International Architecture Competition

Yoga House
on a Cliff

Results

Foreword

Competition organisers

Yoga House 
on a Cliff Yoga House 
on a Cliff

Official Partners

Yoga House 
on a Cliff

Vale de Moses is a world-class yoga retreat located in the breathtaking, forested mountains of central Portugal. Originally a farm, the abandoned property was purchased by a British family during a year-long tour of Europe. Over the last five years, the farm’s stone cottages and terraced forest gardens were carefully restored, and the retreat now annually welcomes 500 guests from around the world, who visit Vale de Moses to reconnect with nature, practice yoga, eat nourishing vegetarian meals and take part in various meditation practices.

The Yoga House on a Cliff Competition was organized in tandem with the Vale de Moses landowners, seeking designs for a new hillside building overlooking the valley that would increase capacity for the number of yoga participants the retreat can accommodate. The project is organized as part of Bee Breeders Small Scale Architecture competition series and in partnership with ARCHHIVE BOOKS – winning projects will be featured in the second edition of their publication What is Small-Scale Architecture?

Given its natural setting and meditative purpose, the future yoga house is meant to inspire guests while connecting them with the surrounding mountains and forests. The competition brief requested that, in addition to a central yoga space, the house includes: storage space for mats and other yoga equipment; showers and toilets; a small kitchen area for teas and coffee. All grey water produced from bathrooms is to be used to irrigate the surrounding gardens. The new building must also produce its own energy.

The jury evaluated the received entries for their attention to the environment, and it selected winning submissions on the basis of architectural promise, cost-effectiveness, low maintenance level, and ability to protect inhabitants from the elements.

Bee Breeders collaborated with an excellent jury panel for this event, which included several Portugal-based designers, artists, architects and journalists: Joana Astolfi, an artist, architect, and designer who leads Studio Astolfi in Lisbon; Tiziano Borghini, a partner at GMAA–GM Architectes Associés, a team of thirty architects based in Geneva, Paris and Rhône-Alpes; Diogo Burnay,  co-founding partner of Lisbon-based CVDB arquitectos and chief curator of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2022; Tiago Krusse, a professional journalist, manager of the K Innovative Diffuser – a digital media group that publishes Design Magazine, Design Magazine Brasil, and architectura MAGAZINE; Nuno Pimenta, who runs a transdisciplinary practice in Porto, with a portfolio that spans temporary architecture, installation, public art, exhibition design and performance; Martinho Pita, a creative with a studio based in Lisbon; and Cristina Verissimo, co-founding partner of Lisbon-based CVDB arquitectos and chief curator of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2022.

Bee Breeders, Vale de Moses, and the competition jury panel would like to thank each of the participants for their outstanding proposals.

Missed the registration deadline?
Enter the next Vale de Moses competition – Sleeping Pods on a Cliff (beebreeders.com/architecturecompetitions/sleepingpods)

 

1st Prize Winner +
Client Favorite

Project name

FRAME

Authors

Vittorio Falaschi
Emmanuele Bortone
Maddalena Nanni
Uberto Carignani

Italy

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

The main reason we choose to participate in competitions comes from the need of expression and artistic freedom that is often limited in everyday work. The possibility to choose among a huge variety of subject matters, places and cultures stimulates our own creativity, and at the same time allows us to explore and experiment with new tools and architectural concepts.

Jury feedback summary

Frame is an elegant, simple and rational proposal. The project organizes the program elements along a primary exterior vestibule on a rectangular floorplate. The organization is established by a strong grid, accentuated by a timber structure of deep but light wood joist frames. One of its outstanding design features is a modular set of floorboards that can be removed to reorganize the space and also store yoga equipment out of sight. According to the jury, “Within this rational grid the project has lots of flexibility and potential. The modular floor enables variations in plans and sections and makes the space responsive to spontaneous needs without losing its characteristics.” The submission is commended for its light and poetic approach and beautiful presentation. The jury would like to more completely understand the construction details and whether the open-air design can function adequately during cold winters.

 

 

2nd Prize Winner

Project name

YYY HOUSE

Authors

Heen sae Noh
Jin woo Kim

South Korea

Jury feedback summary

YinYangYoga House presents one of the more authentic designs submitted to the competition. Circular in form, four pie-shaped spaces are set centrifugally about a zen garden set above a water storage tank. A curved wall placed on sliders around the garden can be moved to transform the space for different transitional sequences, levels of privacy and sightlines through the building. The jury commends its simplicity and consistency, writing: “The perspective from its entrance, the central garden and flexibility reached through moving walls are very impressive, but due to this strong feeling of centrality, it doesn't possess the strongest relationship to the location and landscape.” The jury also commented that the supporting base structure could be further studied to become lighter and more refined. 

3rd Prize Winner

Project name

SHELTERING SKY

Authors

Cheung Lun Jeremy Son
Amanda Dolgā

United Kingdom

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

The participation in architecture competitions gives us the opportunity to share our voice in architecture through drawings and design, hoping to resonate with a certain audience. It is also an engaging way to maintain the excitement, creative freedom, and professional motivation for the development of individual extracurricular design projects and collaborations.

Jury feedback summary

Sheltering Sky proposes a chapel-like central space defined by a wave-form, double-height roof, which curves gently to a skylight at its pinnacle. A separate structure for showers, a toilet and a changing area, speaks a similar architectural language. The organization of the program is fragmented into a series of poetic spaces and experiences, which are enclosed by a locally-sourced wooden structure and translucent south-facing wall. The jury notes; “The impressive materiality is inspired by the local context which helps the iconic shape to blend in and maintain a humble presence.” It also cites the project’s refined proportions, the high quality of the private outdoor spaces and the general respectful attitude towards the existing site. The project lacks construction details but does a very good job of expressing the light-filled quality of the space and the power of simple, natural materials. 

BB STUDENT AWARD

Project name

CHAKRASANA

Authors

Jan Nicolas Zimmermann

University

Eth zürich
+72 points Buildner University Rankings!

Switzerland

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

This competition allowed me to apply the skills I acquired during my studies and the knowledge I gained from personal research to a real building task. It was highly instructive to design a building in the framework of structural, practical, and environmental boundaries.
BB GREEN AWARD

Project name

About the essential in the place

Authors

Bernardo Aguilar León
Eder Eulogio Lescano
Lorenzo Barghini

Peru

Why do you enter architecture
competitions?

In our particular case, architecture competitions allow us to reflect and explore our theoretical concepts about design, as well as to understand and perfect our creative process.

Honorable mentions

VIEWclose HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Project Name

Yoga Shala on a Cliff

Country

Argentina

Project authors

Kayen Montes
Carola Terreni

Project Name

Moses Samadhi House

Country

Colombia

Project authors

Rafael Cruz
Gabriel Molina
Sebastián García
Sebastián Moreno

Project Name

LOTUS HOUSE

Country

Portugal

Project authors

João Varela
Ana Isabel Santos
Paulo Dias

Project Name

Nature's Passage

Company

Mvvstudio

Country

Macedonia

Project authors

Monika Angelevska
Zoran Petrovski
Kostantin Trpenoski

Project Name

Sanctuary of Vale de Moses

Country

Belgium

Project authors

Raphaël Luchs
Amos Bok
Florian Mahieu

Project Name

SOCALCO

Country

Portugal

Project authors

Joe Bruschy

Shortlisted projects

VIEWclose Shortlisted projects

France

raphael brossette
corentin girard
corentin foissey

Germany

Bauhaus - Universität Weimar

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
simon ottrand

France

marie arnaud
daniel van der vyver

Ukraine

anton kalambet
illya rastvorov

Belgium

raphaël luchs
amos bok
florian mahieu

Italy

vittorio falaschi
emmanuele bortone
maddalena nanni
uberto carignani

Portugal

joão varela
ana isabel santos
paulo dias

Spain

miguel ángel ruiz de temiño
guillermo ráfales

Peru

bernardo aguilar león
eder eulogio lescano
lorenzo barghini

United Kingdom

janis vilcins
jan hajek

Switzerland

guillaume rey
matteo ricchi

France

ENSAPM Paris-Malaquais

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
taha bouizargan
christel ollivier-henry

Russian Federation

pavel nasonov
ekaterina shomesova

Poland

Warsaw University of Technology , Politechnika Warszawska

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
maria Łomiak
natalia rajchel
stanisław dawidziuk

Macedonia

Mvvstudio

monika angelevska
zoran petrovski
kostantin trpenoski

Portugal

Porto School of Architecture , Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto

+22 points Buildner University Rankings!
ana catarina silva

Brazil

raphael mitsueda
douglas vicentini

Panama

alvaro guerra
ambar calvo
mónica henríquez
diana vázquez

United Kingdom

cheung lun jeremy son
amanda dolgā

United States

daniel dao
diya hu
honam wong

Switzerland

ETH Zurich

+72 points Buildner University Rankings!
jan nicolas zimmermann

Colombia

rafael cruz
gabriel molina
sebastián garcía
sebastián moreno
 

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