Winners of 2017 "Rethinking The Future" Awards Present Radical Solutions to Present-Day Problems

Written by Sabrina Syed
Published on August 09, 2017

Architecture platform Rethinking the Future (RTF) has announced the winners for their annual “Rethinking the Future Awards,” collecting over 500 entries from 30 countries. Established in 2012 in New Delhi, India, RTF aims to create a “new window on international trends in architecture and design” by considering “radical solutions for the present day problems facing the domain.”

“Each of these projects represents the best of architecture and design across the globe, where innovation and creativity are intersecting,” says RTF on the 18 winning entries covering projects ranging from residential to cultural architecture. The competition was open to both students and professionals and drew a diverse collection of built and unbuilt works.

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Rethinking The Future Awards aims to bring out the most creative and innovative projects in the field of architecture & design and hence create an interactive educational platform of highest standards - RTF.

There were fifteen broad categories under which the projects were submitted. Read on for the list of all first place winners:

Winning Entries:

Cultural (Built)- Cocoon by Manasaram Architects

"The cocoon has been constructed as a Multi-use space that accommodates 40 persons simultaneously acting as an exhibition area for Krishi Vigyan Kendra. It is a unique project that qualifies as socially relevant because of the method in which it has been realized. Bamboo was required to be used for an unconventional form as it proved to be the most economically viable. Through this project, a wide spectrum of participants were brought together blurring social and cultural boundaries."

Cultural (Concept) - Seeking Roots With The Ghosts by Cheng Chieh Li

"Our living place is our culture claim, which is called “ Civic Museum”. The Civic Museum should included a market and festival, which cohesion everyone’s daily life. A market is a place not just for trading, but for communicating. The culture value is created by interacting with people, which can shorten their distance."

Hospitality (Concept) - Infinite Forest by Yitan Sun & Jianshi Wu

"Our Project, named Infinite Forest, is an unprecedented type of hotel that strives to bring Manhattan‘s long-forgotten hilled land back. By excavating one of Manhattan’s block down, the project reveals the hidden bedrocks that were buried over the last 400 years, upon which will be a new, natural park filled with trees and ponds what one would likely to only encounter back in the 17th Century. "

Housing (Concept) - Out Of The Box by Nudes

"The eco-machine critiques the relationship between existing housing conditions, human health, consumption patterns and general well being. This project humbly explores an archetype for super dense urban housing that is significantly larger than the sum of its parts by actuating an effective eco-mechanic assembly by integrating housing, health, urban farming, sustainability, community space to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants and society at large."

Institutional (Built) - Amanenomori Nursery School by Aisaka Architects’ Atelier

"A nursery school of a two-story building with rooftop terrace features 3-dimensional and circuit style structure located in Funabashi city. The concept of its design is to provide enough space for 160 children to play around in nature and also for all their parents and nursery staff to feel safe."

Institutional (Concept) - Horoshkola by Krost

"“Horoshkola” project is a part of the complete renovation of the residential district. The site restrictions shaped the volume of the school, making it quite high but discreet. Russian building code allows only for 4 floors for educational facilities."

Interior- Commercial (Built) -AXL–Jewelry Boutique by Labscape Design & Architecture

"The collaboration between the architects and jeweler AXL started with a precise brief matching the brand universe: feminine, elegant and precious whilst avoiding the trivial codes of luxury. What was created is a kind of contemporary boudoir combining a certain nostalgia of the past with modern elegance and sophistication."

Landscape Design (Built) - Projet Bonaventure by City of Montreal

"The vision for the project is built around three elements: (1) Create an entry to the city centre that is, at the same time, prestigious, functional and, convenient, (2) Promote the unity of neighbouring districts, in a North-South axis as well as East—West and (3) Support urban development with strategic public interventions."

Landscape Design (Concept) - Eco- courtyard of City- a Green Corridor in Taipei City by Chi Lin

"We try to redesign this urban poché with rich green quality and extend its publicity. The site is given with traditional spatial values and images, combined with the idea of urban landscape. Visitors will experience various activities and delicate natural environmental arrangement. The linear public eco-courtyard is set up like a green corridor of city. We expect this corridor to connect its neighborhoods and redefine an active community."

Mixed Use (Concept) - Imagining The Vertical City by Vijul Shah

"The future of the Indian cities can be envisioned as a collection of utopian settlements with tall skylines and self-efficient ecological living systems comprised majorly of skyscrapers. The country needs to address its shortcomings in order to achieve a higher pace on the journey towards a superpower which can be produced by unfolding the potentials of Skyscraper Architecture into a VERTICAL CITY itself."

Office Building (Built) - Bamboo Symphony by Manasaram Architects

"Our office Bamboo Symphony is the major project presented depicting our principles, the symbiotic character and culture of Bamboo and the physical, chemical, ecological and environmental properties of materials expressed in the architecture as form, function, and aesthetics of the building. The building connects the past to the future."

Office Building (Concept) - XO Skeleton by EYP Architecture & Engineering

"Our proposal investigates methods to reduce embodied energy in high rise design by combining skin and structure in a single integrated system and exploring alternative materials and systems to the traditional aluminum and glass curtain wall systems… XO Skeleton proposes a new way of thinking about high rise façade construction. Drawing from natural formations like coral reefs, we propose to combine structure and skin in a single X/O skeleton system."

Pop-Ups & Temporary (Built) - Shi-An by Katagiri Architecture+Design

"This tea house is inspired by the beauty of transientness which represents Japanese sense of values towards space and environment. By using solely "Washi" paper as a structural element, the materiality elaborates a contemporary space in tradition."

Product Design (Built)- Smart Lounger by Studio Symbiosis

"Sustainability is at the epicentre of the product. The design intent was to investigate kerfing as a technique for creating curved forms with minimal wastage. This was achieved through coding and iterative loops by stress analysis and generating the kerfing pattern accordingly. There is minimal wastage of material in the product to create a contemporary shape and the technique allows enough strength in the wood that is can take the load of a person sitting on it."

Product Design (Concept) - Re[in]Spired Architecture by Efthymia Douroudi & Lantavou Maria Lantavou

"This project is about a new kind of garment, a prosthetic skin programmed to respire and improves the relationship between human body and environment. The experimental design procedure of this garment can also be applied in buildings, providing thermal comfort conditions to users, thus the title “re[in]spired architecture”."

Public Building (Concept) - Resurrection & Reinterpretation Of An Architectural Icon by Deepankar D. Sharma

"This study examines and investigates various properties and phenomena associated with soap bubble intersection in nature. The investigated properties act as the driving rule for the form generative process. The rules along with the functional requirements for the program formed an algorithm which led to the global form of the structure through the local modules employed and intersected as per the functional needs."

Residence (Built) - The Pool House by Corneille Uedingslohmann Architekten

"..the new building was designed for and around the desired swimming pool. Further complicating the design was the development of a structure that would fit within the restrictive polygonal plot while respecting the given lines of the street and neighboring homes. The resulting diamond-shaped shell responds precisely to these parameters while exploiting the spatial possibilities of the pointed piece of land it occupies."

Residence (Concept) - Lagos’s Wooden Tower by HKA Hermann Kamte & Associates

"The whole is oriented to maximize daylight and natural ventilation. The wooden envelope provides shading from the heat of the direct sun around the shape. Plants belt around each floor contribute to creating fresh airflow and keep a constant microclimate into living space while providing a visual comfort and aesthetic."

Urban Design (Concept) - New York Horizon by Yitan Sun & Jianshi Wu

"The goal of the concept is to reverse the traditional relationship between landscape and architecture. Instead of building distant, flat landscapes to surround and complement individual architectural buildings, the natural landscape is now the centerpiece. In this case, the dynamic landscape is surrounded by characterless architecture that tries to be nothing but mirror that reflects nature."

To see the full boards for each project, visit RTF HERE.

Information and boards via RTF.

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