Mud House Design 2014 Competition

Reinventing the African Mud Hut Together

Nka Foundation invites entries for Mud House Design 2014, an international architecture competition open to recent graduates and students of architecture, design and others from around the world who think earth architecture can be beautiful. The challenge is to design a single-family unit of about 30 x 40 feet (approximately 10 x 12 metres) to be built by maximum use of earth and local labor in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

This is the design problem: In Ghana, as in other countries in West Africa, stereotypes about buildings made of earth persist because of poor construction. From the cities to the low-income villages, use of concrete – despite its dependence on imported resources – is considered indispensable for building. Yet an excellent, cheap and local alternative called laterite, red earth, is available everywhere in Ghana. The long-term goal is to enable the Ghanaian population and lots of other places, to overcome the stigma that mud architecture is architecture for the very poor.

Nka Foundation Announces Jury Members for MUD HOUSE DESIGN 2014 competition for Ghana. The jury consists of pre-selection jurors and grand jurors. The Pre-Selection Jury will review all design entries and select the overall Top 20 Designs and presented them to the Grand Jury, who will then select the winning designs. The Jury session runs from September 15 – September 30, 2014. Those interested in participating in the competition can still register on https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mud-house-design-competition-tickets-10697036123 till August 15, 2014.

IMPORTANT DATES
Registration Deadline August 15, 2014
Submissions April 30-August 31, 2014
Press release on the winning projects, October 5, 2014
Design-build workshops to realize two of the winning designs, November 2014-July 2015
A traveling exhibition of all of the works received (schedule to be announced).

Registration and submission of entries runs from March 15, 2014 until August 31, 2014. To register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mud-house-design-competition-tickets-10697036123 and submit your design entry via mudhousedesign@mail.com For additional information see the press release: http://www.prlog.org/12288229 and the Competition website: http://www.nkafoundation.org/competitions.html.