IE Spaces
The Competition
The IE School of Architecture and Design concluded its fourth IE SPACES FOR INNOVATION PRIZE, a global competition for young architects and designers worldwide who completed their undergraduate or graduate studies.
Participants were challenged to envision the future of work, retail, and educational spaces, presenting their ideas through digital collages that incorporated original or existing images.
The stakes were high, as winning entries received admission to IE’s Master’s in Strategic Design of Spaces for the 2018‐2019 academic year, along with a partial scholarship towards tuition fees. The competition also offered a unique opportunity for full‐time, paid internships in prestigious design firms such as UNStudio (Amsterdam), Studio O+A (San Francisco), or Ingenhoven Architects (Düsseldorf), providing emerging designers with not only recognition but also valuable professional experiences.
Description of the Submission (Honorable Mention)
Contemplating the subject as a cause-and-effect scenario facilitates an understanding of the future by discerning the causes that have influenced the past. Consequently, the initial step was to investigate the underlying causes of spatial transformations. Three principal factors were identified, prompting a thorough exploration of each domain.
To commence, an examination of the social impact on change was conducted. Social change, denoting alterations in human relationships, holds paramount significance as the primary catalyst for change in this context. Subsequently, a scrutiny of physical alterations, encompassing technological advancements and expropriation, was undertaken. The correlation between these two dimensions was elucidated through the perspectives of Charles Taylor and Aldo Rossi, emphasizing the concerns of contemporary society and Rossi's contention that architectural endeavors necessitate an understanding of urban life conditions.
Turning to economic changes, significant challenges in large cities, such as the scarcity of land, led to the rise of the 'mass-housing' concept. The culmination of these analyses revealed that these changes contribute to the functional obsolescence of buildings, prompting considerations for the future.
On the right side of this presentation, the repercussions of global warming, including air quality issues, acid rain, ozone layer depletion, biodiversity loss, and rainforest destruction, are enumerated. Consequently, the imperative for sustainability is underscored. The evaluation of green building certification, specifically BREEAM, was pursued to comprehend how buildings are assessed in terms of sustainability.
Following these investigations, the subsequent inquiry pertained to the future of retail, work, and education. Initiating with educational spaces, it was posited that fostering a more concentric environment requires adaptability and a project-based educational system.
In the realm of workspaces, rapid global changes—environmental concerns, population growth, technological advancements, and demographic shifts—have necessitated a reevaluation of individuals' aspirations and desires in their professional lives. Consequently, the need for collaborative environments in both educational and workspaces has emerged, recognizing the evolving nature of work and its interconnections.
Due to time constraints resulting from extended working hours and lengthy commutes, individuals are inclined towards convenient shopping methods, such as online shopping or the integration of shopping facilities within their residential or workplace surroundings.
Considering these insights, a proposal for a monoblock—a unified space combining living, working, shopping, and educational facets—was introduced. This concept addresses the scarcity of land in large cities, escalating property prices, the imperative for interdependence, and the global depletion of natural resources, emphasizing the importance of sustainable design to mitigate these challenges.
Link: https://www.archdaily.pe/pe/885750/chile-y-colombia-ganadores-de-la-cuarta-edicion-del-ie-spaces-for-innovation-prize