Students in Carlos Reimers design studio at the Texas A&M Department of Architecture recently addressed a variation of what is known as a “Nine Square Grid” design problem in entries they prepared for the 2008 Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition, which is hosted annually by the Yoshioka Foundation in Japan.
The international contest, Reimers said, offers students “an opportunity for conceptual challenge and abstract exploration on issues of residential design.”
The nine square grid problem is a teaching tool developed by John Hejduk, an architect, conceptual artist, teacher and writer, to familiarize students with architectural space.
Rafael Moneo, a Spanish architect who counts the 1996 Pritzker Prize among his many awards and honors, will judge the competition.
Competitors were asked to submit solutions for a Four Square House design problem, which is a variation on Hejduk’s nine square grid problem.
The assignment, which Moneo describes as a tribute to Hejduk, is to design four houses in any configuration, each with a garage and a garden, having as its only restriction that they not exceed 162 square meters.
“This requires,” he said, “a consideration of issues such as orientation, contiguity, privacy, construction, and spatial structure.”
Contest details are posted online
- November 19, 2008 -
