NEB Design Challenge
The new European Bauhaus (NEB) Design Challenge is organized by the Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordic Carbon Neutral Bauhaus, Finnish Ministry of Environment and Research Institute of Sweden in collaboration with Architects Sweden.
It’s a student competition with the challenge to ideate on the re-design (Reuse and Readapt) of four sites in the Nordic region (Umeå, Stavanger, Kuopio & Høje-Taastrup).
The first phase of the competition has been decided
The jury has chosen three finalists for each site in the competition. These teams have until May 9th to develop their design proposals.
A final winner for each site will be announced at the award ceremony at the School of Architecture on May 30th in Umeå.
Background
A large part of European Greenhouse gas emissions originates from the construction sector. To achieve the EU´s ambitious climate goals, the European Green Deal calls on the sector to reduce these emissions by 60% by 2030. Also, the construction industry accounts for a significant portion of the material use and environmental impact. Without strong action in the built environment, it is nearly impossible to reach the climate goals.
The New European Bauhaus initiative aims to use the potential in the culture and creative sectors of architecture, art, and design to ramp up the efforts of climate actions.
In 2022, the Nordic initiative for the New European Bauhaus, Nordic Carbon Neutral Bauhaus, was launched. The full-scale rollout of the initiative is set to take place during 2023–2024. One action is to launch a design challenge for architecture students to form transdisciplinary teams with students from different fields and together design new innovative and creative solutions for adaptive reuse of buildings and sites to inspire the construction sector to be better at using what has already been built.
Four sites from four Nordic countries that share the need for transformation through reuse and repurposing have been selected for the competition. A common goal for the property owners of these sites is to investigate the possibilities of transformation instead of demolition and redevelopment.
Competition purpose
The purpose of the competition is to inspire, educate, and allow transdisciplinary student teams in the Nordic countries to co-create design ideas based on the overall vision of New European Bauhaus, and its three core values:
- Beautiful, quality of experience, including style/aesthetics, healthy and safe living environments.
- Sustainability, including circularity, and in this context also cultural heritage.
- Inclusion, including accessibility and affordability.
Vision
Through creative design proposals that emphasize circularity and value the inherent cultural heritage of the sites and their existing buildings, inspire and encourage involved property owners toward new uses for the existing buildings, preventing the need and will for buildings to be demolished.
Goals
The design proposals shall…
1. … present relevant and innovative concepts based on analysis that also interacts with the surroundings and cultural and/or industrial heritage.
2. … focus on circularity and sustainable use of resources by utilizing existing buildings and materials (sustainable).
3. … consider aesthetics of experience and quality of life in addition to functionality (beautiful).
4. … take into the perspective of inclusivity among cultures, demographics, and genders as well as accessibility and affordability (inclusive).
5. … be designed with high craftsmanship and characterized by high artistic quality.
6. … show how to consider economic aspects and impact on cultural, aesthetic, and natural values.
The competition
The competition is divided into two phases.
First phase - Briefly presented concept.
The first phase is open for all teams to participate and co-create design ideas for one of the competition's four sites. The students can choose any of the sites and are not restricted to a specific country based on where they are studying. The teams are required to submit a concept description together with accompanying design research that aligns with the competition's purpose and evaluation criteria.
The first proposal must fit within and be legible on one (1) A3 sheet. The teams should supplement the concept description with sketches and diagrams. In phase 1 the potential of the idea proposal should align with goals 1-4. The jury will select the top three conceptual design ideas for each site from phase 1, which will qualify for phase 2.
Second phase - Design development
In phase 2 qualified teams are eligible to develop and refine their conceptual design ideas into design proposals based on the jury's feedback. The proposal should respond to goals 1-6 in the competition. Additionally, the submission should be supplemented with sketches, drawings, and diagrams to support your design idea such as section drawings, elevation drawings, volumetric studies, floor plans, and/or perspective sketches.
All submitted materials should fit within and be legible on four (4) A3 sheets.
The competition jury will select one winner for each site. The jury will also decide on two runner ups for each site who will be recognized with honorable mentions.
