Micro Housing 2019 Architecture Competition

"Volume Zero", an International architecture and design magazine,  has initiated a design challenge to rethink and reimagine the idea of urban dwellings and come up with inventive solutions to the persistent issues of space crunch and growing population in our cities.. To encourage the creative imagination of young designers and students from around the globe to explore their creative limits.



Since the dawn of living beings on the planet, shelter has been an imperative requirement for survival against the rough weathers and predators, for animals and humans alike. From caves to plans of building houses on other planets, the idea of dwelling has come a long way.

Housing is one of the most basic needs of humankind for survival and this topic has been vehemently discussed in the last few decades, especially in the urban context. Today, across the globe, we are experiencing a rise in densely populated urban areas, along with a lack of land resources to provide sufficient housing for the masses. This phenomenon has also resulted in the growth of informal housing units in the cities.

These undesirable conditions in the urban housing scenario have given birth to the idea of Micro Housing; an idea that encourages making innovative use of limited floor space to its maximum potential for the residents. Designers are now coming up with various, inventive solutions to solve the persistent issue of ‘space crunch’ in cities to provide the basic requirement of housing to as many people as possible.

The Challenge
The participants are to design a prototype of a micro-housing unit that reflects the personal needs and culture of the residential community chosen. A suitable aggregation of these micro-housing units should be done in an urban context, mirroring the communal needs of the group of users.
A total of 100 users should be considered for the design. Participants are to choose a site relevant to the topic, in the urban context.
The design has to serve as an upgrade to the standard of living of the users. While being very functional in nature, it should also be aesthetically pleasing.
The built-up area of each residential unit should not exceed 350 sq.ft. and should house up to 4 individuals. The unit should be a prototype, making the optimum use of space, and it needs to
be explained in detail.
The designed units should cater to the individual’s personal needs (rest, bath, cook, and work) and
community requirements (interact). As per their preferance, the participants are free to add more
spaces required in their designs.
The design of the micro-housing residential complex should also provide solutions for circulation such as staircases, passages, etc.


PROCESS

Register
Download the Brief and Register

Design
Create a stunning design for Micro Housing

Submit
Mail your submission by 4th October 2019

Jury
The panel of International jury will evaluate

Awards
Winners will be awarded prize money and trophies

$ 4000 usd total prize

Schedule
Registration:
18 June 2019 Competitions Starts
22 August 2019 Early Registration Ends

22 September 2019
Queries
Deadline
27 September 2019 Regular Registration Ends
04 October 2019 Submission Deadline
27 November 2019 Annoucement of Winners

Registration
Early Registrations 18 Jun - 22 Aug
Participants from India : INR 1800 +18% tax
 Participants from other countries : USD 70 + 18% Tax

Regular Registrations 23 Aug - 27 Sept
Participants from India : INR 2400 + 18% Tax
Participants from other countries :USD 85+ 18%

Further information visit https://vzcompetitions.volzero.com/

Results announced. Click here to view the results