YAC - Young Architects Competitions and Manni Group have launched Ghana Innovation Farm, the third edition of the Manni Group  Design Award aiming to design a hub where a system of infrastructures and a training center will share with the local population knowledge and technologies to meet their needs.

The competition is in collaboration with BASF, Renolit, ROCKWOOL as sponsors and under the patronage of SACE, GCCA, InspiraFarms, IFRIA and Fondazione Patrimonio Acciaio. 

The cash prize of €20,000 will be distributed to the winning proposals selected by an international jury panel composed of some of the most world-renowned architects: Mariam Kamara (Atelier Masomi), Andreas Fries (Herzog & de Meuron), Eduardo Souto de Moura, Diana Lopez Caramazana (UNDP), Giancarlo Mazzanti (El Equipo Mazzanti), Raul Pantaleo (TAMassociati), Giuseppe Grant (Orizzontale Architettura).

Brief

Some paradoxes are particularly painful. 

There is much talk of space race, rapid and relentless consumption of resources. Many people have too much, far beyond what is necessary. Yet, in numerous places of the world, people are still suffering from hunger.    

There are no simple solutions to the gaps that have always affected human society. Still, what is certain is that often poverty is not caused by insufficient natural resources. 

One third of the population of the Global South practices agriculture in contexts that are highly suited to such activity. Yet, despite a favorable climate and right soil conditions, it is precisely these peoples that obtain less value from the agri-food supply chain. This is because often the main causes of vulnerability are not natural but infrastructural. 

In order to guarantee sufficient nutriment, both production aspects and the possibility to preserve food or food resources play a crucial role. 

The cold chain is one of the core issues of the global nutrition challenge. InspiraFarms is well aware of that. For more than 10 years, it has been at the forefront in promoting technological development and dissemination together with the construction of facilities able to stabilize and preserve food produced in emerging countries. 

Consistently with the United Nations goals, in one of the emerging African agricultural scenarios, InspiraFarms is about to build a technological and cultural hub to address the global challenges of food supply chains. It will generate a greater availability of products and job opportunities in a place where more than 25% of the local population live below the poverty line.   

In this hub, a system of infrastructures and a training center will share with the local population knowledge and technologies to meet their needs. This will be achieved by developing strategies to make their activities more competitive and seeking new ways to create jobs and opportunities especially for young women and segments of the population facing higher risks. 

This is the goal of Ghana Innovation Farm It is the third edition of the Manni Group  Design Award, which is InspiraFarms’ ally for the creation of a beacon of culture and innovation. It shall become a reference for the local community providing resources, knowledge, and solutions able to meet the most basic of human rights: access to food. 

Jury

Mariam Kamara (Atelier Masomi)

Andreas Fries (Herzog & de Meuron)

Eduardo Souto de Moura

Diana Lopez Caramazana (UNDP)

Giancarlo Mazzanti (El Equipo Mazzanti)

Raul Pantaleo (TAMassociati)

Giuseppe Grant (Orizzontale Architettura)

Enrico Frizzera (Manni Group)

Matthew Ott (GCCA)

Lorenzo Bottinelli (BASF)

Michele Bruni (InspiraFarms)

Manuel C. Kabana (IFRIA)

Prizes

1st  PRIZE 10.000€  

2nd PRIZE 4.000€

3rd PRIZE  2.000€

2 GOLD MENTIONS  1.000€  each

10 HONORABLE MENTIONS 

30 FINALISTS

Registration calendar

“early birds” registrations: 18/10/2021 - 21/11/2021, h 23.59 GMT

“standard” registrations: 22/11/2021 - 19/12/2021, h 23.59 GMT

“late” registrations: 20/12/2021 - 16/01/2022, h 23.59 GMT

Materials submission deadline: 19/01/2022, h 12.00 GMT (noon)

More information about the rules, eligibility, fees and the brief at YAC's website.

Contact: [email protected]. 

All images courtesy of YAC. 

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