23/01/2024
Phenomenal victory of KSUAE architecture students in Japan
For half a century, Nisshin Kogyo has been holding one of the most famous paper architecture competitions! In this anniversary 50th cycle, two projects of KSUAE architecture students, completed were highlighted by members of the jury: Maria Svetovidova became the winner of the competition and Valeria Burkova received an honorable mention!
The competition, with a prize fund of more than 1.5 million rubles, annually offers a new topic for competitors and collects several hundred works of professional architects from all over the world! For example, this year there were about 400 of them! Award-winning works are also published in Shinkenchiku magazine.
Nisshin Kogyo is a manufacturer of waterproof materials, casings for the construction and industrial markets. The theme of the year (task) is usually formulated by a jury - famous architects in Japan and around the world. Ryue Nishizawa, co-founder of SANAA, winner of the 2010 Pritzker Prize, head of his own practice, is the main member of the competition jury. He formulated this year's theme, “House with a Big Roof,” which asked contestants to think about communities that live together, the idea of a home, and the practical, philosophical, and artistic idea of a roof in architecture.
The competition is often called a “paper” competition, as it examines concepts for the future of architecture. Graphics and ways of presenting ideas are also important. On the one hand, a simple, but on the other hand, philosophical theme, as well as an emphasis on exceptional graphics, certainly became an interesting task for the studio.
In total, under the guidance of KSUAE teacher Ilnar Akhtyamov, students of different years of study completed 19 projects, which were sent by mail to Japan. Among the winners, as a rule, the majority are local, Japanese architects, so the main victory of an architect from another country becomes even more valuable!
At the award ceremony, Ryue Nishizawa said that the idea for the assignment came from the company’s profile, since they make insulating materials, which, in a broad sense, is a roof (considering that modern architecture often has almost no walls).
At the invitation of the organizers, the winner of the competition, KSUAE student Maria Svetovidova, came to Japan for the award ceremony and shared her impressions: “The organizers of the competition hold an awards ceremony every year and invite all the winners. I made the decision to go to the award ceremony almost immediately - such a unique opportunity to visit Japan could not be missed, and the rather generous prize made it possible to do so. The awards ceremony took place in Tokyo, and the entire jury, Nisshin Kogyo executives, and almost all the winners were present.
After the official part, there was a question and answer session, communication between the jury and the participants. The main part was held in Japanese, and the organizers provided me with a translator who translated the official speeches and then helped in the conversations. It’s interesting that the jury said that it was difficult for them to present my idea in Japan, most likely due to the landscape, which is more typical of central Russia. When I was working on the drawing and during discussions in the studio, we mainly looked at the features of modern Japanese architecture, its boldness and experimentation, and natural plasticity as well.
Akihisa Hirata, one of the jury members, an architect and professor at Kyoto University, shared that during the first analysis of the works, not all the jury noticed in my project the section of the building at the bottom of the sheet and saw only the landscape. When he drew their attention to the cut, everyone “believed” the idea and the natural landscape turned into a “roof”. The jury praised the light watercolor graphics, the execution and the idea of introducing architecture into nature so that the boundaries between them are erased!”
The News is submitted by International Relations Dept of the University.
