Foreword

The Vale de Moses Yoga Retreat receives hundreds of annual guests from around the world, who visit in search of a meditative and natural experience in the mountainous pine and eucalyptus forests of central Portugal.

The infrastructure of the remote site consists of four stone farmhouse cottages, once abandoned, but then carefully repurposed and given new life. The Vale De Moses Meditation Cabins challenge is the first in a series of competitions in partnership with Vale de Moses, seeking design ideas for the construction of additional structures for meditation, yoga, and other activities on the site.

Participants were tasked here with submitting designs for a replicable ‘cabin’ for guest treatments and meditation sessions. The cabin is to be a space that allows guests to connect with the surrounding forest and gardens as part of a meditative and personal experience. Each cabin should provide sufficient space for one guest and one therapist.

This competition is part of Bee Breeders’ small-scale design competition series, focused on concepts, ideas, and material explorations for sustainable, compact projects that relate intimately to the scale of the human body. This focus is based on the notion that even the smallest projects can contain big ideas for the practice of architecture. Several of the winning projects will be exhibited in future publications by ARCHHIVE Books, which question What is Small-Scale Architecture?

The competition received hundreds of excellent submissions from around the world, with proposals offering ideas ranging from 3D-printed pods to site-extracted stone and rammed earth structures. The winning entries displayed below were selected by the jury for their outstanding material and experiential qualities, for their ability to be implemented for construction, as well as for the quality of their advanced drawing and means of presentation.

Bee Breeders thanks all of the participants for their time and contribution to this library of small-scale, sustainable design solutions.

COMPETITION ORGANISERS
Vale De Moses 
Meditation Cabins
Official partner
Vale De Moses 
Meditation Cabins

1st Prize Winner

Project name

VagaLume

The projects proposed in the competitions are incredibly diverse, which allow us to open up new horizons in the practice of the profession. Indeed, on one hand, we are confronted with other realities by discovering different cultures, geographies, local practices and challenges, which open our eyes to the foreign world. On the other hand, participating in competitions fosters a positive and proactive attitude that stimulates creativity in addition to enriching our knowledge.

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Author Adélaïde Jandrain
Country Belgium

2nd Prize Winner

Project name

Komorebi

We participate in architecture vision competitions as a means for unconstrained design exploration. These competitions allow us to dive into our own interests in architecture, space, and construction without the usual limitations of a standard project structure.

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Authors Ying Qi Chen, Fui Srivikorn
Country United States

3rd Prize Winner

Project name

komorebi

We would like to examine new ideas, experience different design conditions, and expand our opportunities, which is not always possible.

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Authors Duc Ngo, Piotr Pasierbinski
Country Japan

BB STUDENT AWARD

Project name

Meditation "h"earth

Architecture competitions are a way to express our creativity and let our imagination run free. These competitions allow us to develop our architectural design skills and project representation. Furthermore, these are an endless source of inspiration which enable us to begin our professional career. In a very competitive architectural world, this is also a way to have more visibility.

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University ensa normandie
Authors Yann Beuzit, Vincent Lecler
Country France
+74 points Buildner University Rankings

BB GREEN AWARD

Project name

INSIDE THE EARTH

Participating in architecture vision competitions is a great way for us to keep creative and challenge ourselves. It is a unique opportunity to work on special projects from all over the world, that might not be as accessible otherwise. We, as an architect and a designer, think it is important to never stop thinking outside the box and be 100% open-minded. Competition projects from all over the world can challenge our creativity, give us new, fresh inspiration and change our perspective on things we thought we knew. It keeps our curiosity flowing, trains our creative mind and helps to define our individual style and strengths as an architect and designer even more.

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Authors Charlotte Staeck, Michelle Bily
Country Germany

Client Favorite

Project name

The Spirit of Vale de Moses

Architecture competitions are fantastic thought exercises that help verify the understanding of the aforementioned criteria. Since they attract a lot of talent and ambition, they expand what we know about architecture and its impact.

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Authors Ewa Bartecka, Michal Bartecki, Jan Nowakowski
Country United Kingdom

Honorable Mentions

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Project name

The retaining wall

Project name

inside|out

Project name

CORTIÇA CABIN

Authors Gianluigi D'Aloisio, Maria Pachi, Daniele Colombati
Country United Kingdom
Project name

Vale de Moses Meditation Cabin

Project name

leve mente

Authors Oguzhan Zeytinoglu, Jasmine Auernig, Ece Atil, Gizem Dokuzoguz
Country Austria
Project name

Strata

Authors Thiago Jaconianni, Philip Kolevsohn, Toufic Rifai
Country Italy

Shortlisted projects

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Prana Cabins

Victor Paixão

Paula Sertório

Raphael Nogueira

Brazil

Project ID 27705

Szymon Kulikowski

Szymon Kowalski

Gdansk University of Technology

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
Poland

Leaf Cab

Ranieri Luchetti

Gianmarco Vittorelli

Riccardo Rossi

Gianluca Gabrielli

Italy

New Valley

Beatriz Querubin

Micaela Manzano

Nikolai georg Fadul

Philippines

INSIDE THE EARTH

Charlotte Staeck

Michelle Bily

Germany

Lirio d'Agua

Paul Baird

United States

meditation cabin

Christoph Popp

Dominic Fohrer

Germany

Casa Engawa

Christofer Cattell

Phillip Chum

Australia

Inhabiting Walls

Giorgos Hatzikomnou

United Kingdom

Strata

Thiago Jaconianni

Philip Kolevsohn

Toufic Rifai

Italy

VagaLume

Adélaïde Jandrain

Belgium

CORTIÇA CABIN

Gianluigi D'Aloisio

Maria Pachi

Daniele Colombati

United Kingdom

Transition, a moment of passage between realities

Susana Saramago

Jamie Willmer

United Kingdom

PASITHÉA

Angeliki Tzifa

Sofia Nikolaidou

United States

kubik

Daria Domagala

José Algeciras-rodriguez

Switzerland

Meditation Cabins

Lucas Yatch

United States

POLEIRO

Adam Schroth

United States

leve mente

Oguzhan Zeytinoglu

Jasmine Auernig

Ece Atil

Gizem Dokuzoguz

Austria

Arise

Tomas esteban Pont apostolo

Julio ignacio Paez

Mauro andres Alasino

Argentina

Remember that time in the valley?

Liran Messer

Israel

eloquent silences

Andrea Smaniotto

Barbara Sandri

Italy

The retaining wall

Pauline Tondreau

Manon Saint Ghislain

Belgium

Pneuma

Andrés Guzmán

Rafael Jaime

Mexico

VERNACULAR REFUGE

Tomas Villa

Colombia

Komorebi

Leon Zorraquin

Santiago Gilardi

Argentina

Meditation "h"earth

Yann Beuzit

Vincent Lecler

France

The Spirit of Vale de Moses

Ewa Bartecka

Michal Bartecki

Jan Nowakowski

United Kingdom

Forest Breathing

Tove Ekström

Sweden

Vale de Moses Meditation Cabin

Hendrik Verlinden

Nathalie Havelange

Andreu Veléz Guillén

Belgium

The Hulling Cabin

Simona Caruso

Manuela Capurso

Valentina Matarrese

Italy

Moses Dog

Igor Leal

Brazil

Komorebi

Ying Qi Chen

Fui Srivikorn

United States

Luna

Silvia Molinari

Italy

MOEBIUS

Margherita Chiozzi

Daniela Burki

Yindela Iannazzone

Switzerland

Vale de Moses Meditation Cabins

Nicolas Pople

Muneeb ali Khan

George Sinclair

Sophie Woodhatch

Sophie Woodhatch

United Kingdom

Telhado

Bertrand Van dorp

Cohann Rémy

Switzerland

komorebi

Duc Ngo

Piotr Pasierbinski

Japan

inside|out

Kamila Szatanowska

Paulina Rogalska

FALA architektura

Poland

ROOT / RISE

Phil Reville

Britt Ambruson

United States

Reconnecting The Link

Samuel Kumar

James Jones

Liverpool John Moores University

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
United Kingdom