The Balouo Salo No Profit Organization has launched the new edition of the Kaira Looro Competition 2020, which aims to design Emergency Operations Center for the resolution of humanitarian emergencies in Africa.

Kaira Looro Competition is an international architecture competition with the aim of raising awareness among the international community of architectures for emergencies in developing countries. 

Registrations are open to competition and early registrations will continue until February 15, 2020. Participants are expected to register to the competition latest on March 31st, 2020.

World Architecture Community is official Media Partner of the competition and will share the results when is announced by the competition. You can reach the previous versions of the competition here. 

First prize winner for Peace Pavilion 2019: Changze Cai from China

Brief

Emergencies strike suddenly and without warning. They level cities to the ground and tear down buildings as though they were made of sand. In almost no time at all everything is destroyed and all that remains is the realisation that you have to get up and start all over again from scratch.

In recent years the occurrence of deluges and flooding have increased dramatically. Analogously, conflicts and financial crises persist and lead to the development of serious humanitarian emergencies which put the lives of millions of people at risk.

Resolving an emergency of any kind means re-establishing peace and security. The crisis must be dealt with in a timely and coordinated manner that includes reception, sensibility, and awareness. What the competion is looking for, therefore, is the design of a structure that will house an EOC (Emergency Operations Center) and that can help to facilitate the humanitarian operations of international organisations, allowing them to act with the utmost efficiency. The EOC structure is intended to be a model which supports the countless humanitarian initiatives that international organisations implement in an effort to create a better world.

Kaira Looro Competition is an international architecture competition with the aim of raising awareness among the international community of architectures for emergencies in developing countries. The object of the 2020’s competition is to design an operational centre for the management of humanitarian emergencies in Sub-Saharan Africa. The structure is intended to house and facilitate all of the most important initiatives which international organisations and local authorities must implement in order to deal with emergencies and provide aid to affected communities. 

The spaces must be versatile and multifunctional, capable of adapting to specific needs and to the type and context of the emergency. The structure must be designed as a temporary or semi-permanent structure, eventually capable of being dismantled and reassembled if need be, in order to manage the logistics of the emergency as well as possible, whether on a small or large scale.

The competition is organized by the Balouo Salo No Profit Organization, engaged in Africa to develops humanitarian projects, with the collaboration of structures of international importance. The participation is opened to architects, designers, engineers and students from all the world. It’s possible participate in a team or individually, with at least the presence of one member under 35 in the team. 

Jury panel for the Kaira Looro Competition 2020

Jury

The proposals will be evaluated by a international jury made up by: Kengo Kuma (Kengo Kuma & Associates), Agostino Ghirardelli (SBGA), Lígia Nunes (Architecture Sans Frontières International), Mphethi Morojele (MMA Design Studio), Walter Baricchi (CNAPPC), Philippa Nyakato Tumubweinee (University of Cape Town), Mantey Jectey-Nyarko (Kwame Nkrumah University).

Prizes

There will be project awarded for the 1st , 2nd and 3rd place, honorable mentions, 5 mentions and 20 finalists. The winning project will receive a cash prize (€5000) and an internship at the prestigious Kengo Kuma & Associates in Tokyo, Japan. 

The second and third team will receive respectively cash prize and an internship at the SBGA in Milan, Italy, and Mopheti Morojele Design in Johannesburg, South Africa. All the awarded projects will also be published in the official book.

Objective of the competition 

The objective of the competition is the creation of an architectural model 500 metres squares that can facilitate the interventions of international organisations during humanitarian emergencies in Sub- Saharan Africa, and to sensitise the international community to the role which architecture plays in development and in emergency resolution.

The competition is organized also to support the humanitarian activities of the Balouo Salo non-profit organization, to which the entire proceeds will be donated.

Registrations

Opening “early” registrations: 24/01/2020
Closing “early” registrations: 15/02/2020 (h 23.59 GMT) 60€/Team

Opening “normal” registrations: 16/02/2020
Closing “normal” registrations: 7/03/2020 (h 23.59 GMT) 80€/Team

Opening “late” registrations: 8/03/2020
Closing “late” registrations: 31/03/2020 (h 23.59 GMT) 100€/Team

Deadline for replying to FAQ: 10/04/2019 

Submission deadline: 27/04/2020 (h 23.59 GMT) 

Jury summoning: 3-9/05/2020

Results announcement: 16/05/2020

Download competition rules and studying materials from the competition's website. 

All images courtesy of Kaira Looro Competition

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