Once again, the Emerging Architects Committee of the Washington, D.C. chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA l DC) has chosen the most innovative and socially relevant designs submitted to the second annual RE-Form Competition.
The competition, sponsored by Price Modern, was for designers of a variety of disciplines. The goal this year was to design “an innovative skin” that could be any size and shape as well as serve any function.
Below, see who the winners were of this year’s competition, or head this way to see last year’s winners.
Grand Prize: Integral Envelope/Fog Harvesting Unit
The designer of this all around awesome submission was Javier Camayd. As the grand prize winner, he will receive a $1,000 cash prize courtesy of Price Modern as well as a Verve Chair by Stylex, courtesy of Barbara Nolan.
This goal of this project is to overcome the dependence on precipitation for survival. The project is a permeable modular building that senses the humidity in the environment and functions as a dew harvesting unit.
The way this design is composed is with an aluminum grid structure that is attached by screws at the intersections. When dew is capable of being formed, the pneumatic piston opens the scales of the building in order to allow the wind and sunlight to pass through the hydrophilic mesh inside. Thereafter, the water is distributed throughout the building.
Second Place: High Rise Projection Screen
After winning second place, the designer of the screen, Chad Harris, will receive a $250 gift card donated by Barbara Nolan and a Broom Chair by Emeco, courtesy of Diane Tupper.
Harris designed the High Rise Projection Screen to “embrace [the] chaos” that often arises in the modern day urban environment. This “chaos” is defined in the project description as “a system of haphazard typologies and adjacent, scattered and covered with advertising and signage.” This screen is capable of generating energy, allowing for easy access for maintenance and cleaning, and becoming a media surface at night, while still allowing occupants inside the building to see out during the day.
The skin is composed of an adjustable aluminum support arm and a series of four glass panels between each support arm. The glass panels facing the sky have printed photovoltaics printed between the glass layers, which captures solar power and generates electricity for the building and skin. The panels that are faced towards the street are electrochromic glass, or smart glass.
Third Place: Echo Web
Ryan Pieper was the mastermind behind this winning design. As the third place winner, he will receive a Clydia Chair courtesy of OPS Group.
The purpose of this design is to solve the issue that modern offices can bring, which include a loss of privacy and increase in noise pollution. The Echo Web is a programmable paneling system that reduces acoustic glare and provides custom wall partitions. It can be used as a stand alone unit or connected to additional panels, walls, or even ceilings.
These panels are manufactured with a quarter-inch-thick PET felt, which is described in the product description as “a non-woven material that is comprised primarily of recycled plastic bottles.”