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OpenThinkBox winners zero in on infrastructure needs
The alleviation of inadequate water and sanitation in informal settlements is a common theme in the winning entries in the 2009 OpenThinkBox design competition.
In its fourth year, the competition challenged professional and student entrants to make a the world a better place by improving service delivery in a local community with a first fix solution.
Entries almost doubled over the previous year's and winners receive cash prizes, hardware from Dell and Sony and design software from Autodesk Revit. The winners are:
Professional category:
1st - 26 10 Degrees South Architects Team, Johannesburg. Addressing the mono-functional nature of the failing sanitation system at the Diepsloot informal settlement outside Johannesburg, the team proposed a matrix of multi-functional service points providing cleaner, safer and more dignified places for bathing, washing and collecting water. The ablution service points also offered a range of opportunities for socialising and trading, while biogas harvested in some of the larger service points would be used for powering lighting and heating.
2nd - Liani van der Westhuizen, London. Her entry ‘Farm for a future', located in central Pretoria, addresses the problem of rapid urbanisation and its associated ills with a mixed-used development comprising residential and retail units, an education centre, workshops and urban agriculture centre. Her efforts also earned her the competition's Green Trophy and R5 000 for the most sustainable solution.
3rd - Tanja Orsmond Architects Team, Johannesburg. It proposed a project called ‘The Water Point', which provides water and sanitation facilities to residents of the informal settlement of Bapsfontein in Gauteng, with municipal water trucks supplying The Water Points until such time as a permanent water supply is installed.
Student category:
1st - Christopher Bisset, University of Cape Town. With his Showerhouse Road project, Bisset addresses the critical lack of basic municipal infrastructure in the Langa informal settlement outside Cape Town by providing its residents with a clean, comfortable, safe place to wash.
2nd - Elonah ‘ONeil, University of Pretoria. She designed origami inspired temporary shelters for persons displaced by disasters, replacing typical tented accommodation with a shelter that can be constructed inside or erected adjacent to an existing damaged structure.
3rd - Gerhard Janse van Rensburg, University of Pretoria. He designed ablution facilities for urban taxi drivers who can utilise the facilities for personal hygiene. An area would also be designated for washing of vehicles.
Juliet Kavishe and a team from Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects received the award for the best use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology for library facilities for Parkwood Primary School in one of the most impoverished areas of Cape Town. The design aims to lift children out of the impoverished circumstances in which they live. Juliet won a seven day trip to Brazil, R10 000 and a 60cm Dell flat panel screen.
Posted on 28 Jan 2010 / Tags: none
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