Results of the 2nd Public Design Competition - CONCRETITION -

« Recreate Concrete Outdoor Picnic Furniture » was the second international open competition of ideas to reveal talents and fresh ideas that can benefit to the community sponsored by leading precast concrete company URBASTYLE: www.urbastyle.com

It was open to students and young professionals from 18 up to 30 yrs old, fully anonymous for the jury (not based on reputation but talent) and there was no fee to enter. Candidates in the field of architecture, design, landscape, urban planning, engineering, were invited to challenge themselves, discover precast architectural concrete, and design precast concrete elements in relation with theme of picnic and specifically the trio: table-bench-trashcan.

Candidates were invited to think openly on what could be the picnics of tomorrow, alone or in couple, in family, with pets, wild animals, what would be the food, drinks on the table, ... Projects of candidates had to be made of precast architectural concrete. Accent was also set on accessibility, “design for all” and eco-design.

This second edition was organized by POSIDE and the regulations were complying with the highest international standards of design competitions of ideas and respect of the rights of each participant.

Big thanks again to all participants, medias that help to promote the competition, schools, the sponsor URBASTYLE and the great international Jury. 

Jury day

More than 360 people registered for the competition from 68 countries around the world. 136 projects were submitted and 13 finalists were chosen by the jury. The competition ran until 30 September 2021 at midnight. The international jury gathered on 15 October, reviewed all the entries and decided to select 13 projects. Among them, they awarded three prizes of respectively 2000 €, 1200 € and 800 € plus one honorable mention.

Results

Winners of the competition are now known and it is a trio of ladies from France and Russia who won the top places.  We organized an online reveal to tell them who was third, second and first: 

Winners

1st prize 

‘ISLETS’ by Gisèle Blanc Garin, France.
Student from La Cambre design school in Brussels, teacher Marion Beernaerts.

COMMENT : The jury liked the round sh apes, the simplicity, the different possibilities with simple elements and the details for the water. It is also very easy to produce. Although the size is probably to adapt to another scale than the original project, it does not remove anything to the very nice project who deserves its first place. The design is exquisite, sign of the best designers.

2nd prize 

‘ CIRCLE’ by Anastasia Shukan, Russia.
Young Professional in Architecture from Tambov

COMMENT : There is everything in this project for an interesting picnic, a table, a narrow bench, a large bench, the possibility for kids to scroll under or lay down. It would be a very nice addition to any park, around a fire or around a tree. There is no need to add a metallic table or chair, the concrete result is beautiful, smooth, attracting. The structure is hollow under, using less concrete, a plus. A great second prize for a great international design!

3rd prize 

'M.E.R.B.‘ by Deborah Wadey, France.
Student from La Cambre design school in Brussels, teacher Marion Beernaerts.

COMMENT : The jury liked the simple beauty of this project, interlocking shapes, almost like children blocks, but not too much, plus a little detail to create another level. Everybody gets together around theses shapes that can go anywhere.

Honorable mention

‘UNITY’ by Hugo Simon, Belgium.
Student from La Cambre design school in Brussels, teacher Marion Beernaerts. 

COMMENT : A very simple and textured shape in two heights create a set of complex elements generating a table or a seat. Although it looks a bit industrial with these vertical lines, there is a natural beauty in this project. It is a bit like if concrete suddenly was soft and generating all these curves. So many possibilities to play when placing the blocs. The touch of a future Charles Kaisin?

Finalist

‘HOLLOW’ by Anatole Edelsztein, Belgium.
Student from La Cambre design school in Brussels, teacher Marion Beernaerts

COMMENT : A simple element you flip over to create a seat or a table. Although the jury received a lot of very similar projects, the simplicity, yet almost perfection of this one just beats all the others. Little detail not great for blind people, they must be placed or highlited so they can be detected with a white stick. The dimensions have to be reviewed and tested in real size.

Finalist

‘RECREATION SHELL’ by Anik Kumar Chanda & Sikder Mohika Proma, Bangladesh.
Architecture students

COMMENT : A very beautiful and elegant design. Yet, the jury was a bit lost with too many elements... The thin elements in height are hazardous for blind people and others who would not pay too much attention. But there is design, quality of the answers and a natural beauty in this project that deserves to be highlighted as finalist.

Finalist

‘BONES’ by Gisèle Blanc Garin, France.
Student from La Cambre design school in Brussels, teacher Marion Beernaerts

COMMENT : This second project of Gisèle Blanc Garin made it also to the finalist list. It has this functionality and simplicity needed. Seat, table, bar, another great project. For the people who are worried about the stability: the curvature, the weight and the possibility to fix the concrete elements would definitively answer your fears. Also, there is need to pay attention to the people with impaired vision to avoid that they would hurt themselves with the high elements that they cannot detect with a white stick.

Finalist

‘WITH U’ by Guo Hanchen & Fu Yawen, China.
Young Professionals in Architecture from Shanghai 

COMMENT : A very nice and huge piece of concrete proposing different functions. We did not show you the other page of the project, but possibilities are numerous. It is playful, we want to use a skateboard on them or a little radio-controlled buggy. Then it would scare people wanting to have picnic away ;) Be careful with the hanging sides that are not detectable by people with a white stick. Anyway, a big work made and congratulations for making it to the finalists.

Finalist

‘FOLDED PICNIC’ by Joséphine Vanderburgh, Belgium.
Student from La Cambre design school in Brussels, teacher Marion Beernaerts

COMMENT : An interesting concept from somebody who experimented her model with clay. The same element is used in different positions to create a seat, a table or a fountain. Well done!

Finalist

‘KARPET’ by Lucas Sabatier, France.
Student from La Cambre design school in Brussels, teacher Marion Beernaerts

COMMENT : A very smart idea and very nice shapes to create a seat or a table, a sofa. There seems to be a problem of dimensions in the proposal that should probably be bigger than what the human silhouettes are showing, but the jury noticed the quality of the concept, so simple, yet sophisticated.

Finalist

‘LINE 8' by Maria Lepina, Russia.
Young Professional in Architecture from Moscow

COMMENT : There is beauty, elegance, simplicity, yet complexity and services like a firepit or a barbecue. The low bench is amazing. The other bench makes you feel like you are hanging in the air. The concrete ribbon in concrete is very beautiful. But the slide did not help the project. It seemed too dangerous for children, too fragile to manufacture and hazardous for people with impaired vision. It caught the eyes of the jury and it was nice to have a slide proposal, it helped to reach the finalist list, but it did not help to reach the top 3 positions. 

Finalist

'BACK TO NATURE’ by Clara Redondo & Juan Francisco Alva, Spain.
Young Professionals in Architecture from Collado Villalba & Madrid 

COMMENT : An amazing project that reinvents the way to manufacture concrete furniture, combining it with Corten steel. These young architects are very smart and their project could have make it to the top 3. The renderings are amazing and give a good idea of what it could be in reality. Their project included also a trashcan, a planter and they were ticking all the boxes. But a jury is a jury and is sovereign in his decisions. They like or not such sharp and massive shapes. Anyway, great work!

Finalist

‘JOURNEY’ by Biswas Rounak, India.
Young Professional in Architecture from Kolkata

COMMENT : The unexpected project! A very beautiful research on the needs. It protects from the wind, the rain, you can sleep overnight in it, you can play, eat on it or under it, ... Well, the grass would not last long inside and there would need probably for some kind of floor and it is huge and over the limits of the competition, but the solution is so poetic, elegant and original, different and it is a must to be in the finalists. 

Nota bene: the surprise of the Jury

Because the competition was fully anonymous and the international jury could not be influenced by external information, it was a huge surprise for the Jury members to discover after the selection that 7 top projects including 2 of the prizes and the honorable mention were students from one school: La Cambre Brussels. The Jury wants to congratulate the teacher, Marion Beernaerts, for this amazing success to place so many projects on top of a world competition.

Prototyping concrete award by URBASTYLE goes to

The Concretition competition sponsor URBASTYLE (www.urbastyle.com), with support of the international Jury chose also to attribute the prototype to the first prize 

‘ISLETS’ by Gisèle Blanc Garin, France
 
The prototype should be exhibited at the Atomium in Brussels (www.atomium.be) and/or the Design Museum of Brussels (www.designmuseum.brussels).