ArcAce announces Bowen Island Community competition’s first five winners.
“Integrated within such a beautiful virgin green Island with small scale architecture, cottage style houses, was a very challenging mission. We are happy to receive such creative ideas for such a design mission.
We took a long time looking at and discussing all the submissions to see the best fit for the island and the competition’s criteria.
Shivam and Akhil showed high sensitivity in feeling the natural context by using natural materials (wood) with high transparency and a surrounding pond to frame the buildings. Also we were impressed by the idea of splitting the hub into smaller buildings covered with pitched roofs which made the hub blend smartly into the current architectural context.
Each of these designs impressed us by bringing a different idea that fits beautifully in the competition and the island context. Congratulations for such creative design ideas and talent.”
– Amal Wasfi (ArcAce Founder)
- The winner of the first place prize: Shivam Arya, and Akhil Zacharia are final year, and 3rd year undergraduates respectively, pursuing their Bachelors in Architecture from BIT Mesra in India. This team will receive a $250 prize.
“NAUTRA , residing in serene and calm island of Canada- Bowen island takes inspiration from the nature in its core design form. A design metaphorically representing the soul of Bowen island through it’s design and overall ambience. Surrounded by the peripheral water body the community center sits atop, imitating the essence of Bowen island in design. Not only this, the design form pays homage to five elements of Nature namely as : Earth, Fire, Space, Wind and the most significant one : water merging all the four elements and blocks as one”
– Shivam and Akhil
Along with architecture, Shivam has a keen interest in sketching, photography, and music. Akhil, is a 3rd-year student, loves pushing his design boundaries.
2. The winner of second place prize: Himadri Bhushan Deva Raya and Adrija Pramanik, Architecture Students from Amity School of Architecture and Planning Kolkata, India
“Bowen being a wonderful island with rich flora and fauna in nature’s lap, our concept evolved around responding contextually and coming up with structures blending with the surrounding mountains giving rise to various activities enhancing connection & belongingness of people towards the hub.” – Himadri and Andrija
Himadri is an ambitious student, who loves to explore and experience architecture at every possible moment of his life. Architectural competitions keeps him passionate and teaches him to shape the future of any piece of land, building confidence to experiment and imagine the scope of Architecture.
Andrija is also an ambitious student who enjoys depicting his thoughts and perception through architecture and design. Design competitions stirs his imaginative skills and motivates him to grow as a budding architect. Architecture for him is about experiencing limitless creativity.
3. The winners of the third place prize: Somnath Mukherjee and Xuanxu Chen from Arkansas, USA. Somnath is a graduate of Masters of Architecture from Kansas State University, and Xuanxu is a Canadian who has an interior design background from St. Clair College, Canada and University of Arkansas, USA.
“The Bowen Island community center is that home for the residents of Bowen Island which will formally and philosophically extend out into the community, welcoming visitors of all ages and backgrounds to celebrate and experience art and culture in all forms. Crafted of wood, high-performance glazing, and minimalistic material the building will have a timeless appearance and extraordinary performance in the northern climate.
Our idea is to utilize the advantage of the site and create spaces to be used per users’ needs and be flexible per events. The design is to blend the nature and the vernacular culture to produce a welcoming and well functioned “Bowen Island Community Hub”. – Somnath and Xuanxu
Somnath Mukherjee and Xuanxu Chen are colleagues in an architecture firm located in Rogers, Arkansas USA, both of them are interested in learning and researching potential solutions for civil projects.
4. Honourable Mention: Elina Akhmadishina, Student at Kazan University of Architecture and Engineering. Kazan, Russia.
“Initially, the concept was to create a building shape that “merges” with the landscape of the area, with architecture that is consonant with the local one. In connection with these two factors, this project was developed. All the blocks of the building communicate with each other and form a single system with the courtyard, which is the core of this structure.” – Elina
5. Honourable Mention: Matthew Bohne and Lucy Siyao Liu. New York, USA.
“The building celebrates the vital interconnected systems of an island: material, human, animal, and plant inhibition by using local, durable, and resilient materials, technologies for energy efficiency, and native plantings. Set atop a hill, the center provides unique views of the island – from the harbor to the sky. From the street, the building appears as a large home set amongst wild flowers and pine trees.” – Lucy and Matthew.
We thank everyone for their hard work and participation in the Bowen Island Community competition. They are a source of inspiration!
You can find the winners’ announcement here too:
https://www.archidiaries.com/arcace-winners-awards-bowen-island-community/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CTUSYJvoz1_/
