OFF THE GRID 2023

BRIEF

PRESS KIT

INTERNATIONAL DESIGN COMPETITION

OFF THE GRID 2023

RESULTS!

The Winners!

OFF THE GRID 2023

THIRD

Ștefan Jurcă & Hlib Novosolov

Switzerland

First Prize Winners

Caio Simonetti

Brazil

My name is Caio Simonetti. I am Brazilian, born in the city of Campinas in the state of São Paulo. I am 27 years old. I studied Architecture at Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado, located in the city of São Paulo. I have an MBA in the management of an architecture office. Today, I work in my own architecture office called Ettori, focused on residential projects. I also work with furniture and lighting design.

Caio Simonetti

FIRST PRIZE WINNER_OFF THE GRID 2023

Caio Simonetti

FIRST PRIZE WINNER_OFF THE GRID 2023

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Design Concept & Sustainable Innovation

The concept sought 2 purposes, to create an autonomous model that, in some way, could help to preserve the araucaria forest. It is, for itself, a problem to solve, so the movement Off the grid gave us a chance to, instead of destroying the nature, make it an essential part for our living, this way; The project was designed to use local properties to its advantage, and not treat them as obstacles. And for that, there were many challenges like, how to integrate project and nature, how to use the wind, how to access, etc…

Sustainability is not just using eco-friendly materials, it is thinking about how to use sustainable materials that the region can provide. After all, the production and transport of materials are also very polluting. Showing that, by using sustainable materials, it is possible to create architecture with elegance and functionality, even in small spaces and unusual places. This way, people will realize that quality and sustainability can go hand in hand and choose to preserve our home.

Design Process

The design was thought to use the environment to its advantage, utilizing the strong trunks and winds of the southern forest.
Initially, the project was static and had to be completely redone, as the house needed to move according to the position of the wind to produce energy.

It was necessary to use pulleys and gear systems, to enable movement by a single person, in order to drastically reduce the weight, it was necessary to use a light and hollow metal structure.

Impact and Benefits

I wanted the design to instigate new ways of living in people, outside the city, together, and not to the detriment of nature, so it was thought to be autonomous and create new ways of capturing individual energy, without depending on mega structures of power generation.

Advice for Aspiring Designers

Keep in mind that your work can literally save the world, because today there is no greater urgency than the fight against climate change and pollution.

The key factor is always the context in which the work is inserted. For example, what is the meaning of the painting "Liberty leading the people" without the French revolution? He would become just another pretty picture.
With architecture it is not and will not be different, after all, both are art.

VIEW PROJECT

Second Prize Winners

Kevin Cheung & David Hu

U.S.

We are both aspiring architects based in the USA. seeking further development and recognition. Off the Grid, provided us a chance to challenge our design, knowledge, and skills amongst others.

Kevin Cheung

SECOND PRIZE WINNER _ OFF THE GRID 2023

David Hu

SECOND PRIZE WINNER _ OFF THE GRID 2023

Kevin Cheung

SECOND PRIZE WINNER _ OFF THE GRID 2023

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Design Concept & Sustainable Innovation

Our initial conceptual intent was to strip away what modern people deem necessary. Our design negotiates the line between comfort and necessity. We wanted to provide a comfortable living environment that is connected to nature. Trying to do this, we realize that modern people are heavily reliant on functions provided by the grid. To address the conservation and the reusage of the natural elements for human sustainability and benefits, we developed our design on the workflow collection and recycling to build space around the experience.

Water is an essential resource for off grid living, so we wanted our design to have a feasible solution to that problem. Rainwater collection seemed to be the most optimal way to obtain clean water, so we looked at rainwater filtration to provide drinking water for sustenance and gray water for plumbing. An interesting idea came to us when we were looking for methods of water filtration, why not use one of nature’s most effective filters? Oysters!

Design Process

Our design process began with a brainstorm of the essentials that we needed to tackle as mentioned; the reuse of the elements and quicker natural methods that can be sustained long term in providing an adequate lifestyle. Prototyping and refining this idea meant multiple schematics of technical methodology and progressive interactive layout designs.

Impact and Benefits

Our design proposes an interesting way that people can coexist with nature. Introducing oysters and implementing it into our design makes it seem less destructive to the environment. A way to coexist with organisms in their environment and even share resources can allow people to impact the environment positively.

Advice for Aspiring Designers

Sustainability is and will continue to be a great big part of our future. As designers, we must be resourceful in what we envision and the everlasting impacts we create all over the world. Our ambitions must be within a collaborative effort as we bring about the many professions, we encounter to provide a sustainable method that can reduce natural waste and promote reuse, reduce, and recycle.

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Third Prize Winners

Ștefan Jurcă & Hlib Novosolov

Switzerland

My name is Ștefan Jurcă and I am originally from Romania. I have studied architecture in Munich and in Paris and I currently work as an architectural designer in Switzerland. What I want to achieve through architecture is to explore the meeting point between traditional construction methods and the newest technologies in architecture.

My name is Hlib Novosolov (Глеб Новосёлов), I come from Odessa, Ukraine. I have studied at the technical universities of Aachen, Munich and Milan. During my bachelor studies I have worked at the department of structural design as a research assistant, where I developed an interest in lightweight and dynamic structures.

Ștefan Jurcă

THIRD PRIZE WINNER _ OFF THE GRID 2023

Hlib Novosolov

THIRD PRIZE WINNER _ OFF THE GRID 2023

Ștefan Jurcă

THIRD PRIZE WINNER _ OFF THE GRID 2023

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Introduction

My name is Hlib Novosolov (Глеб Новосёлов), I come from Odessa, Ukraine. I have studied at the technical universities of Aachen, Munich and Milan. During my bachelor studies I have worked at the department of structural design as a research assistant, where I developed an interest in lightweight and dynamic structures.

My name is Ștefan Jurcă and I am originally from Romania. I have studied architecture in Munich and in Paris and I currently work as an architectural designer in Switzerland. What I want to achieve through architecture is to explore the meeting point between traditional construction methods and the newest technologies in architecture.

We have met while working together at an office in Basel, Switzerland. We quickly discovered that we have similar design philosophies and views on the future of architecture, which inspired us to participate in architecture competitions as a team.

We chose to participate in the Off the Grid competition particularly, because it provides a high degree of design freedom with extremely interesting and challenging constraints. We both show interest in the topic of self-sustaining houses, and we were eager to dive further into the discourse.

Design Concept

Our initial idea was to maximize the energy efficiency of our house by using a spherical shape to minimize the surface-to-volume ratio. We designed a floor plan that uses as much internal volume as possible while being ergonomic for the inhabitants. To avoid using thick insulation, the building consists of two layers: an inner core with the heating element and the most crucial spaces, as well as a thermal buffer space around the inner core of the house. Consequently, the air and walls of the buffer space are insulating the inner one in a passive way.

Design Process

In order to create the transformable outer shell, we had to address a lot of challenges, such as structural integrity in combination with light weight and absence of complicated mechanisms. We discovered that origami can be used to address all these considerations due to the fact it does not need panels to bend, it provides bracing in multiple directions and can be operated manually. We then moved onto building physical models of the outer shell using countless crease patterns. We eventually stopped on Yoshimura pattern due to its ease of unfolding and structural stiffness. We then used visual programming (Grasshopper + Oricut) to simulate different scales, specific shapes and numbers of Yoshimura cells of our pattern until we found the perfect one.
Another challenge of the project was understanding how the size of the furniture, space and the outer shell impacts the perceived size of the house and the inhabitant’s comfort. We used a virtual reality headset combined with the Enscape real-time renderer to walk, sit, climb and tackle the heights, widths and lengths of all items.

Advice for Aspiring Designers

For aspiring designers passionate about sustainable design and innovation, I would advise taking risks and embracing a strong, radical, original concept. Explore ideas to their extreme and test their limits. Other than in real architecture projects, idea competitions focus less on feasibility and costs and more on opening discussion on certain topics and showcasing the potential of sustainable design.