Dezeen Wire: the winners have been announced for this year's Open Architecture Challenge, hosted by non-profit organisation Architecture for Humanity, with the top award going to a Ugandan proposal to build community hubs in a former refugee camp.

The Founders' Award went to Paicho Huts (above), a proposal to transform a former IDP (internally displaced people's) camp in Gulu, Uganda into community hubs for local people. The Challenge Winner was an Ocean & Coastline Observatory (below) on the site of the Trafaria defence batteries outside Lisbon in Portugal.

Other proposals include a food co-operative for a former air raid shelter in Berlin and a brass foundry to recycle spent ammunition shells in Pretoria, South Africa. See all of the winning projects on the Open Architecture Challenge website.

Over 500 teams submitted work to be judged on five criteria: community impact, contextual appropriateness, ecological footprint, economic viability and design quality.

T. Luke Young, who coordinated the competition at Architecture for Humanity, said the turnout had been "incredible", adding: “This is the most geographically diverse response we’ve had to an Open Architecture Challenge, a fact made more interesting considering the complexity of the project.”

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Here's the press release from Architecture for Humanity:

August 1, 2012: [UN]RESTRICTED Winners

Winners have been announced for the Open Architecture Challenge: [UN]RESTRICTED ACCESS hosted by Architecture for Humanity. The Founders' Award goes to Paicho Huts, a Ugandan proposal to transform a former IDP camp to benefit rural countrymen. The Winner of the Challenge, OCO - Ocean & Coastline Observatory, is a Portuguese proposal to reassign the Trafaria defense batteries outside Lisbon.

Challenge Winner - Ocean & Coastline Observatory, near Lisbon, Portugal

Founders' Award - Paicho Huts, near Gulu, Uganda

Finalists arranged by jury-determined categories:

Environmental Impact
First Place: Humboldthain Food Cooperative, Berlin, Germany
Second Place: Ecological Processing Zone (EPZ), Oakland, United States
Third Place: REGENERATE FT. CARROLL: a gateway ecological park, Baltimore, United States

Political Response
First Place: ALTER YOUR NATIVE BELFAST//ALTERNATIVE BELFAST, Belfast, United Kingdom
Second Place: Kikotemal' Rik K'aslem Memorial, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Third Place: Healing a Nation: Healing the Wounded, Tripoli, Libya

Economic Development
First Place: Magazine Hill: a weathered continuum, Pretoria, South Africa
Second Place: [ARCH]itecture for Comm[UNITY], Anniston, Alabama, United States
Third Place: The Store - Pillbox Conversion, Napier, New Zealand

Small-scale Intervention
First Place: PLUG-In HEBRON - People Liberated Urban Gaps In Hebron, Old City Hebron, Israeli Occupied Palestinian West Bank
Second Place: B-Tower (TM), various sites, Netherlands
Third Place: Paicho Huts, outside Gulu, Uganda (recipient: Founders' Award)

By the Numbers:
510 teams registered for the challenge
74 countries responsed to the Challenge
174 entries qualified for Round 1 jury
24 semifinalists qualified for Round 2 jury
13 finalists received awards and a feature at the 2012 Venice Biennale
10 countries on 6 continents contain award-winning design proposals

These proposals highlight the results of a Challenge that had engaged 510 teams from 71 countries in re-imagining former military spaces. The nature of the resulting standings reflect the extreme difficulty with which the interdisciplinary jury of 33 professionals evaluated the entries.

From five judging criteria - community impact, contextual appropriateness, ecological footprint, economic viability, and design quality – four further projects showing incredible strength were named equal First Place winners, behind the First Place and Founder’s Award, and seven additional teams identified as Runners-Up. Back-to-back rounds of judging narrowed nearly 200 qualifying proposals to 24 semifinalists, and then the winners.

“The turnout and production for this Challenge were incredible,” remarks T. Luke Young, who coordinated the competition at Architecture for Humanity. “This is the most geographically diverse response we’ve had to an Open Architecture Challenge, a fact made more interesting considering the complexity of the project.” Young recognised the effort made by the jury to provide each entrant with a thorough evaluation.

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Here are some more details from Architecture for Humanity:

To celebrate the publication of Design Like You Give a Damn 2, by Architecture for Humanity founder Cameron Sinclair, we are inviting architects, designers, artists, students and other creative individuals to come up with a proposal for a small scale project, product or build that embodies the spirit of humanitarian design.

Architecture for Humanity London and Studio 54 Architecture are co-hosting a week long event on the theme of designing ‘like you give a damn’. We’re calling for ideas that will in some way improve the London experience.

It could be an idea for a public space installation, a community enterprise, an eco building, an ingenious object, or anything that demonstrates how design can be used to make Londoner’s lives better and happier.

So ideas on a postcard, please. All entries will be exhibited. Visitors can vote on their favourite. We will choose a few ideas to take to the next step.

The proposal can be text, a sketch or other visual representation. Think of an idea that could benefit London. Be bold. Be adventurous. Think big. Or small.

Submissions should be made using the A5 postcard template below. Alternatively, you can download the postcard template from ideasonapostcard.org.uk. Please print on 200 gsm card or heavier stock or mount onto card (not foamboard). If you would prefer to use a pre-printed blank card contact us at the email below.

Don’t forget to include the project title, and your name and details and post to:

Submissions
Space fiftyfour
54 Rivington Street,
London EC2 A3QN

Deadline: 15th April 2012

For further information please email us at: submissions@afhuk.org

www.ideasonapostcard.org.uk

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Here's the letter in full:

Greetings,

The tragedy that has unfolded in Japan is unprecedented. We are all moved by the images and stories of those affected. Here at Architecture for Humanity we have received an outpouring of emails, calls and donations from concerned folks who want to help. We thought we would send you an update letting you know how we are responding.

We are in contact with design professionals and Architecture for Humanity volunteers in Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo. We are working with them to identify needs and next steps in the short- and long-term. We will continue to update you on the needs as we work to develop partnerships and projects.

If you would like to aid this effort, please consider donating. If you have already made a donation, thank you. In the near term, these funds will support local Japanese professionals as they provide damage assessments during the emergency and transitional phase. Further down the road, funds will go toward aiding local agencies in providing housing and the reconstruction of social and cultural infrastructure, such as schools, clinics and cultural centers.

You can also organize a fundraiser in your community. Contact us to find out how.

Please note: at the moment we will not be sending sponsored volunteers to Japan but will focus our efforts on supporting local professionals. However, if you're interested in volunteering, there are plenty of opportunities at our headquarters in San Francisco and with our chapters.

On behalf of all those affected and our colleagues in Japan, thank you for your support.

Very best,
Architecture for Humanity

More updates on the Architecture for Humanity website.

See also:

Earthquake movie filmed inside Sendai Mediatheque by Toyo Ito »
“Please help Japan” – Tokujin Yoshioka »
Help Japan Poster by Wieden + Kennedy »
All our stories about Japan »

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Dan Brill Architects of the UK are among 12 international practices shortlisted to design a pedestrian footbridge for Trestles Beach, a surf spot in southern California.

The Safe Trestles design competition, organised by Architecture for Humanity, sought designs that give provide surfers access to the beach from the road on the bluff above, carrying them safely across a railway line while protecting the fragile dunes.

The competition winner will be announced on Friday 7 May. See the shortlist and vote for your favourite here.

Here's some info from Dan Brill Architects:

DAN BRILL ARCHITECTS SHORTLISTED AS ONLY UK PRACTICE IN INTERNATIONAL DESIGN COMPETITION

Winchester-based Dan Brill Architects are the only UK practice to have been shortlisted as one of 12 semi-finalists for the design of a pedestrian footbridge in southern California.

Hosted by Architecture for Humanity, the Safe Trestles international design competition received over 100 entries for the design of a safe and low-impact access route to Trestles Beach, home to one of North America’s most prized surfing spots and the 6.0 Lowers Pro surf event. Every year more than 100,000 people follow informal trails through marshlands and over active train tracks to access the beach, presenting a safety hazard with passing trains and a threat to the marine habitat that is home to a number of endangered animal species and important flora.

In delivering a safe and ADA compliant route between the existing parking lot and beach, Dan Brill Architect’s proposal provides an inspirational and captivating design solution that preserves and enhances the co-existence of a delicate coastal ecology and a recreational surf spot.

Made of welded weathering steel plate, the structure is capable of spanning large distances, thereby requiring minimal foundations within the wetlands and safely clearing prevailing railway easements. The weathered steel plate also provides a resilient and robust finish requiring minimal maintenance in the sea air. In contrast with the steel plate, weathered timber decking provides a warm & tactile surface underfoot.

The proposal provides a new entrance to Trestles Beach from the existing parking lot, and incorporates elements of currently lacking infrastructure: toilets, showers, seating, drinking fountains, recycling bins, and a kiosk or information point.

The bridge varies between 3.5 to 7 metres in width, and incorporates two widened seating areas along its length, positioned to take in dramatic vistas across the wetlands and along the coastline. Educational signage is also incorporated, raising public awareness of the habitat and its endangered species.

The route terminates at Trestles Beach, and incorporates a plinth of informal spectator seating with toilet facilities and bicycle parking below. A lifeguard tower has also been incorporated into the design.

Competition finalists will be announced on Friday, May 7^th.

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