Kaira Looro Architecture Competition 2022 - Children’s House in Africa

The ‘Children’s House’ should be a welcoming place where activities aimed at preventing child malnutrition can be carried out in a rural environment of Sub-Saharan Africa. The children of today are the leaders of tomorrow; allowing them to develop properly is essential in order to build a better future.

Nevertheless, today, 149 million children in the world suffer from growth retardation resulting from nutritional difficulties caused by poverty, conflicts and the environmental crisis. An adequate diet, especially in the first 5 years of life, means facilitating the psychological and physical development necessary to develop all of the fundamental abilities to participate in social life.

The “Kaira Looro” is an international architecture competition for students and young architects, the objective of which is to grow up careers of new architectural talent, raise awareness in the international community regarding the topics of emergency, and support humanitarian projects. Participation is open to architects, students, designers, engineers and anyone who wants to propose a solution to the theme. It is possible to participate in the competition individually or in teams, with one requirement: the presence of under 35 years old on the team.

The entries received will be evaluated by a jury made up of prominent architects: Kengo Kuma (Kengo Kuma & Associates), Mario Cucinella (Mario Cucinella Architects), Agostino Ghirardelli (SBGA | Blengini Ghirardelli), Benedetta Tagliabue (EMBT Miralles Tagliabue), Mphethi Morojele (MMA Design Studio), Alice Dietsch (AL_A), Giuseppe Mazzaglia (MVRDV), Sharon Devis (Sharon Davis Design), Ligia Nunes (Architecture Sans Frontières International ), Saad El Kabbaj, Driss Kettani and Mohamed Amine Siana and an scientific committee made up of Raoul Vecchio (Balouo Salo), Sebastiano D’Urso (University of Catania), Moussa Soaune (CCAA Senegal), Mamath Ndiaye (Balouo Salo) and other specialist in architecture and nutrition.

Awards will be given to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, 2 honourable mentions, 2 special mentions, 20 finalists, and 20 Top 50. The winning project will receive a cash prize (5.000 €) and an internship at Kengo Kuma & Associates studio in Japan, as well as the construction of the project as humanitarian intervention. The other internships will be awarded to the 2nd place team at the Mario Cucinella Architects in Italy and to the 3rd place at the SBGA Blengini Ghiradelli, and respectively 2.000€ and 1.000€. Furthermore, all of the projects will be published on the competition’s website and in its official book, transmitted to 30 of the competition’s global media partners, and shared with institutional partners.

The architecture of the ‘Children’s House’ will be a space intended to prevent child malnutrition by providing nutritional material, the development of hygiene and healthcare awareness raising programmes, the organisation of paediatric and social care appointments, housing for at-risk patients, and the training of community nurses, who will guide local families on best practice in relation to prevention and nutrition.

The design will be constructed in the context of a humanitarian programme and it should meet some particular construction needs, namely: be easy to construct using sustainable technologies that are adaptable to self-construction; make use of natural and/or recycled materials available in the region; be integrated into the social and cultural environment of the location.