Rookies

Supported by some of the biggest names in the creative industries, The Rookies is the world's leading international annual competition for young, up and coming designers, creators, innovators and artists. A juror since 2016, having reviewed this year's entries in the category of Architecture, my star picks for 2017 are: 

DNA House [above] by Anna Eckes of Cracow University explores the potentialities of biomolecular computing in architectures within a fresh water habitat. The project evidences study of organic forms in their natural setting, interest in biological processes and structures, and an appreciation of the subtlety of the beauty of faunal species. 

The work of Peter Efe of University of Greenwich [below] resides in the domain of the imaginary city. The entry is one of four cities that he conceived, for which inspiration came from sources including the Lloyd’s Building by Richard Rogers, a city of the dead featured in Hollywood movie The Mummy (1999), and the Neo Apocalyptic City.

The Amalgamation Ritual [bottom] by Martynas Kasiulevicius of University of Westminster is designed around a Cappadocian Maple tree in Kew Gardens, London. The tree was "3D scanned to obtain accurate three-dimensional readings and accurate scale data of every phototropic branch and trunk". Exploring an ancient pagan handfasting ceremony, the project artfully combines inspiration and ideas spanning anthropology, culture, ecology, and architecture, together with a high degree of skill in working with several artistic mediums. 

View the Rookies 2017 Architecture entries at: 
http://www.therookies.co/projects/architecture/