24H, a competition branch of ideasforward, has announced winners for its themed-based international competition, titled "lightshadow" in its 32nd edition.

The jury panel, composed of Mario Chaves, Joanna Helm, Arne Myklestad, Rui Oliveira, Benedikt Reduziert, selected 3 winners from Italy, Germany and Romania. The competition also selected 7 Honorable Mentions.

The program of the competition asked participants to produce solutions combining producing shadow and energy at the same time under the theme of "urban shadows batteries".

From a mechanical point of view, the competition wanted integrated solutions for cities that are energy-enhancing for their needs, so that they become increasingly self-sustaining. On the other hand, the competition wanted these solutions to be directly linked to the human side, enhancing quality urban spaces for families. 

"Is it possible to produce shadow and energy at the same time?," asked the competition. 

There was no specific program or area given to the competitors. They were free to choose an urban context to design it. 

"In the competition with the theme "Urban shadows batteries", the great challenge was to evaluate meticulously the more than 80 proposals submitted, many of them inspired by well-known projects that respond to the theme of the contest, but without major innovations. Another large portion of the proposals opted for unviable or playful execution solutions. One of the proposals was actually interesting because of its “manifest” character, which is also a way of questioning the search for innovative solutions with limited economic viability, demonstrating that we have all the elements to produce improvements in the quality of our cities in terms of producing shadow and energy. Many ideas of simple implementation that could certainly have a great impact on the quality of life of city users," said Joanna Helm, competition jury. 

"Interesting questions, and fascinating as well as terrifying that so many tries to solve these challenges through dystopian concepts and biodomes. Let’s hope we can achieve a more self-sustainable urbanism through planting trees, collecting rainwater and harvesting sunlight on a smaller scale before we start incapsulating the whole globe," said Arne Myklestad, competition jury. 

"This contest brought us one of the big questions of today, that is, how we can minimize environmental problems and how we can use technology rationally for the benefit of a healthy life," said Rui Oliveira, competition jury.  

See the full winners with jury comments below:

1st prize: Mohammad Sadegh Kaveh, Camilla Vespa from Milan, Italy

Jury comments:

"The channeled fluidity that crosses the city, constituting a rich and exuberant artery, is a consistent idea of joining a greenhouse, protection to the elements, the ability to collect energy, feeding the great oxygen producers and carbon collectors" - Mário Chaves, arch.

"Sometimes the most creative answer is the simple solution, and planting trees is the answer that is staring us in the face. What is a natural, cost-efficient, democratic and feasible way to create shadow and convert sunlight into clean air, fresh soil and bio diversity? Trees! The solar panels could create extra energy, and affect micro climates in the future. Can be implemented in existing cities and expand with need" - Arne Myklestad, arch.

"This is the proof that simple solutions are the smartest to achieve excellent sustainability results. The environments provided answer many questions and prove to be the most suitable for human beings" - Rui Oliveira, arch.

"The winning project presents a simple solution that harmoniously unifies nature and technological elements, in response to the thematic proposal of the competition. A concise and creative concept of sustainability with easy execution and adaptability to any urban context. Consisting of a series of routes that extend and connect different areas of the cities where they could be implemented. The presentation objectively explains the proposed solutions in a subtle and delicate way" - Joanna Helm, arch.

2nd prize: Reela Nentwich, Niklas Fissel, David Petsch from Berlin, Germany

Jury comments:

"In the face of the global warming storm, the ability to create recreational and protective clouds, fostering micro climates and the ability to adjust to needs, and on the condition of feeding on recyclable and alternative energy, calls for very intense urban comfort" - Mário Chaves, arch.

"The idea presented has an innovative and original design, with rational use of technology, and formally not aggressive to the urban context. The concept is quite bold and efficient. Probably your greatest difficulty would be in the feasibility of execution and implementation. The well-prepared presentation clearly exemplifies that the proposal could be inserted imperceptibly in the urban context. The sustainability of the project itself is its biggest challenge" - Joanna Helm, arch.

"The proposal suggests an artificial angle to a natural solution that might be highly attractive in an urban environment. It’s got a strong conceptual quality, though similar designs has been proposed and tested before" - Arne Myklestad, arch.

"This proposal leads us to an idea that today seems distant to us, but which may be closer than it seems. What better sense could it have, if we could use technology to our advantage?" - Rui Oliveira, arch. 

3rd prize: Andreea Matei – Bota, Bianca Elena Buga, Carmen Maria Teodorescu from Bucuresti, Romania

Jury comments:

"The tree is the great natural friend of civilization; the canopy protects, anchors in the earth, they are fixed in solidarity in the cities, static and immobile, waiting for the love of the citizens. therefore, trees will be a qualified commitment and of solidarity value, for urban, conditioned and saturated environments. the trees, these, will qualify the urban elements and the citizens" - Mário Chaves, arch.

"Technology only makes sense if it is for human benefit, taking advantage of everything that nature offers us. In this concept of urban park, we can appreciate the mechanics taken from nature and applied to architectural equipment" - Rui Oliveira, arch.

"The proposal mimics a natural process, and is a feasible solution done in a quite rational way. It still lacks a bit of originality, and is presented on an urban square rather than being tested in a dense, urban environment where it might not work as well" - Arne Myklestad, arch.

"The design of the proposal is a type of evolution or rereading of similar existing solutions, but with good acceptance on the part of users when introduced in urban contexts. The project's viability is proven to be effective and the proposed elements present a pleasant disposition in their implementation and contemplate the needs related to sustainability. The presentation of the project was very well prepared and discusses the proposed solutions in a clear and objective way" - Joanna Helm, arch.

Honorable Mention: Andrés Arias, Medellín from Colombia

Honorable Mention: Alexander Mavlenkin, Pavel Moiseev, Evgenii Zimin, Pavel Korolev, Victoria Daue from Moscow, Russian Federation

Honorable Mention: Sina Shafieyari, Peyvand Taheri from Milan, Italy

Honorable Mention: Christopher Ayumu Nakahara, Sebastian Gilberg from Aachen, Germany

Honorable Mention: Matias Gabriel Luquet, Bernardo Lino Leithold, Marcos Manuel Álvarez, Pedro Ignacio De la Vega from Córdoba, Argentina

Honorable Mention: Niken Wulandari Sutanto, Sze Yin Sherri Goh, Shosaku Takahashi from Singapore 

Honorable Mention: Tania Mardaloescu from București, Romania

All images courtesy of 24H

See WAC's architecture competitions on Competitions page. 

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