Second Place: Eban Aya by Atelier Koe “Earth construction is thousands of years old. Concrete has a much shorter story.” Based 15 miles south of Dakar in Senegal, French-born architect Richard Rowland had already been experimenting with earthen construction, even fashioning three-story buildings, before hearing about the NKA Foundation contest. His proposed structure mixes mud with bamboo, in order to achieve sustainability and affordability. In Africa, he says, you often see people buy a plot of land, and then slowly buy material and build up their home over a few year period. With a bamboo-based structure, future homeowners can literally grow walls on their land. The lightweight material provides shade, circulation, and shelter from heavy rains, and the ability to grow your own building material has income-producing and community-building applications. Search “contests” from Modern Mud Homes: A New Take on Building in Ghana

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Second Place: Eban Aya by Atelier Koe

“Earth construction is thousands of years old. Concrete has a much shorter story.” Based 15 miles south of Dakar in Senegal, French-born architect Richard Rowland had already been experimenting with earthen construction, even fashioning three-story buildings, before hearing about the NKA Foundation contest.

His proposed structure mixes mud with bamboo, in order to achieve sustainability and affordability. In Africa, he says, you often see people buy a plot of land, and then slowly buy material and build up their home over a few year period. With a bamboo-based structure, future homeowners can literally grow walls on their land. The lightweight material provides shade, circulation, and shelter from heavy rains, and the ability to grow your own building material has income-producing and community-building applications.