d3 Natural Systems 2012 Finalists

Written by Irina Vinnitskaya
Published on September 17, 2012

The winners of d3′s annual Natural Systems International Architectural Design Competition for 2012 have been revealed! With three top prizes and ten special mentions, the results of the competition includes a variety of proposals in response to the prompt which promotes investigation of natural systems from microscopic to universal toward determining new architectonic strategies. The competitions invites architects, designers, engineers, and students to explore the potential of nature-based analysis and documentation in architectural and design applications in urbanism, architecture, interiors and designed objects. The jury included a panel of architects and designers engaged in sustainable practices and computational explorations.

Join us after the break to view the winning projects.

The first prize was awarded to Infrastructure Flows: Microclimate Terrain for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Trench by Young Bum Kim and Hung Kit Yuen. The project proposes to reconcile the social and physical disturbance caused by the sunken, six-lane BQE that cuts through Brooklyn in Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens. The solution is for an urban-scale terrain that covers the trench and provides community amenities to be shared by residents of both sides of the urban void. The program functions to promote social unity while also solving the environmental issues caused by the expressway. The proposal explores ways to enhance wind flow, purify the air pollution caused by the constant flow of traffic, and create an alternative route of north-bound traffic while also enhancing pedestrian circulation to reconnect the community.

Second prize was awarded to TERRA FirmA by Erin Saven and Wy-men Loh which proposes an alternative to the conventional office building using the complex natural emergent systems of nature. The project follows the guidance of bee hives, schools of fish, bird flocks and coral reefs where autonomous action following a set of rules creates an organized system with no official leader. The physical proposal explores what an architectural landscape could look like as it sets out to create an environment where such interactions can naturally unfold. TERRA FirmA proposes a set of spaces in an office environment that are flexible for different modes of working in a legible architectonic language.

The third prize was awarded to Bio-Reactive Crossing: Modular Aircraft De-Icing Fluid Detoxification System for New York JFK Airport by Inju Lee, Haeme Han, and Yunsun Shim. The project proposes a solution to environmental concerns associated with the Aircraft De-Icing Fluid that runs off of JFK and enters Jamaica Bay untreated. The team proposes a modular system that cultivates White Rot Fungi, which treats the ADF in Jamaica Bay. As it exists today, it is unable to support local marine life and contributes to the receding of marshlands by 33 acres annually. The module is composed of two strips. One is the fungi membrane reactors which raises fungi in hollow fiber membrane cartridges, and the other provides energy generated by solar panels.

Special Mention for Research Methodology was awarded to Kais Al-Rawi, Julia Koerner, Vincenzo Reale, and Mary Polites for Urban Fluctuation.

Spatial Sundial by Wai Wing Yun was awarded Special Mention: Performance Research.

Special Mention: Landscape Urbanism was awarded to Aaron OnchiRascon and Betty Sanchez for Litchen City: Mexicall.

Alexander Tarr won Special Mention: Environmental Systems for Accretion Creation.

Special Mention; Formal Expression was awarded to Desert Flower by Longwei Wu.

Special Mention: Alternative Typology was awarded to Andrew Lords and Leonardo Rodriguez for Unidentified: US-Mexico Borderlands Biocrematorium and Memorial.