Quick Draw McGraw at the Dwell Wacom Ecodesign Challenge
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 06.11.08
We have covered many design competitions, but have never seen one like the Dwell Wacom Live Ecodesign Challenge that was held on June 6th. Contestants were challenged to design "a modular home with eco-friendly green energies, plenty of natural light, and color, with a good flow internally, and which could be built for under $300K and could be no larger than 3,000 sq ft."
No problem there, except the contestants had to do it live. At a party. With everybody watching. They called it “video-game-tournament-meets Iron-Chef”
The contestants were pre-screened, culled form the best schools in the Los Angeles area, and these guys draw like the wind. Geoff Manaugh of Dwell said "Creating an original design, live, in front of spectators, with a variety of tough design constraints, will certainly earn the winning designer the title."
Olek Novak-Zempliński won with the scheme shown above, which included:
Sustainable Features:
Passive Lo-Tech Energy Saving Solutions:
* a wind catcher for ventilation and cooling
* greenery on walls for better insulation
Lifestyle:
* living spaces on 2nd floor (more light)
* bedrooms on the 1st floor
* home office (2nd floor)
* greenhouse integrated into the roof and attic
* a goat
Jaws must have crashed to the ground as Mark Groerner's rendering started appearing on the screen- to see this kind of work appear before your eyes in 45 minutes must have been an extraordinary experience. Judge Paul Petrunia said "Mark Goerner, the runner-up, displayed awesome rendering skills but did not meet the program requirements as well as the winning entry by Olek Novak-Zemplinski. Olek's entry was presented beautifully, in addition to displaying a variety of eco-friendly elements and realistic budget requirements."
One can see how they came to that conclusion; Groerner's scheme broke the budget for sure.
More at :Guerillapr.com
Artists at work. See also ::Bustler
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Thanks for writing about this Tree Hugger.
I may just add that the image you are using at the top of your post may be confusing as it was not the winning image of the competition but just one from the splash page advertising the contest before it happened.
I think it would be better if you replaced it with the image of the house that was actually made during the contest. You are only showing the interior (second image).
Other than that - great post!
Thanks for writing about this Tree Hugger.
I may just add that the image you are using at the top of your post may be confusing as it was not the winning image of the competition but just one from the splash page advertising the contest before it happened.
I think it would be better if you replaced it with the image of the house that was actually made during the contest. You are only showing the interior (second image).
Other than that - great post!