The Off Grid Farm Architectural Competition by Samana Group invites participants to conceptualize and design innovative off-grid farming solutions that encompass the company’s holistic and sustainable approach to living that values self-reliance and minimal environmental impact.
The Design Challenge:
The design challenge of the Off Grid Farm competition revolves around conceptualizing and realizing an off-grid farm that transcends conventional norms. Participants are tasked with creating a self-sustaining farming ecosystem that integrates renewable energy sources, innovative water management techniques, and sustainable agricultural practices to ensure long-term viability and resilience. Emphasizing community resilience and environmental stewardship, the competition encourages the use of local materials and promotes economic development while supporting a transition towards sustainable living. By pioneering solutions that address the unique challenges of remote living, participants have the opportunity to shape a more resilient and sustainable future for the Samana Peninsula and beyond.
This architecture competition is exclusively for architecture students and young architects, and seeks to design a pioneering, self-sufficient farming and addresses the challenges that Samana faces nowadays (limited access to electricity, water scarcity, and agricultural constraints).
Evaluation Criteria:
- Innovation: The designed buildings are supposed to search for new solutions in structural systems, technology and/or functional programs.
- Relevance: The proposed solutions should face the existing and the most urgent problems defined by the participants.
- Coherence: The participants are supposed to take into consideration the nature and sociological
context. The design needs to be coherent with the existing surrounding. - Sustainability and efficiency: The building is required to be sustainable and zero-energy consuming. The chosen solutions need to contribute to the wellbeing of local residents.
- Use and knowledge of local resources: The proposed solutions should make maximum use of the potential of local materials, while maintaining high aesthetics as well as an alignment with ecological solutions.
- Aesthetic values: The farm is supposed to bring an additional value to the panorama and its general appearance.
Awards:
- 1st place: $3,000
- 2nd place: $2,000
- 3rd place: $1,000
