Ireland Meditation Mine , Irland

 

YAC Srl

Via Borgonuovo, 5

40125 Bologna – Italy

 

People often talk about it. Mass culture is steeped in its legends and landscapes. Yet, this time the Ireland we are about to describe is not the Ireland of Celts, moors, fairies or sprites.

 

This story is about a dusty Ireland made of dirt and sweat, efforts and poverty.

 

This is the Ireland of miners, men and women of brave heart that used to mine from the heart of the island the minerals feeding the furious 19th-century industry. This is a story of silent heroism, ordinary people, an extraordinary ordinariness attested by majestic ruins that are no less fascinating than the stark castles and mysterious abbeys depicting the best-known face of the Romantic Ireland.

 

The architectures towering over Allihies mines are machine-buildings that used to move miners underground. Today, they appear as gutted stone engines that seem to defy gravity with their huge cracks. Nevertheless, for centuries they have been guarding natural paradises that had been abandoned or visited by a few passionate hikers. Today though, the common perception is changing, and new scenarios are being set for these architectures too.

 

Indeed, there is a growing need to escape from the urban environment, from an everyday life that is often too suffocating and alienating. There is an increasingly common need for solitude, silence, return to vast natural spaces. It is the need to reconnect with one’s intimacy to be met by visiting places with supernatural fascination. Notoriously, Ireland is studded with the most intriguing scenarios.

 

Ancient mines were built to mine minerals from the mountain. However, in their ruins, maybe contemporary humanity can mine something that is even more valuable than metals and find that sense of peace and harmony contemporary society has somehow jeopardized.

 

This is the goal of the competition Ireland Meditation Mine aiming at turning Irish industrial archeology masterpieces into a retreat and meditation destination for people who look for meaningful experiences away from contemporaneity and immersed in the mystic beauty of a timeless nature.

 

Surrounded by stones tormented by the wind and uninterrupted silence, humanity can undertake the escape from civilization that urged the first wise men to retire to their caves in pursuit of a solitary life that has always been considered the most effective recipe of human happiness.

 

Yac thanks all the architects who will take up this challenge.

 

1st Prize: 8.000 €

2nd Prize: 4.000 €

3rd Prize: 2.000 €

 

Gold Mention: 500 €

Gold Mention: 500 €

 

10 Honorable Mention

30 Finalists

 

All the awarded proposals will be transmitted to architectural magazines and websites and will be hosted in international exhibitions. All the finalist proposals will be published on youngarchitectscompetitions.com

 

Early Bird Registration (65 €/team*): 02/05/2022 - 05/06/2022 (h 23.59 GMT)

Standard Registration (85 €/team*): 06/06/2022 - 03/07/2022 (h 23.59 GMT)

Late Registration (115 €/team*): 04/07/2022 - 31/07/2022 (h 23.59 GMT)

Material Submission Deadline: 03/08/2022 (h 12.00 pm – midday - GMT)

Jury summoning: 08/08/2022

Results announcement: 10/10/2022

 

Fulfilling an “early bird”, “standard” or “late” registration does not affect the submission deadline, which is uniquely set on 03/08/2022.

 

+22% VAT