Nka Foundation announces building workshops for winners of 3rd Earth Architecture Competition

KUMASI, Ghana - April 13, 2016 - PRLog -- Nka Foundation is issuing an open call to the international architecture and construction community to join the workshops for the construction of the winning designs in its 3rd Earth Architecture Competition in Ghana. As the construction of the best design entries in the contest is our priority, we are collaborating with some of the design teams who participated in the competition to organize construction workshops to build their design entries based on site at the Abetenim Arts Village in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The prototyping workshops will be held on the following dates:

August 1 - October 28, 2016
ABODE + ADOBE BUILDING WORKSHOP
(for building the 1st prize winning design by Building in Basics in Bangladesh)

July 13 - October 14, 2016
EARTH ARCHITECTURE WORKSHOP
(For building the 2nd prize winner by LOAD Association in Italy)

June 3 - August 31, 2017
WEFT EARTH CONSTRUCTION WORKSHOP
(For building the 3rd prize winner by Eddie Winn and Samantha McPadden in USA)

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE: Each workshop seeks to bring together participants from different countries in fields such as architecture, landscape architecture, construction, interior design and the arts to play a role in line with their expertise.Participation in the construction work is voluntary. Students can participate for internship, thesis, or personal research. Be There!

Through the 3rd Earth Architecture Competition, Nka Foundation issued a challenge to emerging architects and designers to use their creativity to come up with innovative designs for modest, affordable housing for the arts that can be built with earth and other local materials in Ghana. The challenge was to design a mud house type of about 2400 sq feet that sleeps 8 to 10 persons to be built on a plot size of 80 x 100 feet. The proposed construction site is Abetenim Arts Village, near Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. The building was to be designed for use by either musicians, theatre artists, potters, sculptors, painters, textile artists, designers, writers, or media arts practitioners. Because the construction of best design entires is a priority, Nka is offering each design team an opportunity to build their design. Nka offers the opportunity on the basis that by immersion in the full circle of designing and building their design, the young design team will not only garner project management skills; at the end, the emerging architects will learn to design what is buildable to make a well-rounded graduate.

And so, we are inviting schools of architecture and design, architecture associations, volunteer-sending organizations, Without Borders organizations, and individuals to join us as network partners and supporters in building the best design entries in rural Ghana. Please, share this call to all in your networks. Each building workshop will run for about 12 weeks. Volunteers can join at any time and participate for a minimum of two weeks. Students can use the workshop opportunity to fulfill their college requirements for internship, thesis, or to volunteer just for learning-by-doing on the prototyping project. For the professional, you will find the hands-on earth building experience a pause from your office work to rediscover the rudiments of architecture and nuances that can refresh your practice.

It's not all works! Over the weekend, participant can explore the nearby cultural sites such as Bomwire Kente Village, Bobiri Forest Reserve, or the cultural centres in the historic city of Kumasi. And there will be short breaks from the construction project to participate in field trips.

Interested? Then, contact us at info@nkafoundation.org / www.nkafoundation.org . You can downloadlarge files on the three designs here: https://yadi.sk/d/5yVCbZAUhdKbu  and see all submitted entries: http://nkaprojects.boards.net/thread/41/submitted-design-...