基里巴斯漂浮房子竞赛 | KIRIBATI FLOATING HOUSES

“The islands are ants and industrialized nations are elephants”.

This is how Teburoro Tito described unequal country contributions to climate change. This is what Kiribati is: a handful of atolls lying on the huge womb of the Pacific Ocean. It is an ant that has been paying the cost of elephants for too long. Distant and unaware pachyderms have hurled against it the bulimia of a ferocious, corrupted and swollen sea due to the ice melting.

Kiribati’s elderly people look at this sea with bewilderment. They are hurt by the incomprehensible betrayal of what they used to consider a loyal friend, even more loyal than the Earth. Today they show threadbare photographs of their island when the ocean used to be faraway from the houses. Differently, now clouds gather at the horizon, lead grey clusters rise and rumble at sunset. This is when the water and salt monster seems to shake off lethargy. This is when the ocean rises to claim the shores of the island.

Another coastal storm passes and leaves a trail of flooded plantations, destroyed houses and poisoned wells behind it. Kiribati is still Kiribati. However, it is a little more faded, a little thinner.

Yet, resignation does not belong to these atolls. Surrender does not suit navigators’ descendants. In fact, in Kiribati there is one single word to define “people” and “nation”. Here, these two concepts blend together. There is no Kiribati without its population. There are no natives without their island. 

Fleeing is not an option. Leaving is not the solution. This is why Kiribati Floating Houses is needed.

Kiribati Floating Houses is the competition aiming to give a future to the populations of Kiribati. Cantiere delle Marche promoted such initiative to design a resilient Kiribati. Its purpose it to create a new dwelling model in order to globally tackle the challenges of the rise in ocean levels and climate change.   

The competition regards one the last most fragile paradises of our planet. It will provide architects an additional opportunity: redeeming the civilized world. Today, the dark eyes of the inhabitants of Kiribati look at the rest of the world with mistrust. However, the elephants that have instigated the sea can also stop it because hope has not abandoned Kiribati. Tides have not washed away the natives’ love of their island.

Kiribati is not destined to disappear and Yac thanks all the architects who will believe in this challenge.

Knowledge and scientific realism are needed. In all likelihood, the Kiribati of the future will not be the Kiribati of the present. Large areas of the island will be covered in water, vegetation will decrease, living conditions will be more complex and precarious but not impossible. Architects will have to imagine life in an extreme context with limited resources. Yet, this place will still be joyous and splendid. Kiribati Floating Houses invites architects to continue to imagine Kiribati as a paradise. The new Kiribati will not be an artificial obstinacy made of innovative and yet unrealizable technologies. It will rather be a skillful integration of nature- remaining and transformed nature with the human intervention. The competition will award projects that propose feasible solutions and real technologies able to guarantee a life bursting with beauty and passions. Consequently, the new Kiribati will be the paradigm of a new life transformed by the vicissitudes of time but, if possible, stronger and happier than before. This is because change is part of human history. Each crisis has always brought along the germ of a new model of equilibrium and prosperity. Only with this awareness, architects will be able to create a virtuous solution to be replicated in all the areas of the planet that suffer like Kiribati. Indeed, the world- the post-climate change world- urgently needs creative solutions. In this respect, architecture will have to play a crucial role. As far as this issue is concerned, the current most feasible solution for Kiribati Floating Houses is the creation of a combinable and replicable housing model according to Kiribati's settlement typology (villages composed by family aggregations). Therefore, when designing the housing model architects will have to include the following elements.

1. Domestic space: consistently with the current trends, the houses will have to be the basic cell of the new village. They will have to be large dwellings in order to accommodate entire family units (min. 16 people). Moreover, they will have to meet the main needs of life in Kiribati. They can either be movable or anchored to the ground. Such houses will have to overlook the beauty of the ocean when it is benevolent. However, when the sea covers the island with its salty waters, they will have to be solid and impenetrable. They will be simple places where to live and gather. All the dwellings will be connected to each other. Moreover, they will have to meet the water collection/extraction and energy needs of the island (as better explained in the chapter "site"). Likewise, they will meet the natural communication and connection needs of the population.

2. Vegetable garden: some areas of the houses will have to be dedicated to the cultivation of plants to provide inhabitants with a diversified diet. Such spaces will have to be protected from salt water and be supplied with a proper amount of fresh water. Vegetable gardens can either be part of the basic housing model or be situated in an independent module next to the domestic space. They can also be located in specific areas of the island and protected with suitable barriers.

3. Shelter for animals: as people, animals will have to find their safe place in the new Kiribati. In fact, they are essential to the life and the sustenance of the island. For this reason, some areas of the village will have to shelter domestic and farmed animals. They can be inte- grated into the houses, situated in independent modules or located in parts of the island that are somehow protected by structures.

4. Collective spaces: the inhabitants of Kiribati consider themselves a people. This is why they have a common vision of their spirituality, family and tradition. Consequently, the village will have to include collective spaces able to accommodate at least 100 people. Such spaces can be designed by combining individual housing models or by creating independent elements.

5. Pools for fish farming: as vegetable gardens and roosts, some areas of the new village will have to be dedicated to fish farming. Fish is essential for the indigenous diet and increasingly difficult to find due to the population growth and the warming up of waters

28/10/2019    "early bird" registration – start

24/11/2019    (h 11.59 pm GMT) "early bird" registration – end

25/11/2019    "standard" registration – start

22/12/2019    (h 11.59 pm GMT) "standard" registration – end

23/12/2019    "late" registration – start

19/01/2020    (h 11.59 pm GMT) "late" registration – end

22/01/2020    (h 12.00 pm – midday - GMT) material submission deadline

27/01/2020    jury summoning

02/03/2020    results announcement

Fulfilling an "early bird", "standard" or "late" registration does not affect the submission deadline, which is uniquely set on 22/01/2020.

1° PRIZE    8.000 €
2° PRIZE    4.000 €
3° PRIZE    2.000 €

HONORABLE MENTIONS "GOLD"    500 €
10 HONORABLE MENTIONS

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 www.youngarchitectscompetitions.com

Prize note:
Some of the projects will be selected for a monographic exhibition that will take place in the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Vita in Bologna. Moreover, some projects will be selected for an exhibition about exploring oceans that National Geographic will hold at Palazzo Blu in Pisa.

The whole procedure is computerized:
• open: www.youngarchitectscompetitions.com;

• enter registration area;

• fill required fields;

• at the end of the procedure the first member of the team will be notified with a validation mail containing the team ID number ("teamID" is a randomly and automatically assigned number); if no mail arrives check the "spam" folder;

• a username, a password and a link will be received; open the link to confirm the preregistration;

• once the pre-registration confirmed, enter personal area and fulfill fee payment;

• once pre-registration and fee payment are fulfilled, uploading will be enabled;

• open personal area, insert username & password; upload the materials; the first member of the team will be notified with a validation mail; if no mail arrives check the "spam" folder.

It is highly recommended to be early on deadlines with subscriptions and payments.

Kengo Kuma

KENGO KUMA & ASSOCIATES

Moon Hoon

Cristiana Favretto

Vasco Buonpensiere

Teuea Tebau

MISE

Simon Frommenwiler

Rocco Yim

Walter Mariotti

Marco Imperadori

Marco Cattaneo

https://www.youngarchitectscompetitions.com/competition/kiribati-floating-houses

yac@yac-ltd.com

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