Hasta La Ideas

A sci-fi animation in which a downtrodden robot workforce battles with police against a backdrop of dystopian architecture is one of the winners of the RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards, announced this evening.

Top and above: Robots of Brixton by Kibwe Tavares

Bartlett School of Architecture graduate Kibwe Tavares receives the Silver Medal for his project, Robots of Brixton, which we featured in the summer – watch the movie here.

Above: Robots of Brixton by Kibwe Tavares

Basmah Kaki, a student at the Architectural Association, wins the Bronze medal for a conceptual building that manipulates wind and acoustics to protect workers at a granite quarry from noise pollution.

Above: acoustic lyrical mechanism by Basmah Kaki

The dissertation medal is awarded to University of Melbourne student Hannah Robertson, who presented a study of homes for an indigenous community in northeast Australia.

Above: acoustic lyrical mechanism by Basmah Kaki

All shortlisted projects will be on display at the RIBA in London until the end of January 2012 and will then travel to other venues.

Above: Bush Owner Builder by Hannah Robertson

See some of the winners from previous years here.

Above: Bush Owner Builder by Hannah Robertson

Here’s a press release from the RIBA:

A brave new world – RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards 2011

From a dystopian vision of Brixton, to a sanctuary for quarry workers in Bangalore, to new homes for a remote Aboriginal community in Australia, this year’s RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards, in association with Atkins, show how today’s architecture students around the world are grappling with pressing social issues and, through architecture, coming up with original solutions.

The winners of the President’s Medals will be announced this evening (Wednesday 7 December 2011) at the RIBA in London.

Kibwe Tavares, a student of The Bartlett, University College London, has won the Silver Medal – awarded to a Part 2 project (second degree) – for Robots of Brixton. Taking the existing buildings of Brixton as a starting point, and eerily prescient of this summer’s riots in English cities, this startling short film combines architectural drawings and futuristic animation to comment on the social tensions of inner city life. The judges said: “We were stunned by the research work that went into making this film: not only had an urban environment been designed but the film itself was a complex design project. An amazing piece of work that is truly exciting and inspirational.”

The Bronze Medal – for a Part 1 project (first degree) – has been awarded to Basmah Kaki, a student at the Architectural Association. An acoustic lyrical mechanism is an ingenious design which exploits the natural environment to create a sanctuary for workers, protecting them from damage caused by noise pollution in an Indian granite quarry. The judges said: “This is beautifully presented, but equally impressive is the journey of architectural exploration. Prototypes have been made, and topographical models used to help analyse the impact of wind and the visual and sound environment that the building would create.’

Hannah Robertson, of the University of Melbourne, receives the Dissertation Medal for her work Bush Owner Builder which develops culturally sensitive and appropriate homes for an indigenous community in the far north of Queensland. Designs that emerged from working closely with the Aboriginal community are now being built on ‘homeland’ sites. The judges said: “This dissertation warmed our hearts with its social concern. A sensitive and respectful piece of work, it rethinks the world of the architect and shows people not as clients but as genuine participants in the creative architectural process.”

In addition to the three RIBA President’s Medals, commendations were awarded to:

Part 1: Daniel Schinagl, London South Bank University, for Institute of Language and Knowledge

Part 2: Duncan Corrigall and Daniel Spence, University of Sydney, for Metamorphoses: Echo’s Retreat; Marie Kojzar, Royal College of Art, for Human Nature; and Christopher Christophi, De Montfort University, for Ecological research and macro algae monitoring facility, North Arsenale, Venice

Dissertation: Julianne Cassidy, University of Westminster, for Arka Pana: the Church in the City without God; Costa Elia, The Bartlett, University College London, for The Buyukada Museum: building new viewpoints on the Istanbul Pogrom; and Joanna Doherty, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, for Constructing the ‘Other’: the role of space in continuing conflict in Northern Ireland.

Congratulating the winners, RIBA President Angela Brady said:
“The winners of this year’s RIBA President’s Medals show the outstanding talent of today’s architecture students. With highly creative and inspired thinking they are confronting real social issues – and showing how quality architectural design improves the quality of people’s lives. I am delighted to present these awards.”

Philip Watson, Design Director, Atkins, added:
“The industry needs to encourage and celebrate creativity and innovation, which is why Atkins continues to support the RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards. The best entries this year tackled social, economic and environmental issues head-on, showing real awareness and a refreshing sense of optimism.”

Daniel Schinagl and Christopher Christophi also receive the Serjeant Award for Excellence in Architectural Drawing. Travelling Fellowships from the Skidmore Owings Merrill (SOM) Foundation go to three students from the University of Liverpool, Steven Kok, Sean Peel and Hannah Wilson, for Zeitgeist Archive, Berlin, as well as to Bronze medal-winner Basmah Kaki.

The awards will be presented by RIBA President Angela Brady on Wednesday 7 December 2011 and winning projects will be displayed at the RIBA from 7 December 2011 until 28 January 2012. The exhibition will then travel to Newcastle, Liverpool and Dublin, with other venues in the United Kingdom, Australia, Romania and the United Arab Emirates to be confirmed.

This year saw the highest number ever of entries for the President’s Medals: 276 entries from 83 schools of architecture in 27 countries.

A lo-tech air harvester aims to alleviate the effect of drought on agriculture

Dependent on regional agriculture for sustenance and economic security, rural communities are often the hardest hit by droughts. Following a twelve-year spell in southeastern Australia’s Murray Darling basin, Edward Linnacre saw the need for a lo-tech solution to maintain agriculture in particularly arid climates. The Swinburne University of Technology student created the Airdrop, an “air harvester” that collects and distributes critical moisture to crops during droughts, and earning him this year’s James Dyson Award.

With a deceptively modest design, Airdrop filters hot environmental air through a turbine, feeding it through a copper tubing system—with copper wool to maximize surface area—and into the earth where it cools and releases moisture. The dry air is then re-released into the atmosphere and the collected water pumped through semi-porous hoses to the plant roots. In his initial prototype, which was much smaller than the current design, Linnacre was able to produce a liter of water per day.

The Airdrop’s wind turbine takes its inspiration from everyday rooftop turbines and can be powered through a solar panel in low-wind conditions. Critical to Linnacre’s design was simplicity—the Airdrop was created to be used by anybody, anywhere. As Linnacre explains, “A lo-tech solution is perfect for rural farmers. Something that they can install. Something that they can maintain themselves.” According to his research, even the driest air can produce 11.5 millimeters of water per cubic meter, and Airdrop’s low energy solution to irrigation is a sustainable alternative to other methods like desalinization.

As part of the award, Linnacre will receive £10,000—and his university receives an additional £10,000 prize—for further research and development on the Airdrop, which is still in prototype mode.

This step ladder by Latvian designer Arthur Analts can rest flat against the wall, fit into a corner at 45 degrees or rest securely in a corner at 25 degrees, thanks to the shape of its top and bottom rungs.

The treads are extended either side of the uprights to form hooks and loops, so users can hang items on the side rather than make several trips with one arm laden.

The steps are made of aluminium and named after rock band Led Zeppelin in reference to their 1971 track Stairway to Heaven.

Analts is currently studying at Central Saint Martins in London and was awarded Best New Designer 2011 for the Led Zeppelin steps at Latvian Design Awards of the Year in Riga this month.

The details below are from Arthur Analts:

Project name ‘Led Zeppelin’ is due to the hard rock bands one of the most recognised tracks ‘Stairway to heaven’.

Using usual ladder, there are difficulties to put them in the room corners, because there is a great possibility to fall down, but sometimes you need to place ladder in corners, because a shelf or a window can interfere you to lean them against the wall, however, Led Zeppelin ladder can be placed in 3 different positions in the room.

It can be leaned straight against the wall or placed 45° against the room corner or 25° against the corner – not allowing to fall down while climbing.

So you can choose which one of three positions best suits you in the incurred situation and just feel safe while using them.

Special cuts are made at the end of the ladder steps. Those are made to hang cloth or put instruments, so it solves ceaseless up-and-down climbing for some instrument. And when Led Zeppelin ladder is not in use – it can be used as a hanger.

Led Zeppelin ladder is easy and fast to manufacture, and there is almost no material loss. It is designed to be good for manufacturing.

Specially designed details are cut from 8mm aluminium sheet, they are put together and they are meld for extra safety. Some details are engraved with logotypes.

There are rubber slices added at the both ends of the ladder to add extra safety and to prevent ladder from slipping.

Led Zeppelin looks good in the interior even when no one is using it, so it shouldn’t be hidden in the storage room.

Latvian designer Arthur Analts graduated Riga School of Design and Arts in 2011 in Latvia. Now Arthur Analts has accepted an offer and in September 2011 will move to London, UK to study at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, BA Product Design course.

Meanwhile, Arthur Analts is working on freelance projects and he stands for aesthetically pleasing and smart designs.

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Rocking Platforms by Constantinos Economides	Wooden Carpet by Elisa Stroyzk	Burden Chair by Apirak Leenharattanarak

These lamps are turned on when you pull their nipples.

The felt pieces by designer Naama Arbel have silicon covers over the switches and LED light source.

The switches must be pulled outwards to turn the lamps on and pushed inwards to turn them off.

Arbel designed the series while studying at Seminar Hakibbutzim in Israel.

Here’s some more information from the designer:

The series is composed of five different amorphous and geometries creatures.

The objects suggest different approach to the interaction of human with lighting. This new approach emphasises the human touch, the game and the sensual experience to intensify the general experience.

The product is handmade and produced using traditional felt techniques.

Those objects, which are made of felt, take us back to our childhood games and our basic needs. The light creatures awaken by touch. They are activated by stretching the silicon nipple which activates the lighting mechanism. Leaving the nipple will result turning it off.

The lightning mechanism which was developed for this project is built from combining “REVEL” LEDs and an electronic device that controls the lightning volume.

The device is connected by wire to the silicon nipple. When pulling the nipple the wire is stretched and activates the light volume control.

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Leone Series 01 by Lanzavecchia + Wai	Rhubarb by Emma Marga Blanche	Growing Vases by Nendo for Lasvit

Young designer Rami Tareef creates chairs with geometric patterns by wrapping and weaving cords around spare, steel frames.

The chairs are the product of Tareef’s COD Project (Crafts Oriented Design), in which the designer aims to update and preserve traditional weaving techniques.

He applies skills learned from a wicker craftsman in the Old City of Jerusalem to contemporary forms and materials.

The chairs are composed of only two materials; 500 meters of polypropylene cord are threaded around 10 meters of steel rod.

Alternating colours of cord create a secondary pattern in the weave that accentuates the chair’s structure.

Tareef is a recent graduate of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design .

See all our stories on chairs »

Photographs are by Oded Antman.

Here’s some more information from the designer:

The COD (crafts oriented design) project 2011

By Rami Tareef

What really happens in the encounter between craft and design, what fundamental differences in thought, planning and execution characterize the objects produced by the craftsman and the designer?

This past year I have been preoccupied by a fascinating endeavor that is, essentially, a hybridization of traditional craftsmanship and contemporary design. The project was born of my desire to create by embracing the truth of the material. A designer’s desire to explore, to engage in trial and error, to learn, to know and to produce something new − via the sole agency of his thinking hands.

The project tries to illuminate the differences and similarities between craft and design; it tests and stretches the limits of their hybridization, and tries to end up with something identifiable from that past world. The COD project deals with wicker/woven furniture − a traditional craft product − and preserves its production values while incorporating innovative design features from the world of mass production.

This One-Off stool try to make a new approach to the idea of “One of a kind” product by combination between traditional craft technique an high technology of cutting laser. It’s came to raise question about status of products with hand made values in our saturated mass production world. Is there any soul in these products?

The rest (other 5 chairs) of the project deals in the hybridization between traditional craft technique and contemporary design attempt to create something new while keeping the truth of the old tradition.

Some chairs examine the technique and stretching the boundaries of it. The angular structure of the chair came up to keep the technique possible to apply.

On the other hand, part of the design trying to touch in textile design, it comes through the use of colors and multi-variable relationship between the cord and the chair structure that create many surfaces and three-dimensional spaces.

Further, the project came from my faith, as a young designer, that we should preserve traditional crafts by upgrade them through design and place them in the contemporary context in our world and culture.

I learned the basic technique from a wicker furniture craft man in the old city of Jerusalem and from there began a long development process that included dozens of models to upgrade technique.

Bezalel, Academy of art and design, Jerusalem – final project, B.Des of industrial design department
Furniture Craftsman: Abo Ahmad Nazir

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Serpentine by Eléonore Nalet	New Amsterdam Chair by UNStudio	Flux by Jerszy Seymour