Introduction

COMPETITION ORGANISERS
Sansusī Forest 
Food Court
Official partner
Sansusī Forest 
Food Court


Buildner is pleased to announce the results of its Sansusī Forest Food Court International Competition!

First established in 2014, the Sansusī festival is held each year in Latvia. The event merges chamber music – a form of classical music composed for a small group of instruments – with the excitement, adventure and freedom of a typical rock festival. It combines open-air concerts where visitors can listen to classical music, with other interdisciplinary performing arts such as contemporary dance, circus performances, live theater and exhibitions within a beautiful forest setting.

The Sansusī Forest Food Court competition was run in partnership with the festival, tasking architects and designers to create a food court structure that could function as a central element to the event. The brief sought structures that could be assembled by hand and constructed of sustainable materials.

Buildner worked with an outstanding regional jury that included: Paula Gāgane, an architect and editor of the Latvian creative industries platform Fold; Uldis Trapencieris, a member of the Sansusī festival who is also a carpenter, producer of magazines, books, brand identities and ads, and the technical director of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra; Armands Siliņš-Bergmanis, an opera singer and board member of the Sansusī association: Ivars Veinbergs, an architect working with the Riga-based office NRJA (No Rules Just Architecture); Oskars Kotello,  an architect and co-founder of MERU arhitekti based in Riga; and Marija Katrina Dambe, a sustainable architect and founder of NOMAD architects.

Buildner and its jury panel would like to thank each of the international participants that submitted propositions to this event!

Updated: Summer Adventure - Building the Sansusi Food Court 

Embark on a fun summer adventure with us in this short film as we follow the winners of the Buildner's Sansusi Forest Food Court architecture competition on their trip to Latvia. Join the excitement as they bring their top prize-winning project to life—a lively food court for the Sansusi Music Festival.

We sincerely thank our jury panel
for their time and expertise

Paula Gāgane

Architect, editor of the creative industries platform Fold.

Latvia

Uldis Trapencieris

Tehnical director at Latvian National Symphony orchestra, founder of concert hall TJZK

Latvia

Armands Siliņš-Bergmanis

Opera singer and board member of association Sansusī

Latvia

Ivars Veinbergs

Architect at the NRJA

Latvia

Oskars Kotello

Architect and co-founder of MERU arhitekti

Latvia

Marija Katrina Dambe

Architect and founder of NOMAD architects

Latvia

1st Prize Winner

Project name

Hanging out

For us, architectural competitions are a means to test and exchange ideas and approaches, grow professionally, and also an opportunity to bring our own projects to life and gain publicity.

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Authors
Mykhailo Zhuk
Daniil Chechin
Maria Levitskaya
Mariia Samahala
Country
Austria
  • 9/10 Linework
  • 9/10 Quality of drawings
  • 9/10 Balance of color
  • 8/10 Layout
  • 9/10 Hierarchy
  • 7/10 Annotation
  • 8/10 Text
  • 8/10 Clarity of story
  • 9/10 Clarity of diagrams
  • 9/10 Quality of overall presentation

2nd Prize Winner

Project name

Re(treat)

During our time as undergraduate students, participating in architecture competitions enabled us to immerse ourselves in the design world and develop valuable skills in collaboration, time management, and graphic representation. To this day, we continue to enter architecture competitions as a means of exploring experimental and unconventional design. Above all, these competitions bring us immense enjoyment. The opportunity to select from a diverse range of prompts and sites ensures that we are always able to undertake projects that inspire and challenge us.

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Authors
Liam Martin
Laura-India Garinois
Country
United States
  • 9/10 Linework
  • 9/10 Quality of drawings
  • 8/10 Balance of color
  • 8/10 Layout
  • 9/10 Hierarchy
  • 6/10 Annotation
  • 6/10 Text
  • 8/10 Clarity of story
  • 9/10 Clarity of diagrams
  • 8/10 Quality of overall presentation

3rd Prize Winner

Project name

The Banquet

We participate in competitions as they provide a great platform to stimulate and explore the creative potential of architecture. As recent graduates, competitions allow us to further develop and learn in a team-based environment, working within the parameters of the brief and critically questioning architectural processes and interventions.

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Authors
Andrei Nemes
Ash McCarthy
Alette Avsnes
Selma Gulden
Country
Denmark
  • 8/10 Linework
  • 10/10 Quality of drawings
  • 7/10 Balance of color
  • 8/10 Layout
  • 9/10 Hierarchy
  • 7/10 Annotation
  • 6/10 Text
  • 8/10 Clarity of story
  • 8/10 Clarity of diagrams
  • 8/10 Quality of overall presentation

BUILDNER STUDENT AWARD

Project name

Sansusī Bond

Through gaining experience and building our portfolio, we cultivate self-motivation in our shared field of interest, potentially preparing ourselves to venture into our own business. Architecture competitions balance the conceptual image with the realization of construction, helping us maintain the necessary design sensitivity and stimulate our creativity.

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Authors
Yanguang Zhu
Zhiyan Xu
Qingdong Hu
Binghao Yao
Country
United States
+72 points Buildner University Rankings
  • 9/10 Linework
  • 9/10 Quality of drawings
  • 9/10 Balance of color
  • 8/10 Layout
  • 9/10 Hierarchy
  • 7/10 Annotation
  • 8/10 Text
  • 8/10 Clarity of story
  • 9/10 Clarity of diagrams
  • 8/10 Quality of overall presentation

BUILDNER SUSTAINABILTY AWARD

Project name

The Soundbite Food Court

Competitions provide an ideal platform to nurture our creativity and explore new solutions. They allow us to discover new programs, develop innovative ideas, and break free from the constraints imposed by clients. Competitions enable us to be more radical, pushing us to develop concepts and ideas that may be more challenging and theoretical in nature.

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Authors
Nicolas Moser
Linh Pham
Quang Anh Ha
Khanh Duong
Country
Switzerland
  • 9/10 Linework
  • 10/10 Quality of drawings
  • 9/10 Balance of color
  • 9/10 Layout
  • 9/10 Hierarchy
  • 9/10 Annotation
  • 8/10 Text
  • 10/10 Clarity of story
  • 10/10 Clarity of diagrams
  • 10/10 Quality of overall presentation

Honorable Mentions

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Project name

The Forest Wind Chime

The main reason is to gain experience. I have noticed that with each competition I enter, regardless of winning or losing, my knowledge and problem-solving abilities grow significantly.

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Project name

Sansusī Forest Courtyard

Architecture competitions provide valuable insights into the current and future trends of the discipline. In addition to the chance to develop projects on fascinating topics, competitions push us to confront challenges in the best way we can imagine, enabling us to surpass our limits and transform our thinking. They serve as a training and improvement ground, similar to a visit to the gym for athletes.

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Authors
Grzegorz Oleniecki
Leticia Pacheco
Country
Poland
Project name

Cloudburst Forest

Authors
Jordan Scheuermann
Abdullah Tahseen
Austin Lightle
Country
United States
Project name

Sonata

Authors
Rizi Faruqui
Bang Dang
Alexis Chastain
Liliana Morales
Country
United States
Project name

The Unity Table

Company
Author
Kristina Klimova
Country
Kazakhstan
Project name

Otrā–āda

Authors
Alexander Topilin
Krisztián Vnučko
Country
Slovakia

Shortlisted projects

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The Forest Wind Chime

Diego Sierra

Universidad Iberoamericana, IBERO

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
Mexico

Caesura

Tsubasa Iwahashi
Japan

Project ID 119584

Shimin Zhou
Wanning Liao

University of California, UC Berkeley

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
United States

Common Feast

Laine nameda Lazda
Italy

Sansusi food court

Jurģis Prikulis
Latvia

The Banquet

Andrei Nemes
Ash McCarthy
Alette Avsnes
Selma Gulden
Denmark

the fringe

Yixuan Cai
United States

The Sound of Food

Jiseob Lee
Hamza Jumaa
Sabrina La
United Kingdom

Culinary Commons

Viktor Gekker
Jack Lehane
Ireland

THE GROVE

Ye Feng
Annie locke Scherer
Ron Aasholm
Merve Ünlü

Lundén Architecture Oy

Finland

overture

Bahar Orçun
Baran Göktepe
Abdullah Derya Çelik
Turkey

Biophilic Food Court of Arts

Alejandro Vera
Chile

LAND THAT SINGS

Long Kwan
Ryan Wai Yin Tung
Albert Ching Tao Leung
Jackie Ho Yin Cheung
United Kingdom

Curved Landscape

Jaehwi Lim
Junghyeon Oh
South Korea

Sansusī Forest Courtyard

Grzegorz Oleniecki
Leticia Pacheco
Poland

THE ARIA

Rabie Alashi
Lavinia Tarif
Saudi Arabia

The Soundbite Food Court

Nicolas Moser
Linh Pham
Quang Anh Ha
Khanh Duong

Multiply Office

Switzerland

The Hub

Zero Lim
Alson Lum
Nicholas Lim

Taylor's Lakeside Campus , Taylor's University

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Malaysia

Sansusi Atrium

Jungryun Kwon
South Korea

Piano

Yiwei Wang
Jeremy Yeh
Jia Yue Tan

University of California, UC Berkeley

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Singapore

Lung Of The Forest

Lindsey Authement

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
United States

Dinner Chime

Brendan Kelly
Sadie Imae
United States

Hanging out

Mykhailo Zhuk
Daniil Chechin
Maria Levitskaya
Mariia Samahala
Austria

ENCOUNTERS

Jinsu Park
Sigi Buzi
Switzerland

Sonata

Rizi Faruqui
Bang Dang
Alexis Chastain
Liliana Morales
United States

Soul of Sansusī

Dohyoung Kim
Soovin Kim
Dahoon Hyun
Jinheon Lee

Seoul National University

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
South Korea

Sansusī Bond

Yanguang Zhu
Zhiyan Xu
Qingdong Hu
Binghao Yao

University of California, UC Berkeley

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
United States

SAGRIEZT - slice yourself a food court

Tai Orgaz goren
Dana Shay

Technion, Israel Institute of Technology

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Israel

The Unity Table

Kristina Klimova

Pe.Pl.CULT

Kazakhstan

The lantern in the forest

Quoc Uong
Thanh Hieu Nguyen
Australia

Otrā–āda

Alexander Topilin
Krisztián Vnučko
Slovakia

Cloudburst Forest

Jordan Scheuermann
Abdullah Tahseen
Austin Lightle
United States

BOXSCAPE

Serwan Saleme
Aran Saleme
Sahi Saleme

AADEX

United Kingdom

Sansusi Catering Huts

William Bargerhuff
Patrick Kotowski
United States

The Courts of Māra

Chang yuan max Hsu
United States

Food and Folly

Tom Monteyne
Canada

Mortise and Tenon

Xian Zhang

Studio Supernova

China

Belly of sansusi

Guangyu Zhang
Xiaojun Wang
Yuelin Tian
United Kingdom

Stacked - Inviting the Landscape

Bennet Harvey
Madison Leonard
Canada

Re(treat)

Liam Martin
Laura-India Garinois
United States