Studio Bleak has announced its winners for the Climate of Dissent - Protest Design Challenge competition, which asked architects to design like activists. The competition began as a response to the immense issue of global warming, with a charge that architecture must do more to address this crisis. 

Drawing inspiration from political and cultural dissent unfolding in our country and around the world, the competition sought to blend architectural design with action design, encouraging architectural thinkers to use their unique spatial and organizational skills to dream up an act of protest that addressed climate change. No sites, no budget and no timelines were given as parameters - participants built their action designs from the ground up, referencing the creative tactics of the competition’s activist partners.

With participants from 15 countries, the responses were vast and varied. The jury, consisting of creative activists, architects and educators, chose three speculative prizes and one practical prize which will be developed and implemented as a realized action. 

The jury composed of: Andy Bichlbaum - Mike Bonanno (The Yes Men), Scott Shall (International Design Clinic), Nadine Bloch (Beautiful Trouble - Beautiful Rising), Bill Moyer (Backbone Campaign),  Stephen Duncombe (Center For Artistic Activism), Sneha Patel (University Of Virginia).

From marches and blockades to festivals and new religions, we hope the results of this contest serve in some way to push for solutions to the crises of our world, blending architectural design, activism and all other disciplines that strive for social and environmental justice.

See the winning projects below:

Image © ScanLAB

Image © ScanLAB

1st Prize: Frozen Relic: Arctic Dissent by ScanLAB / UK

"Frozen Relic is a replica of a lost landscape. In 2013 working with Greenpeace and Cambridge University aboard the Icebreaker ‘The Arctic Sunrise’ ScanLAB documented a series of ice floes in the Fram Strait, North West of Svalbard, Norway using millimetre perfect 3D scanning technology. During the course of two expeditions to the Arctic the team captured a total of 26 floes in forensic detail, mapping their surfaces precisely, analysing core samples of the ice and tracing their drift through the ice pack."

Image © Huang Yi

Image © Huang Yi

2nd Prize: Eco-Shelterscape of Fishery by Huang Yi / Taiwan

"The 2nd Speculative Prize goes to an architectural submission that impressed the jurors with its targeted research and solutions-based response to the prompt. By tapping into fishing practices, the proposed design can become a site for advocating for, learning about, and implementing sustainable practices."

Image © Daisaria Associates

Image © Daisaria Associates

3rd Prize: Treevotees by Daisaria Associates / India

"Mumbai loses over 10,000 trees every year due to infrastructural development. The concerned authorities are lured by the lust of a developing economy, thereby turning a blind eye to the current ecology of the city. This leads to massive in-city deforestation, intern leading to rising urban temperatures and disturbed ecosystems. The spiritual TREEVOTEES that come from various walks of life,caste and creed have challenged the governing authorities by protesting in the path of the new upcoming metro line in the green lung of the city “Aarey colony” that has already cut 2000 trees for it’s commencement."

Image © Edmund Tan

Honorable Mention: The Hidden Riot by Edmund Tan Hong Xiang / UK

"The web has the widest reach in our post-digitalage. Using the tangible riot as a disguise (Trojan Horse). The real riot happens inside the intangible realm. Transforming the way of how we used to protest in our era. Although rioting on land is still feasible, The Hidden Riot shows the potentiality of rioting in the web. Connecting people together as a whole. Now, riot can be happen anywhere, anytime as long as you are connected!"

See the full winning projects on Studio Bleak's website. 

All images courtesy of Studio Bleak

> via Studio Bleak