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Introduction

The art of building with earth is an ancient one that has stood through long time. Archaeological evidence can date entire cities constructed of earth back over 10,000 years. City of Bam, Babylon, Yemen, Egypt pyramids and the great wall of china are the few examples. Modern fashion of 20th century created a break in the millennia old developments. with earth being exploited and polluted with processed materials.

Although earthen construction has been widely used for centuries, it has been subjected to criticism due to a series of misconceptions. It has been the last resort when no other building material was available. On the other hand, history has proved that earthen architecture has been adopted by choice.

Another major roadblock for practicing earth architecture is the misbelief that houses made of earth can attain maximum height of 1-2 floors. However, Shibam, a city in Yemen debunks the above belief by building mud towers (100ft) built in the 16th century.

The many advantages of building with earth construction materials include superior thermal mass, temperature and noise control, strength and durability, low maintenance, fire proofing, load bearing and pest deterrence, high indoor air quality, zero carbon dioxide emissions as well as its beauty and the pleasure of building with a natural and environmentally sound material.

Earth construction materials is non-toxic, non-polluting and ‘breathes’. This creates safer, more people-friendly buildings. It is very low in embodied energy, and extremely comfortable to live in.

The competition brief

1st Delta-TU Student COMPETITION is the first Design-Build Competition organized by ESU-LAB as a part of the Academic cooperation DELTA-TU Partnership. The competition encourage the young architects to form a team and cooperate in providing a new concept for urban development and 1:1 design-build prototype for construction by the winning teams.

Eligible Groups

The applied teams must include at least one member from Mansoura University, TU-Berlin or TU-Campus el-Gouna, and members from any other Egyptian or German Universities, the maximum number of team members is Five

Award Prizes

1 st
Prize

1500 Euro

2 nd
Prize

1000 Euro

3 rd
Prize

800 Euro

+

Financial support of (3000 Euro) for materials
to build the 1:1 Prototype

Main Timeline

  • Registration Deadline: 30 December, 2020 by 24:00 (UTC+02:00 )
  • Question and Answer period: from 15 December, 2020 to 15 January, 2021
  • Online Info-Session Event for the Competition: 16 December, 2020
  • Submission Deadline: 31 March, 2021 by 24:00 (UTC+02:00)

Evaluation Criteria

  • Concept / Idea
  • Economic efficiency
  • Functionality and Fulfilment of spatial program
  • Response to Environmental challenges
  • Degree of Social Engagement and Inclusion
  • Integration with the Surrounding Site

Competition Site

The competition site is in Gamasa in the Northern coast of Egypt as a part of the urban development plan for Gamasa waterfront. The Competition site is particularly in the fifth sector with an indoor area of 80 Square meters and the urban development of the surrounding area.

These pictures illustrate the current situation and proposal for development of the waterfront of Gamasa

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