Architecture for Humanity Vancouver launched “NEXT BIG ONE – An International Open Ideas Competition” earlier this year. The competition raised awareness on the high-magnitude earthquake and tsunami events that plague cities around the world. Entries were received from every continent (except for Antarctica).
Designers were faced with a challenge to propose an innovative design solution that can mitigate natural disasters while simultaneously providing community permanence. The competition judges, Stephen Cassell, Susan Gushe, Eileen Keenan, David Scott and Doug Smith, convened on October 25th to evaluate the entries. In the end, a Design Professional team was awarded the Design Professionals Award of CAD$3000, and a Student team was awarded the Bing Thom Emerging Designers Award of CAD$1500. Three Honorable Mentions from each category were recognized also for the merit of their intervention and for their contribution to the discussion on designing for disasters. View the winning entries on their website (http://www.nextbigone.org).