NKA Foundation seeks to garner advisors, partners and supporters to run the 5th Annual Earth Architecture Competition: Designing a Rural Arts Centre for Senegal. Additionally, they are putting together a list of jury team members and advisors to push the 5th edition as far as it can go.
OBJECTIVE:
The objective is to design a modern mud type that will be built as a unit of an artisanal village, a residential vocational training center for unemployed rural youth of ages 16 to 25 years to undergo a 2-year skills development training in the vocational arts and earth architecture. We want the school plan to emphasize sustainable architecture and cost efficient construction. Thus, we want the buildings to fully integrate earth architecture and passive solar design.
The challenge for the contestants is to design one of the following types for the school: a classroom type, cafeteria type, office building type, dormitory type, group toilet type, cafeteria type, theatre type, dwelling type for the local teachers, and guest house type for our international visiting staff. Contestants are to design the school type for construction by maximum use of earth and local labor. Total costs of constructing the design entry is not to exceed $10,000 (USD) for materials and labor. The construction site will be Diakounda village in Sediou Region of the Casamance in Senegal.
Last Year’s Participants and More Information on the Competition:
Here are the submitted entries in the 4th edition and more information on the competition itself: http://nkaprojects.boards.net/thread/59/submitted-design-entries

What’s Next?
As the construction of the best design entries is priority, from February 2017 to July 2019, NKA is collaborating with some of the design teams in the competition and new partners to organize construction workshops to build the design entries based on last year’s site at Abetenim in Ghana.
The building workshop to construct the 1st prize winning entry will be held from March 1 to May 24, 2017; the workshop to build the 2nd prize winning entry will be from June 2 to August 25, 2017; and the building workshop for the 3rd prize winning design will run from July 8 to September 30, 2017. Whereas, workshop to realize the design entry that were awarded Honorable Mention will run as follows: Infinitely Reproducible Class from February 6 to May 6, 2017; Classroom from March 1 to May 24, 2017; and Classroom Type from 8 July to 30 September, 2017. Through an open call for participation, each workshop will bring together students and recent graduates of architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, interior design, and anyone interested in construction to join the workshop and play a part in line with their expertise.
The Building Challenge:
How do you learn to design what is build-able? It is by designing and building your own design!
Nka Foundation has come to know that by immersing the young designers in the full circle of designing and building their design. The designers will not only garner project management skills, we anticipate that at the completion of the design-build process, the emerging architects will learn to design what is build-able to make a well-rounded graduate. 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.
Thus, NKA seeks inviting schools of architecture and design, architecture associations, volunteer-sending organizations, Without Borders organizations, service learning / Co-op university programs, and community-spirited individuals to join us as project partners and supporters in building the top design entries in rural Ghana.
Read more: http://nkaprojects.boards.net/thread/59/submitted-design-entries#ixzz4dmk8eiHB
Contact:
To participate, contact  info@nkafoundation.org / www.nkafoundation.org .