Compact Living: Redefining Urban Spaces

Premise

In a world where urban populations are rapidly expanding, space is becoming a limited and valuable resource. High land prices, increasing density, and growing environmental concerns have led to the urgent need for innovative compact living solutions. This competition calls for a redefinition of urban living, where the challenge is to create livable, functional spaces within constrained footprints. Participants are encouraged to explore the potential of compact design to address housing, education, and overall city planning in ways that prioritize both efficiency and quality of life.

Objective

The primary goal of this competition is to push the boundaries of architectural design by focusing on the development of compact structures and city modules. The designs should optimize spatial efficiency while maintaining user comfort and sustainability. Participants are tasked with designing homes, schools, or even entire urban communities with a focus on maximizing limited space without compromising the essential aspects of modern living, such as privacy, accessibility, and social interaction.

Constraints

Designers must adhere to a few core principles:

• Footprint Limitations: The design (single unit) must fit within 30 square meter limit to simulate real-world urban density challenges (the proposal of multiple units has no site/size limit)
• Sustainability: Emphasis on eco-friendly materials, energy-efficient systems, and minimal environmental impact.
• Livability: Despite compactness, designs should offer a high standard of living, incorporating natural light, ventilation, and essential amenities.
• Adaptability: Solutions should allow for flexibility in function and scalability across different urban settings.

Site

Participants can choose any urban setting, whether an existing city or an entirely new concept. The focus should be on developing a solution that is adaptable across various contexts—whether it’s a high-density urban core or a suburban fringe. The design should be scalable to work in different locations, reflecting the realities of modern urban expansion.

Schedule and Fees

• Submission: 25th December 23:59 GMT/UTC
• Late Registration: 25th December 23:59 GMT/UTC ($60 USD)
• Regular Registration: 10th December 23:59 GMT/UTC ($45 USD)
• Early Registration: 10th November 23:59 GMT/UTC ($30 USD)
• Results Announced: 25th January 2025

Submission Requirements

1. 2 x A1 Sheets explaining the value proposition or the design (each PDF with at least 150dpi – Max. 20 MB)
2. An optional 1-2 min Video explaining your design/concept (content in the video has been left to the participant’s consideration)
3. Participate in teams of 1-3 Individuals (Multiple Registrations Allowed using different Email IDs and Phone Numbers)
4. The final PDF must be named ‘team-.pdf’ (for example, team-1234.pdf if your team code is ‘1234’) and should be uploaded on Google Drive/Dropbox/OneDrive or any similar online file handler with ‘Public Access’ setting as ‘Enabled’
5. The final video must be named ‘team- | Seek Fanatic Competition #seekfanatic’ and uploaded as an ‘Unlisted’ video on YouTube (Choose ‘Mark as not made for kids’ while uploading)
6. The content in sheets should be free of any plagiarism (except collages and human cutouts in renders)
7. Submitted content must not include any information which exposes details of the participant or the region the participant resides in
8. Seek Fanatic logo must be postfixed to the video for 3 seconds with black background (Download logo: go.seekfanatic.com/logo)
9. Registration must be done on seekfanatic.com only – using the contact information of the team representative.
10. Team Number is the same as your Order Number (4-digit code) after payment of registration fees.

Note: Failing in compliance with any of the above requirements will lead to disqualification of the respected team from the competition, with a notification email to the registered email id of the team leader.

Prizes & Grants

• Winner x 1 = $1000 + Certificate + Publication in our Annual Issue + Blog Post
• Runners Up x 4 = $250 + Certificate + Publication in our Annual Issue + Blog Post
• Participation Certificates for all teams