competitions

The Buoyant Foundation Project

Competition: Architecture Master Prize  

Year: 2019 

Winner in Products / Sustainable Products 

Amphibious Homes for the Vulnerable

Competition: Building 4 Humanity  

Year: 2018 

Third place 

Phibious Farnsworth 

Competition: Architizer A+  Award  

Year: 2013 

Finalist in the Self-initiated projects category and Honourable Mention in the Historic Preservation category 

AMPHIBIOUS RESEARCH PAVILION

Competition: Architecture Master Prize  

Year: 2020

Honorable Mention in Landscape Architecture / Installations & Structures

The Buoyant Foundation Project’s Amphibious Research Pavilion was recognized in the Landscape Architecture / Installations & Structures category for the 2020 Architecture MasterPrize Architecture Awards. The Amphibious Research Pavilion is part a of larger project funded by the National Research Council of Canada that seeks to further the development of buoyant foundations as a low-cost approach to flood mitigation.

The mission of the Architecture Master Prize (AMP) is to advance the appreciation and exposure of quality architectural design worldwide. The AMP architecture award celebrates creativity and innovation in the fields of architectural design, landscape architecture, and interior design.  The Buoyant Foundation Project was recognized for its use of recycled buoyancy elements and other locally available and cost-effective components in the Vietnam project.  

The Architizer A+ Awards is the largest awards program focused on promoting and celebrating the year’s best architecture and products. Amphibious Homes for Vietnam’s Vulnerable, featured the Buoyant Foundation Project’s work to retrofitting of four homes in two rice-farming communities in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.  

The 2018 Building 4 Humanity Design Competition focused on disaster risk worldwide. Amphibious Homes for the Vulnerable: Retrofitting Existing Homes in the Mekong Delta For Flood Resilience and Climate Adaptation, featured the Buoyant Foundation Project’s work to retrofit four homes in two rice-farming communities in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. 

Best Climate Solutions is a collaborative, crowdsourcing platform that collects and showcases innovative projects and actionable ideas  that provide solutions that target climate change challenges. The Buoyant Foundation Project received recognition for its innovative and novel retrofitting technology. 

The LafargeHolcim Awards is an international competition that seeks projects and visionary concepts in sustainable construction. The Buoyant Foundation Project entry featured our work in Vietnam. 

Solution Search is a contest, a global crowdsourcing effort, a convening of success stories, and a capacity-building initiative that blends behavioural science, conservation, and community action. The Buoyant Foundation Project presented its LSU prototype that proposed using foam blocks, steel guidance posts, and structural underpinning to retrofit a home in New Orleans 9th to cope with seasonal flooding. 

The 2014 Holcim Awards received over 6,000 entries worldwide all featuring innovative projects focused on sustainable construction. Casa Anfibia proposes a design to retrofit houses in Tipitapa, Nicaragua,  to become flood-resilient, allowing communities to live there safely without the economic disadvantage of repetitive rebuilding. 

The 2014 Holcim Awards called for innovative projects showcasing sustainable solutions and multi-disciplinary responses to the challenges facing the building and construction industry. Floating Hope: Preserving an Indigenous Community proposes a design to retrofit the native American Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Band community of Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana. The Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw are rapidly losing their low-lying traditional homeland as sea levels rise and land subsides due to extensive sub-surface oil and gas extraction. 

Architizer's  annual  A+ Awards, +Preservation Award calls for projects that preserve and enhance the existing built environment. Phibious’ Farnsworth proposes to retrofit Mies van de Rohe's Farnsworth House to become amphibious in order to  preserve this iconic and historical architectural monument. Despite being originally designed in accordance with the projected 100-year flood depth, in recent years the Farnsworth House has experienced flood damage from the adjacent Fox River.  Currently, thousands of dollars are spent annually to repair damages and preserve the building from flooding that is expected to worsen due to climate change.  

The ONE Prize 2013 competition aims to explore the social, economic, and ecological possibilities of urban transformation and design. CANAMPHIBIA proposes retrofitting homes in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, providing residence with an inexpensive solution that preserves both the character and culture of the community.  

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