Foreword

Buildner is excited to announce the results of its Beyond Isolation: Senior Housing International competition. 

This architecture ideas competition focused on alleviating the isolation experienced by aging populations the world over. The brief was built on the premise that, as individuals grow older, they often face increased physical and social inactivity that can negatively impact physical and mental health. Living alone or in isolation can exacerbate these issues, with higher risks for accidents, depression, and difficulty accessing essential services.

The competition aimed to reconnect seniors with their communities by inviting participants to conceive innovative housing strategies to actively reintegrate elderly residents back into their social fabrics. Buildner and its jury sought designs that provide high-quality housing as well as incorporate features enabling seniors to engage with their surroundings in meaningful ways.

Participants were given the freedom to select a site of their choice. The brief encouraged participants to explore housing integrated with additional programs such as retail shops, activities, and hubs for exchange. Buildner collaborated with a fantastic international jury: Flora Lee is Associate Partner leading the Los Angeles office of MAD Architects; Ondřej Chybík is a co-founder of the Czech firm CHYBIK + KRISTOF; Alan Dunlop of Alan Dunlop Architects is an architect with a portfolio of award winning buildings including the internationally renowned Hazelwood School for children and young people who are dual sensory impaired: blind and deaf; Avi Friedman is a professor of architecture at McGill University, Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture and president of Avi Friedman Consultants, a design firm with a focus on affordable and sustainable residential environments; Dr Nirit Pilosof is an architect and researcher exploring the intersection of Healthcare, Technology, and Architecture, and the Head of Research in Innovation and Transformation at Sheba Medical Centre in Israel, and a Faculty Member at the Coller School of Management at Tel Aviv University; Susanne Siepl-Coates was a member of the architecture faculty at Kansas State University for over thirty years, where her teaching focused on the exploration of the relationships between the built environment, human health, and well-being; Guillem Carrera Rey is an architect who runs the Terragona, Spain-based studio Guillem Carrera Arquitecte and works in the fields of architecture, urban planning, landscape design, interior design, restoration and rehabilitation; and Adam Snow Frampton, AIA, is an architect and a Principal at Only If and a Design Critic at Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) and the Fall 2023 Gensler Visiting Critic at Cornell University AAP.

Buildner and its jury panel would like to thank all participants for their work and to congratulate the winners and shortlisted participants for their outstanding ideas.

COMPETITION ORGANISERS
Beyond Isolation: 
Senior Housing

1st Prize Winner

Project name

La Vie; Shared living room

We take part in architecture competitions because they're a chance to unleash our creativity, learn from others, and possibly win exciting projects. It's a way for us to grow personally and professionally while sharing our passion for design with the world.

Read full interview
Country Germany
  • 9/10 Linework
  • 10/10 Quality of drawings
  • 10/10 Balance of color
  • 9/10 Layout
  • 9/10 Hierarchy
  • 7/10 Annotation
  • 8/10 Text
  • 9/10 Clarity of story
  • 9/10 Clarity of diagrams
  • 9/10 Quality of overall presentation

2nd Prize Winner

Project name

THRESHOLD FOR HAPPINESS

Participation in ideation contests represents a valuable opportunity for us due to the creative freedom they offer and our ongoing interest in research. We chose this competition for its potential to explore new ways of living and enhancing the quality of life for older adults, a group often ignored in society. Additionally, as young architects starting our professional careers, it can be a great opportunity to showcase our philosophy, potential, and reflections on architecture to the world.

Read full interview
  • 9/10 Linework
  • 10/10 Quality of drawings
  • 10/10 Balance of color
  • 9/10 Layout
  • 9/10 Hierarchy
  • 7/10 Annotation
  • 8/10 Text
  • 9/10 Clarity of story
  • 9/10 Clarity of diagrams
  • 9/10 Quality of overall presentation

3rd Prize Winner +
Buildner Student Award

Project name

Re-Sanatorium

In our opinion, architecture competitions provide a wonderful opportunity to challenge ourselves by engaging in unconventional projects around the world. We thoroughly enjoy exploring different cultures, and architecture competitions serve as a means to do just that.

Read full interview
  • 9/10 Linework
  • 10/10 Quality of drawings
  • 10/10 Balance of color
  • 9/10 Layout
  • 9/10 Hierarchy
  • 7/10 Annotation
  • 8/10 Text
  • 9/10 Clarity of story
  • 9/10 Clarity of diagrams
  • 9/10 Quality of overall presentation

Buildner Sustainability Award

Project name

Tatami Castle

Architecture competitions provide us with a way to experiment with our ideas that are not limited like in the professional field, and not directed like in school. It essentially is a platform for creative freedom within the set rules given by the brief.

Read full interview
  • 9/10 Linework
  • 10/10 Quality of drawings
  • 10/10 Balance of color
  • 9/10 Layout
  • 9/10 Hierarchy
  • 7/10 Annotation
  • 8/10 Text
  • 9/10 Clarity of story
  • 9/10 Clarity of diagrams
  • 9/10 Quality of overall presentation

Honorable Mentions

Show Honorables Mentions (6 of 6) Hide Honorables Mentions projects
Project name

Maxi-Maze

I participate in architecture competitions to give freedom to my imagination and creativity, and also to experiment with new ideas, forms and technologies. Furthermore, as a young architect, competitions are a way for me to improve my graphic design and communication skills, as well as gain greater visibility on a professional level.

Read full interview
Country Italy
Project name

New Danchi: Isolated Aging in a Multigenerational Community

Competitions like this allow us to join the conversation on pressing global issues and explore if and how architecture can contribute. They can remove certain barriers to being innovative and radical when approaching solutions. I also enjoy reflecting on and learning from the variety of perspectives on these different design prompts.

Read full interview
Country United States
Project name

Aging Together: Seniors at the Heart of Urban Renewal

We believe that participating in architecture competitions can develop our perception of spaces and sensitize to the issues of modern world. Moreover we think that contact with people from all around the world can enrich our design experiences.

Read full interview
Project name

Senior's Housing

We believe that competitions are the most democratic exercises in architecture. They are the most honest way to highlight the need for good architectural projects to address the demands of a constantly changing world. Moreover, we think they challenge us, take us out of our comfort zone, and make us more creative.

Read full interview
Authors Thiago Biazus Danieleski, Juliana Tojal, Gustavo Azzolini
Country Brazil
+72 points Buildner University Rankings
Project name

Custodians of the Castle

Competitions give the opportunity to test ideas uncontained from real world constraints. New concepts can be experimented which broaden our research and offer critiques or opportunities for implementation in our own future projects.

Read full interview
Project name

Two courtyards

Participation in architectural competitions allows one to better ones skills and acquire new knowledge, as well as expand ones perspective and gain unique, precious experience. There is a great value in observation and connecting with other human beings, that is done in a very particular way during such competitions. They allow for deeper analysis and understanding of other approaches and work ethics. They also enable dialogs with people from various cultures and with different background. The amount of resilience and dedication that is required to successfully design architectural competition project is a good training and test of ones abilities and stress mitigation techniques, which are not particularly necessary during usual university level coursework. They light up passion and commitment, and often remind one of why they chose this path in the first place. This particular competition encompasses architecture, science, sociology and philosophy and since we're always looking for new, exciting challenges, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to fulfill my intellectual and spiritual desires.

Read full interview

Shortlisted projects

Show Shortlisted projects Hide Shortlisted projects

Community of Craft

Sophie Page

United Kingdom

Through the Membrane

United Kingdom

WOVEN

United States

Two courtyards

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

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
Poland

Bridging Generations

Marco Basotti

Simone Totino

Italy

Senior's Housing

Thiago Biazus Danieleski

Juliana Tojal

Gustavo Azzolini

Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
Brazil

Beyond Courtyards

Sangyeon Lee

Chankeun Park

Byunghyun Lee

Yoonseo Cho

South Korea

PILLARS FOREST

Politecnico di Milano / Polytechnic University of Milan

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Italy

Maxi-Maze

Italy

Intergenerational Spiral

Olle Johnsson

Sweden

LieGRID

Politecnico di Milano / Polytechnic University of Milan

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Italy

Rethink Aging

Iro Maria Karountzou

Greece

Aging Together: Seniors at the Heart of Urban Renewal

Warsaw University of Technology , Politechnika Warszawska

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
Poland

The Pyramid

Netherlands

Better together

Lodz University of Technology

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Poland

Open heart

HAG Human Architecture Group

Poland

CA' STLE IN VENICE

Politecnico di Milano / Polytechnic University of Milan

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Italy

Re-Sanatorium

Warsaw University of Technology , Politechnika Warszawska

+122 points Buildner University Rankings!
Poland

Serenity Haven Residences

Dang Khoi

University College of Northern Denmark (UCN) , Professionshøjskolen UCN

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Denmark

La Vie; Shared living room

Germany

Architecture for Social Inclusion

Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura - UPV / EHU, University of the Basque Country

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Spain

Ageless Village

Aleksandra Mieszaniec

Marta Ewa BuŁawa

Urszula Jędrzejak

Poland

Successful Ageing in West Footscray

Australia

Sunset Homes

Xingyuan Zhu

Wei Qiu

KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Sweden

New Danchi: Isolated Aging in a Multigenerational Community

United States

Un giardino sul mare

Italy

Senior City Village

United States

GRAFTED HOUSE

Parsons School of Design | The New School

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
United States

A surrounding World

Paolo Umberto Montesanto

Germany

Tatami Castle

Architectural Association School of Architecture

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
United Kingdom

Crossroads

United States

Crossing the Gulf of Age

United States

HAVRE DE PIERRE

Chloe Leportier

Tom Nestor Claude Courtois

France