Laka Reacts Competition
Architecture that reacts. a competition consisting of over 240 participants, including submissions from architecture firms and design professionals from over 40 different countries around the world. My partner and I were one of the 10 honorable mentions in this competition for our project called Urban Acupuncture. The prompt was to find a problem/typology in the world, then design something that solves/reacts to that particular problem.
Recognition
Awarded Honorable Mention in International Laka Reacts Architecture Competition 2016
University of Colorado Awards 2017: Best 4th Year Architecture Award
University of Colorado Awards 2017: Best Open Category Design Award
Rx - Urban Acupuncture
Architecture is in need of an alternative remedy. In our rapidly developing world dominated by the automobile, man is in conflict with nature. To provide the necessary framework for urban circulation, traditional engineering has blocked the natural process of evolution that has been millions of years in the making. Specifically, the universal impervious parking lot is contributing to our Earth’s ill health and it is in our best interest to explore, diagnose, and cure.
By taking cues from alternative medicines, such as acupuncture, we can apply concepts to ameliorate harmful side effects being caused by our addiction to the automobile and restore our connection with the natural world. This one-type fits all parking solution is creating both long and short-term social and environmental problems rather than enhancing quality of life on earth. Can we create a new urban typology to interact with people and land in a harmonious way that eliminates stress from both the environment, and the user? Can we incorporate and apply alternative medicine practices as a way to heal our environment?
