The Kaira Looro international architecture competition, held by humanitarian organisation Balouo Salo, has announced winners for its Children's House competition in Southern Senegal.

Officially launched earlier this year, the objective of this edition was to select a humanitarian architecture aimed at hosting activities to combat child malnutrition in an area of Sub-Saharan Africa and donate the entire proceeds to charity. 

The winning project proposals were selected by a panel of internationally renowned architects and firms, Kengo Kuma, Mario Cucinella Agostino Ghirardelli, Benedetta Tagliabue, Mphethi Morojele.

World Architecture Community is official media partner of the Children’s House competition and is sharing the results of the competition with details below. 

1st prize: Ziyu Guo from China. Image courtesy of Ziyu Guo

While the winner of the 2022 edition is young Ziyu Guo from China, the second prize was won by a team also from China consisting of Shimin Zhou, Wanning Liao, Tianchen Xu, Hanyang Liu and Joseph Ongaco. 

Third place was won by Nattaphon Worawanitchaphong from Thailand. Besides, 2 Honourable Mentions were given, one selected by Kengo Kuma and the other by organisation Balouo Salo, the teams are from China and Poland respectively. The first consists of Xizhou Chen, Chunlei Zhu. Whereas the second consists of Michał Pietrusiewicz. 

The jury has also selected 5 Special Mentions to team projects from Italy, Brazil, Poland and China. The other winning projects were from Turkey, Germany, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Chile, Indonesia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Colombia, Benin, Ivory Coast, the USA and Morocco.

2nd prize: Shimin Zhou, Wanning Liao, Tianchen Xu, Hanyang Liu, Joseph Ongaco from China. Image courtesy of Shimin Zhou, Wanning Liao, Tianchen Xu, Hanyang Liu, Joseph Ongaco

"Adequate child nutrition is the basis for survival and psycho-physical development. Well-nourished individuals can grow properly, learn and participate in social life. However, today, at least one in three children under the age of five suffers from malnutrition in one of its most visible forms," stated in a press release by the Balouo Salo Non-Profit Organisation.

"Globally, about 149 million children under the age of five suffer from stunting, the first visible form of malnutrition. They are too short for their age and their brains are at risk of not developing to their full cognitive potential, thus hindering their ability to learn as children, earn as adults and contribute to community development." 

"Wasting affects 45 million children, who have weakened immune systems and are at risk of death. Finally, almost 39 million children are overweight as a result of changing global food systems," said the organization.

The competition organization stated that in light of these considerations, the 2022 edition of the Kaira Looro international architecture competition was held with the aim of selecting an architectural model of a "Children's House" to be built in Africa.

The proceeds of the competition are entirely donated to tackle the phenomenon of child malnutrition, as well as to raise the international community's awareness of humanitarian issues in developing countries and to support the charity projects promoted by humanitarian organisation Balouo Salo.

3rd prize: Nattaphon Worawanitchaphong from Thailand. Image courtesy of Nattaphon Worawanitchaphong

The competition brief called for entries to design a 250-square-metre space intended to combat child malnutrition through the provision of nutritional material, the development of health and hygiene awareness programmes, the provision of paediatric and social care visits, accommodation for those at risk and the training of community nurses, who will be able to advise families on good prevention and nutrition practices.

"The project area is in southern Senegal where Balouo Salo has been working since 2014 with the implementation of a number of infrastructure projects to facilitate accessibility to drinking water, schooling and to promote sustainability and human rights," stated the organization. 

According to the organization, "this is one of the least developed areas of the country: poverty affects around 90 per cent of the population; sanitary conditions are among the worst nationwide and only 8 per cent of the population has access to purified water; 70 per cent of the population lives in dwellings with no access to electricity." 

These conditions directly affect children. It is estimated that 1 in 3 children is at risk of malnutrition, and the region's child malnutrition and mortality rates are the highest in the country, as the organization emphasized. 

Special Mention: Lorenzo Scansani from Italy, courtesy of Lorenzo Scansani

The Balouo Salo announced 50 winning projects 

The organisation announced the 50 winning projects, which include 1st prize, 2nd prize, 3rd prize, 2 honourable mentions, 5 special mentions, 20 finalists and 20 Top 50.

The winning team will receive a cash prize of €5,000 and an internship at prestigious firm Kengo Kuma & Associates in Tokyo, Japan. 

The runner-up will receive €2,000 and an internship at firm Mario Cucinella Architects in Bologna, Italy. The third place winner will receive €1,000 and an internship at SBGA - Blengini Ghirardelli in Milan, Italy.

"This year's funds will be used to build the winning project and other interventions"

In addition to raising the international community's awareness of emergency issues in developing countries, the competition also aimed to make young architects aware of the responsibilities of designers towards society, while also providing an opportunity for professional growth and international visibility to facilitate their entry into the job market, through the provision of prizes and internships at internationally renowned firms.

In keeping with the event's tradition, this year also the entire proceeds, from registration fees, will be donated to humanitarian organisation Balouo Salo. For example, last year the Balouo Salo built a sustainable well allowing access to drinking water in rural African village. 

The organization also added that this year's funds will be used to build the winning project and other interventions linked to the fight against child malnutrition, such as infrastructures to promote accessibility to drinking water.

The winning architectural project will be studied and analysed in the coming months by Balouo Salo's team of humanitarian specialists in order to be integrated into the broader programme to combat child malnutrition, which includes training, awareness-raising and involvement of local communities and authorities.

This edition achieved exceptional participation with 835 project proposals from all over the world, with the highest participation from: Italy, Poland, China, Mexico, Turkey, Brazil, Taiwan, USA, France, Colombia, India, Japan, Greece as well as almost every other country in the world, totalling 147 teams of different nationalities. 

All the winning projects can be viewed on the competition's official website.

The 2022 jury of the competition composed of: Kengo Kuma (Kengo Kuma & Associates), Mario Cucinella (Mario Cucinella Architects), Agostino Ghirardelli (SBGA | Blengini Ghirardelli), Benedetta Tagliabue & Ana Gallego (EMBT Miralles Tagliabue), Mphethi Morojele (MMA Design Studio), Alice Dietsch (AL_A), Giuseppe Mazzaglia (MVRDV), Sharon Devis (Sharon Davis Design), Ligia Nunes (Architecture Sans Frontières International), Saad El Kabbaj, Driss Kettani and Mohamed Amine Siana and the technical-scientific committee of Balouo Salo & Kaira Looro.

Scroll down to see the 2022 Kaira Looro Competition's "Children's House" with their short project descriptions below: 

Images courtesy of Ziyu Guo

1st prize: Ziyu Guo from China

"Located in Baghere village, south Senegal, the children’s house with its modest stance demonstrates itself as a succinct design, which derives from the idea of forming a balance between openness and enclosure. Facing towards the village in an inviting stance, the design also seeks to establish multiple spatial dialogues of publicity and privacy with defined elements. Three main volumes are extracted from major programs required for the healthcare house, and sheltered by light-weight roof canopy. Base volumes are subsequently divided, stretched, compressed, and morphed. Curved walls speak as a language of duality, reinterpreted from vernacular Senegal traditional architecture languages, they are introduced both to create a dynamic strong gesture of orientation, and to enclose tranquil spaces with intimacy for cared children." Read more.

Images courtesy of Shimin Zhou, Wanning Liao, Tianchen Xu, Hanyang Liu, Joseph Ongaco

2nd prize: Shimin Zhou, Wanning Liao, Tianchen Xu, Hanyang Liu, Joseph Ongaco from China

"Child malnutrition is a worldwide problem impacting the livelihood of families and whole communities. This problem is not limited to acute cases of severe hunger and nutrient deficiency in children; it also manifests in less visual ways, such as improper diet for pregnant mothers, the lack of access to healthy food sources, and more. For the village of Baghere in Senegal, a “children’s house” dedicated to medical treatment for malnutrition can be an effective response. There is no doubt that a space dedicated to hosting resources and activities that address child malnutrition can contribute to the betterment of local communities, but it is another responsibility to properly deliver the knowledge of these resources and preventative practices to the larger community". Read more.

Images courtesy of Nattaphon Worawanitchaphong

3rd prize: Nattaphon Worawanitchaphong from Thailand

"In the south of Senegal, Sedhiou region, there is a small village called Baghere, which is the location of the Children's House project. In such villages, the quality of life is the least developed in the country, contributing to malnutrition among children. When children have no food, they get sick. Their development of physical and mental potential decreases or the heaviest is their death. The issue raised awareness of food security, leading to the objective of growing a Food Environment integrated with architecture, to keep-alive. When children are alive, they will be able to play, run or learn everything in their life. “When there are no foods, there are no humans.” Ancient humans were able to survive hunger, as they initiated to find food sources by the solution of gathering edible wild plants, hunting and developed into agricultural enlightenment, they learned to cultivate crops and raise animals for food production." Read more. 

Honourable Mentions were selected by Kengo Kuma & Balouo Salo

Image courtesy of Xizhou Chen, Chunlei Zhu

Honourable Mention: Xizhou Chen, Chunlei Zhu from China

Image courtesy of Michał Pietrusiewicz

Honourable Mention: Michał Pietrusiewicz from Poland

Special Mentions

Image courtesy of Marco Falcone, Pietro Passera

Special Mention: Marco Falcone, Pietro Passera from Italy

Image courtesy of Ida Hardt from Poland

Special Mention: Ida Hardt from Poland

Image courtesy of Zhiqiang Ma, Linghao Wang, Lijun Zou

Special Mention: Zhiqiang Ma, Linghao Wang, Lijun Zou from China

Image courtesy of Mário Rubem Costa Santana, Rafael Lamary Silva Santos

Special Mention: Mário Rubem Costa Santana, Rafael Lamary Silva Santos from Brazil

Image courtesy of Lorenzo Scansani

Special Mention: Lorenzo Scansani from Italy

Top image: 1st prize: Ziyu Guo from China. Image courtesy of Ziyu Guo.

> via Kaira Looro Competition

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