Design that Educates Awards 2020 – Architectural design

The ‘Design that Educates Awards’ (DtEA) recognize, showcase, and promote globally the best ideas and implementations of architecture and design that can educate. Each year, the esteemed panel of judges selects the outstanding ideas and implementations in the categories of architectural design, product design, universal design, and responsive design.

The theme of the awards has been inspired by the research called ‘Educating Buildings’ (‘Bildende Bauten’) by Dr. Peter Kuczia. Launching of the awards has been possible thanks to collaboration between Laka Foundation and Solarlux GmbH. Source and photo Courtesy of Design that Educates Awards.

• Winner for the year 2020 in architectural design | Copenhill / Amager Bakke by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group

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“The project – also known as ‘Amager Bakke’ – is a waste-to-energy plant with an urban recreation center comprising a lush nature park, ski slope, hiking trail, the world’s tallest climbing wall as well as an environmental education hub. Copenhill is a 41,000 m 2 waste-to-energy plant that turns social infrastructure into an architectural landmark with new nature activities and high biodiversity.

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Due to its location on the industrial waterfront of Amager, where raw industrial facilities have become the site for extreme sports from wakeboarding to go-kart racing, the new power plant adds new nature activities such as skiing, hiking, rock climbing and a lush nature park to thrill seekers’ wish lists (…).”

• Gold Prize in architectural design + Emerging Designers | Guga S’Thebe Theate by Georgia Institute of Technolog

“Focused on sustainability, this self-initiated design + build project was developed alongside the local community to meet their diverse needs for a place to hold theatric productions, concerts, church services, marriages and most importantly festivals with a focus on impacting the younger members of the community; in the aim of preparing and nourishing the community for the future (…).

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The construction techniques used for the theatre were designed by and for unskilled laborers, consequently they can be easily passed on and implemented in the local architecture, already making use of the same material palate. The completion of the project serves the community both functionally and didactically.”

• Silver Prize in architectural design | Book House by Shulin Architectural Design

“The book house is located in an ancient village in Wuyi and was developed by a local tourism real estate company as a part of the development and construction. Before the development, only a few elderly residents lived in this empty village. It was hoped that this book house could change the situation by bringing more visitors to it.

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The first floor is built on stilts to leave space for the villagers to rest, drink tea and chat. The second floor is also open for reading. It is hoped that more young people will return to the village and manage the bookstore, and attract more travelers, tourists, and families to bring their children to the village. As an icon for culture, the book house also invites people in and brings vigor and value to the old village.“

• Bronze Prize in architectural design | Ecohouse V01 by MAEB Students

“The Ecohouse V01 Prototype showcases many inclusive, innovative, environmentally aware and self-sufficient solutions, including: an integrative design synthesizing inputs from the diverse building cultures of the international student body; a fully traceable primary structure fabricated of 0km pine harvested from the Valldaura forest; translation of a low-tech, universal shingling system into a morphologically responsive, materially optimized envelope using advanced computation and fabricated of 0km oak harvested from the Valldaura forest.

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Furthermore entirely off-grid metabolic utilities comprising 4 photovoltaic panels with a combined capacity of 1200 watts for electrical needs; a water system which captures rain in a 10,000 liter internal storage tank and re-uses grey-water to irrigate a small garden; and a toilet that obviates any septic installations by diverting liquid waste for percolation and composting solid waste with a cultivated biome of microorganisms and worms (…).”

• Special recognition in architectural design | Experimenta Heilbronn by Sauerbruch Hutton

“This emblematic building stands at the centre of Heilbronn, on an island in the River Neckar, near the area where the Bundesgartenschau 2019 took place. It is conceived as a helical sequence of spaces offering an experience that is finely choreographed between the interior of the building and the surrounding landscape (…). The Experimenta building is like a spatial tool for learning and understanding, whose architecture underlines the educational purpose of the science centre.

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The building itself functions as an illustrative object that demonstrates the overcoming of gravity, the reaction to sun and light, the protection against weather, heat and cold and finally the architectural space and its relationship to human scale. In its interior and exterior appearance, it reflects an experimental approach to space and construction. It stimulates scientific curiosity by directing the view out into the distance, while at the same time focusing the gaze inwards, right down to the microscopic scale.”

• Special recognition in architectural design | Ahsa Farmstay by Creative Crews Ltd.

“This project allowed the architect to examine Architecture as the relationship between buildings and culture. In Chiang Rai, similarly to other rural places in the country, vernacular building techniques are not passed down from generations to generations. This lack of familiarity coupled with the changing socio-cultural landscape has eroded the relationship between traditional buildings and the people living in them.

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Vernacular houses are either inadequately adapted with ‘modern extensions’ or dismantled and sold as reclaimed timber, in parts spurred on by other poorly adapted buildings (…). The project is highly specific to its surrounding context of time, culture and place. The Ahsa Farmstay project carefully considers sustainable tourism as a catalyst for cultural and knowledge exchanges, which benefits both tourists and locals, as well as positively impact the surrounding community.”

• Special recognition in architectural design | CIS by C.F. Møller Architects

“Solar-powered School Of The Future: CIS Nordhavn is a new school building for the Copenhagen International School, located on a prominent site in Copenhagen’s new Nordhavn district. The 25,000 m2 school build-ing is Copenhagen’s largest school, and accommodates 1,200 students and 280 employees.

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The modern educational architecture is designed to link the school premises with the public sphere in the urban environment, and give the school an open ambience. The promenade outside the school will become an urban port-side space providing opportunities for relaxation and various activities. The main school building is subdivided into four smaller “towers”, ranging from five to seven storeys, each specially adapted to meet the needs of children at different stages of development (…).”