Urban Co-living: Customizing Modules for Community

Auslober / Organizer
Hosting Organizations:
Urban Environment Design (UED) Magazine, Tianjin, China
School of Architecture, Tianjin University, China
 
Co-hosting Organization:
School of architecture, Southeast University, China
 
International Supporter:
Union International des Architectes (UIA), Lausanne, Switzerland
 
Wettbewerbsbetreuung / Competition Contact
Inquiries related to the competition will be responded to via e-mail: uedcompetition@163.com
 
Wettbewerbsaufgabe / Competition Assignment
China’s economy is shifting from the primacy of manufacturing to the primacy of a knowledge- and research-based service sector. This shift aligns with a global trend, namely the global socio-economic transformation from a society based on mechanical mass production to a society based on digital customization. This implies a city based on R&D, marketing and finance, requiring continuous networking and face to face communication. The city becomes the social super-brain.
 
This also implies the congregation of knowledge hungry, entrepreneurial young professionals in central locations. Everybody comes with an insatiable need to network, to learn continuously, and potentially to team up in various entrepreneurial ventures. The idea of co-living caters for this new social need and desire. Co-living offers a real opportunity to make good on all the talk about residential community which must remain a dead letter in housing projects where a random collection of residents live parallel lives. Co-living can create community, which depends on curated compatibility of the residents together with real spatial sharing.
 
Wettbewerbsart / Competition Type
Open Ideas Competition (for Students only)
 
Zulassungsbereich / Admission Area
International
 
Teilnehmer / Participants
All architecture students around the globe
 
Termine / Schedule
Registration Deadline: 24:00(GMT+8) August 30th, 2018
Submission Deadline: 24:00(GMT+8) September 20th, 2018
Jury Meeting: October 16th, 2018
 
Preise / Prizes
Total prize sum: 140.000 CNY
 
1st Prize (1 team)
Certificate and 100,000 RMB (before tax);
 
2nd Prize (3 teams)
Certificate and 30,000 RMB (before tax);
 
3rd Prize (8 teams)
Certificate and 10,000 RMB (before tax);
 
Honorable Mentions (several teams)
Certificate and 6-month free subscription of UED magazine;
 
- Advisors of prize-winning projects will also be awarded with certificates;
- Prize winners will have an opportunity to intern at prestigious architectural firms through the “Learning Design with Master Architects” program.
 
Leistungen / Submission Details
The task is to identify a central urban site in one of China’s 1st or 2nd tier cities and propose a co-living cluster with about 1000 small units. The units can be minimal, i.e. about 12 sqm for singles and about 16 sqm for couples. These units should be designed as prefabricated modules. However, these modules should be designed as parametric system that allows for customization. Endless repetition of identical units is to be avoided. Various species of units need to be invented, varied, and perhaps hybridized. The next aspect to be considered are the aggregation patterns that these modules allow for. The varied patters of voids and inbetween spaces should make space for social communication.
 
The small individual units are to be augmented with a lot of shared facilities that more than compensate for the spatial constraints of the individual units: kitchens, eating areas, lounging/living areas, café/bar areas, co-working areas etc. Together with the voids these shared spaces deliver the communicative tissue that motivates the residents to choose this development in the first place.
 
Unterlagen / Documents
hypcup.uedmagazine.net/?r=site&en=1