano Toffanin

Denmark

Of crater and hearth

Chang Yuan Max Hsu

Hadeel Ayed Mohammad

United States

NORTHERN LIGHT ON WHEELS

Benedikt Hartl

Germany

Becoming Iceland

Mac10studio Architects

Aixa Caldera

Williams Mendez

Marco Celis

Mac10Studio

Panama

Enlightened Lightrooms

Madina Zhazylbekova

Kazakhstan