International Architecture Competition

Portable
Reading Rooms

Edition #2

Results

Foreword

Competition organisers

Portable 
Reading Rooms

Official Partners

Portable 
Reading Rooms

Buildner is pleased to announce the results of its Portable Reading Rooms international competition! This is the second edition of the popular design event, and hosted in partnership with MArch Valencia which will support the further education of one designer selected from the received submissions, in the form of a scholarship.

This competition sought designs for a small structure that could be embedded within existing public spaces in multiple locations around the world. The reading rooms are to function as an intimate meditative space in which people can read and exchange books. The structure itself is to be highly versatile so that it could be located in various locations, and could function in various climates and seasons.

Buildner collaborated with an excellent international jury panel: Rami Bebawi is an architect and co-founder of KANVA in Montreal, Canada; Nancy Beka is an architectural designer and co-director of Studio Edwards, a Melbourne-based design practice established in 2016 to bring together architecture, interiors and conceptual design with a dedication to pushing these disciplines in innovative and unexpected directions; Fernando Brunel is co-founder of Balparda Brunel Oficina de Arquitectura - BBOA, an architecture studio established in Rosario, Argentina in 2012; Dan Dorocic is a Berlin-based member of design & architecture collective ON/OFF; Nicole McIntosh is the Co-Founder of the Swiss-American design practice Architecture Office; Martin Olivera is the founder of TATŪ Arquitectura based in Montevideo, Uruguay; Fran Silvestre is an architect and founder of Fran Silvestre Arquitectos in Valencia, Spain, and founder and director of the MArch Postgraduate School of Architecture and Design at the European University of Valencia; Rogelio Vallejo Bores is an architect and founder of Mexico-based HW Studio; and Cristina Verissimo is co-founding partner of Lisbon-based CVDB arquitectos.

Buildner and its jury panel congratulate the winners and thank each of the participating teams for submitting proposals.

1st Prize Winner

Project name

THEM

Authors

Marianne Charbonneau
Mélanie Hamel-Auger
Charles-Antoine Lauzon
Sandrine Arguin

Company

Agence spatiale

Canada

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

We participate in architectural competitions to challenge our ideas, push our thinking further, reconsider our universe, reject the status quo, and take certain concepts to even greater heights.

Jury feedback summary

‘Them’ is a proposal for a polycarbonate box with a small opening - as if a wormhole, as represented in physics and in the movie Interstellar - and the sole physical connection between interior and exterior. Colorful woven elements help to establish an interior that is visually drastically different from that of the outside. The symbolic gesture is meant to transport those reading within into other mental states, worlds other than our own. Books that are read are provided by visitors - ‘them’ - and the project thus plays on the relations among strangers to share and accept books via this metaphorical time machine.

 

Fran Silvestre / Buildner guest jury Fran Silvestre Arquitectos, MArch Postgraduate School of Architecture and Design Spain
The proposal stands out for its conceptual clarity and its innovative character, both as an urban landmark and in its functional proposal.
Fernando Brunel / Buildner guest jury co-founder of Balparda Brunel Oficina de Arquitectura - BBOA Argentina
An amazing concept and overall appearance. Easily portable modules and thorough details, however, the atmosphere is not relatable to a quiet environment for reading.
Nicole McIntosh / Buildner guest jury Co-Founder of the Swiss-American design practice Architecture Office Switzerland
The project is in its idea strong. The section is outstanding, so are the drawings and the visualizations. The design deserves praise for it inclusivity such as handicap accessibility.

Buildner's architectural communication techniques review

Have a presentation for us to review? Order your review here!
  • 10/10
    Linework
  • 10/10
    Quality of drawings
  • 10/10
    Balance of color
  • 9/10
    Layout
  • 9/10
    Hierarchy
  • 8/10
    Annotation
  • 8/10
    Text
  • 10/10
    Clarity of story
  • 10/10
    Clarity of diagrams
  • 10/10
    Quality of overall presentation

Buildner's commentary and recommendations

The project is bold in its presentation, visual content and use of color. It is positively striking to the eye and offers a strong variation from the typical project submission. The benefit of a four-sheet competition submission for such a small-scale project allows some flexibility for the information conveyed - there are ways to provide the content needed for a jury to evaluate the proposal without being busy, and this presentation does just that. On the contrary the second sheet consists of a single rendered image that is void of text or numeric annotation, and consequently appears unfinished as if an opportunity to convey detailed data about the project was missed. Proposals should take advantage of each image to convey as much information as possible without overwhelming the reader. Such information can add complexity and detail that allows a reader to study the visual in depth. 

2nd Prize Winner

Project name

Tight Knit

Authors

Danielle Beaulieu
Melanie Monastirsky

United States

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

Competitions provide us with an intellectual outlet to explore our core interests, investigate new challenges and opportunities, and quickly test out ideas. These competition briefs may deviate from our current projects and offer a refreshing and stimulating exercise.

Jury feedback summary

Tight Knit offers a welcoming and intimate space for reading and book exchange. It argues for the tactile and sensory experience of reading a physical book as a way to engage the mind. The project consists of three units - a bike rack, book exchange module and reading module - which together form various outdoor reading ‘rooms’ that are adaptable to a space or site. While it does not provide a physical roof, it suggests a location beneath a tree as a form of shade.

 

Rogelio Vallejo Bores / Buildner guest jury architect and founder of Mexico-based HW Studio Mexico
The solution of generating spaces with such simple, ethereal and amusing elements, which are simple and useful at the same time, are the characteristics that make this proposition attractive.
Fran Silvestre / Buildner guest jury Fran Silvestre Arquitectos, MArch Postgraduate School of Architecture and Design Spain
This proposal is made up of various small-scale elements that form a cohesive and materialized set with a clear constructive solution.
Fernando Brunel / Buildner guest jury co-founder of Balparda Brunel Oficina de Arquitectura - BBOA Argentina
A really interesting approach with multiplicity of configurations and easy transportation. On the downside, this proposal only works in good weather.

Buildner's architectural communication techniques review

Have a presentation for us to review? Order your review here!
  • 9/10
    Linework
  • 9/10
    Quality of drawings
  • 9/10
    Balance of color
  • 7/10
    Layout
  • 8/10
    Hierarchy
  • 8/10
    Annotation
  • 8/10
    Text
  • 8/10
    Clarity of story
  • 9/10
    Clarity of diagrams
  • 8/10
    Quality of overall presentation

Buildner's commentary and recommendations

The project makes use of a variety of layouts which are similar enough in nature to provide consistency but which appear to lack an overall guiding organizational principle, and therefore are vaguely disorienting to navigate. It is excellent that the authors have divided the text on all sheets to continue the story and its explanation across the presentation, though the text is rather wordy and could be better summarized. The line drawings are virtually all of a single line weight and thus lack hierarchy. The use of colored imagery is, however, outstanding and provides a great deal of contrast to the sheets, lending them balance and details for the reader to digest with each review. 

 

3rd Prize Winner

Project name

Attract. Explore. Read.

Authors

Gi Giannone

United States

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

I participate in architecture competitions to stay curious. In ideas competitions, there is enough freedom and enough restraints in place to be playful while remaining mindful.

Jury feedback summary

Attract, Explore, Read is a proposition for a structure that guides a visitor across scales that are both private and public in nature. A large roof acts as a social canopy and casts a net to define a public space. It is designed in a way that allows it to take the shape of its site. At its center, an integrated bookshelf system and bike storage zone offers a more intimate space enclosed by a screen for visual connectivity. The bookshelf is two sided and this allows for a public side and a more private side. 

 

Rami Bebawi / Buildner guest jury architect and co-founder of KANVA Canada
The title of the proposal embodies the sequences of experiencing the project. The extravagant gesture combined with refined wood elements inspires a certain fantasy that overlaps with the wonders within books.
Dan Dorocic / Buildner guest jury designer ON/OFF Germany
I was floored by the approach to a social canopy in the proposal. And I love the folding wings. The simple diagramming also makes this an outstanding presentation.
Cristina Verissimo / Buildner guest jury Co-Founder, CVDB arquitectos Portugal
It is nice that the roof acts as a social canopy, though it is not clear how the structure maintains the vertical position of the canopy.

Buildner's architectural communication techniques review

Have a presentation for us to review? Order your review here!
  • 8/10
    Linework
  • 9/10
    Quality of drawings
  • 8/10
    Balance of color
  • 7/10
    Layout
  • 8/10
    Hierarchy
  • 7/10
    Annotation
  • 7/10
    Text
  • 9/10
    Clarity of story
  • 8/10
    Clarity of diagrams
  • 8/10
    Quality of overall presentation

Buildner's commentary and recommendations

The presentation makes excellent use of limited materiality - in this case, wood - which stands out against the otherwise white field of the sheets. The visuals are outstanding and successfully capture a reader's attention for their uniqueness. They also successfully explain the project’s capacity to take the form of many sites and urban situations. But the layout is underdeveloped and so varied that it appears as if it may have been completed by several different authors. The final sheet includes a single off-center rendering which appears incomplete and requires informative text or annotative descriptions to lend more detail to the visual. The sheets are inconsistent in their background color which may be considered visually disturbing.

 

Buildner Student Award +
Buildner Sustainability Award

Project name

READING CRAFT

Authors

Yu Hsiang Hsieh
Chu Hua Huang
Jia Pei Lin
Yen Ting Chou

University

National cheng kung university
+122 points Buildner University Rankings!

Taiwan

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

We pursue the excitement of design. Architecture competitions fulfill our desire and, at the same time, allow us to share it with other people.

Jury feedback summary

Reading Craft is a proposal for a translucent, pill-shaped capsule framed within a fabric-clad box. Its  effect is that of a multilayered space, where exterior onlookers can just glimpse what is happening inside. The intent is to spark imagination, much like the act of reading. The modular design is made up of a structure of steel tubes, translucent fabrics and plywood. The project is positioned on a busy transit site within Taipei - an excellent location, according to the authors, for taking a moment to step into a quiet world and be subjected to the trappings of a good book.

 

Dan Dorocic / Buildner guest jury designer ON/OFF Germany
A very down to earth and visually strong submission. It has very clear architectonics and an assembly which is also illustrated in a great graphic novel style. The choice of a reusable lightweight scaffolding structure and light textile fulfills the sustainability challenge.
Nancy Beka / Buildner guest jury architectural designer and co-director of Studio Edwards Australia
I love the use of scaffolding - configurations are limitless and the structure is sound. Construction would be simple.
Rogelio Vallejo Bores / Buildner guest jury architect and founder of Mexico-based HW Studio Mexico
The interior/exterior relationship and the spatial experience of entering this pill is especially interesting.

Buildner's architectural communication techniques review

Have a presentation for us to review? Order your review here!
  • 9/10
    Linework
  • 9/10
    Quality of drawings
  • 10/10
    Balance of color
  • 8/10
    Layout
  • 9/10
    Hierarchy
  • 8/10
    Annotation
  • 8/10
    Text
  • 9/10
    Clarity of story
  • 9/10
    Clarity of diagrams
  • 9/10
    Quality of overall presentation

Buildner's commentary and recommendations

The all-linework presentation uses strong blues and reds to achieve a series of bold and consistent images. Its introductory page is striking and followed by an advanced site plan which communicates the intent for the small project to influence its urban surroundings. Simple diagrams are mixed with complex sections and how-to drawings which dynamically describe the project’s construction process. The presentation would benefit from a clearer description of its materials (what is the translucent red capsule supported by?) but otherwise excellently communicates the project’s spatial experience and dimensions with the use of annotation and human scale figures. 

 

Scholarship

Project name

Lugar Aislado

Authors

Max Gerber
Eitan Adrián Guzmán Cuéllar

Germany

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

This was our first competition entry, with the goal to challenge ourselves, showcase our skills, and share our ideas. As students, we believe competitions are the best opportunity to be part of and develop projects that contribute our young concepts to the real world. We firmly believe that practice makes perfect. To improve our capabilities, we seek to participate in as many design competitions as possible to refine our respective styles and grow as architects.

Jury feedback summary

Lugar Aislado is a proposal for a pavilion which makes use of Japanese wood joint construction to offer an intimate space that is reminiscent of the books and crannies one may have inhabited as a child discovering their first books. The jointed structure is deep enough to provide a shelving system to be filled with books and plants alike, providing a natural literary space that is ephemeral in nature. The structural system is, according to the authors, easy to construct and deconstruct.

 

Nancy Beka / Buildner guest jury architectural designer and co-director of Studio Edwards Australia
Delicate and calming. A great use of plants to soften the boundaries.
Cristina Verissimo / Buildner guest jury Co-Founder, CVDB arquitectos Portugal
The submission includes nice assembly drawings, though aside from the use of plants the cladding material is unclear. It is also missing a roof.

Buildner's architectural communication techniques review

Have a presentation for us to review? Order your review here!
  • 8/10
    Linework
  • 8/10
    Quality of drawings
  • 8/10
    Balance of color
  • 7/10
    Layout
  • 8/10
    Hierarchy
  • 7/10
    Annotation
  • 7/10
    Text
  • 9/10
    Clarity of story
  • 8/10
    Clarity of diagrams
  • 8/10
    Quality of overall presentation

Buildner's commentary and recommendations

The project is simple in its design and layout. While its mix of sophisticated, colorful drawings and sketches is to be commended, the presentation would benefit from a more consistent layout that clearly guides a reader through each sheet. It would also benefit from a reduction of its long-winded text which jurors may only read after having decided the project is interesting enough to examine in detail. Finally, such a project which is so focused on a single typical detail would benefit from the inclusion of a construction-level, convincing description of how the project materials are fastened and cut to form the all-important joint.

Honorable mentions

VIEWclose HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Project Name

OPEN THE BOOK!

Country

Italy

Project authors

Laura Raspanti

Project Name

Biblioteca Vagon – Reading room on a journey

University

University of edinburgh

Country

United Kingdom

Project authors

Jessica Zhan
Bella Fane
Lucas Engen Gjessing
Wenjing Huang

Project Name

The Art of Reading

Country

Austria

Project authors

Julia Fraolini
Felix Steinbacher

Project Name

Book Sphere

University

Academy of fine arts in katowice - akademia sztuk pięknych w katowicach
+72 points Buildner University Rankings!

Country

Poland

Project authors

Paula Smolka

Project Name

Rooms of Encounter

University

University of edinburgh

Country

United Kingdom

Project authors

Aitong Chen
Jing Hei
Yuxi Zhang
Yuchen Peng

Project Name

Four Corner Rooms: Reading Among the Forest

Country

United States

Project authors

Stephen Good

Shortlisted projects

VIEWclose Shortlisted projects

Canada

Toronto Metropolitan University - TMU

+2 points Buildner University Rankings!
fatema masuma alidina
tiffany chui
sarah ghattas

Austria

julia fraolini
felix steinbacher

Romania

University of Architecture G.M. Cantacuzino (Facultatea de Arhitectură GM Cantacuzino - TUIASI)

+2 points Buildner University Rankings!
tudor ichim
tudor ichim
horia rusu

Germany

max gerber
eitan adrián guzmán cuéllar

China

Studio re+n

yuting zhang
pu zhang

Romania

Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism - UAUIM

+2 points Buildner University Rankings!
anca stefania vlasica
silvana maria paraschivescu

Germany

Technische Universität Darmstadt, TU Darmstadt

+2 points Buildner University Rankings!
valerii shpiklirnyi

China

Sichuan Fine Arts Institute

+2 points Buildner University Rankings!
lanyi tu

United Kingdom

Royal College of Art

+2 points Buildner University Rankings!
qing duan

United States

danielle beaulieu
melanie monastirsky

United States

University of Miami

+2 points Buildner University Rankings!
gabriela de camarero perez

United Kingdom

rukhsar zahid
wanchi wong
humaira keshtmand
jadene aguilar

Canada

University of Waterloo

+2 points Buildner University Rankings!
tara natalia
catherine leung

Poland

Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice - Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Katowicach

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
paula smolka

Turkey

Istanbul technical university

merve ucan

Taiwan

National Cheng Kung University

+122 points Buildner University Rankings!
yu hsiang hsieh
chu hua huang
jia pei lin
yen ting chou

Romania

Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism - UAUIM

+2 points Buildner University Rankings!
elena clapan
azaria rusu
ioana gheorghita
irina enache

United Kingdom

Manchester School of Architecture

+2 points Buildner University Rankings!
siyi zhu
xutianqi wen

Israel

Bezalel Academy of Art and Design

+2 points Buildner University Rankings!
yuval rabi

Palestinian Territory, Occupied

yasser khaldi
majida khanfar

United States

frederik sisa
katherine schaefer
william ramos

United Kingdom

University of edinburgh

jessica zhan
bella fane
lucas engen gjessing
wenjing huang

United Kingdom

University of Edinburgh

+2 points Buildner University Rankings!
shu herng kok
harith hashim
joshua teh

United States

University of illinois urbana-champaign

jonathan shek
liza sarmiento

Canada

Agence spatiale

marianne charbonneau
mélanie hamel-auger
charles-antoine lauzon
sandrine arguin

United Kingdom

University of edinburgh

aitong chen
jing hei
yuxi zhang
yuchen peng
 

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