Challenging and stimulating the architects and designers of the future. Encouraging them to discover the use of wood and other sustainable and environmentally-friendly materials in construction. Exploring the benefits of an intergenerational exchange by providing a meeting place for young and old. All of these objectives come together in the winning projects from the IFA Awards 2018, selected by a panel of judges composed solely of architects.
DESA Project, less technology but high impact
Wahyu Yudistira Nugraha, a student at the University of Diponogoro, came out on top with a project aimed at giving villages in Indonesia a boost, where the movement of the labour force to big cities is leaving the older generation and children alone in rural areas. The DESA design adapts to the village’s needs, with a play and learning area for children and a gardening area for the elderly. It also promotes the conservation of cultural traditions, which the elderly can pass on to the little ones.
La La LAND
Land is a project based on cross-generational workshops where the older generation pass on their knowledge to children, enriching both in the process. Sara Dobrijević, student at the University of Zagreb’s School of Design, which is part of the Architecture Faculty, received the prize for the best use of innovation for the structure of her modular workshops. These modules are archetypal houses made of wooden boards or recycled plastic which allows for easy and quick assembly.
Cukrownia Goslawice
Polish student Konstanty Kosma Mikołajczak, from the University of Poznan, was also awarded a prize for innovation for Cukrownia Goslawice, a project focused on the design of communities of individual prosocial houses. His design is based on the social relationships and integration that come from houses themselves. The public spaces have different functions, highlighting the central public garden, which includes a multifunctional room that can act as a meeting place.
