Building a place for contemplation and meditation

We live in an age of media overstimulation and overconsumption, accelerating the pace of our lives. With the ever-shifting need to fulfill social and economic requirements, the battle with stress is becoming harder. Hard-pressed life has become the current norm while attention to self - to think and contemplate is often considered useless and disregarded. Taking time to return to one’s inner self, digging deep into thoughts, and just being can help untangle complexities and contribute towards mental wellbeing.

Meditation has been associated with mental well-being for thousands of years. It is a way of life that is independent of place and time and has a direct effect on health, happiness, sleep, and longevity. One of the most significant elements in the healing process is the physical surrounding.

Today, the meditation process is mostly practiced in groups, however, it is a very personal and individual process and is more effective when practiced in solidarity. In the modern world where different spaces are designed for a variety of activities, there are very few devoted to thinking. These spaces can make a better life for humans by providing happiness and quietness as its main features.

Is it possible to build a mental and spiritual utopia? Can a structure located near the city feel like miles away from its busy life? Can a perfect balance between individual and group meditation be achieved?

The aim was to design a place for contemplation where an individual can escape from all the stress and anxiety through meditation. It should also provide overnight spaces for people coming from afar. Since the program and its effectiveness is dependent on physical surroundings, the designed complex should blend in with nature. Creating a human-made natural complex.

The jury for the competition consisted of esteemed designers, professionals, and academicians from around the world. The Lead Jurors for the competitions were as follows: 

Yuusuke Karasawa, President, Yuusuke Karasawa Architects, Japan

Kentaro Yamazaki, Chief Architect, YAMAZAKI KENTARO DESIGN WORKSHOP Co.,Ltd., Japan

Takuro Yamamoto, Representative, Takuro Yamamoto Architects, Japan

James Jamison, Co-founder / Architect, NIIMORI JAMISON, Australia

Yudai Niimori, Co-founder / Architect, NIIMORI JAMISON, Japan

Some of the Best of competition projects are:

 

Winning Project: PAUSE in the Garden of water lilies

By: Pedro A. Pallás

     

Description: In a world made of steel and concrete and densely built emerges as a wild garden. A garden where, as it happens, has grown a series of different pavilions among the flowers and the trees. We, as guests in this garden, have to respect the wild essence of the landscape and its inhabitants. If, for example, the river that runs close to us decides to grow one rainy day, it is only natural that we allow it with our proposal as much as possible.

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Runner - Up: MONO IN MIST

By: 之綠 林, 賴麗安 & 吳芷瑄

Description: The water city wall and the meditation garden.

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People’s Choice: Mangata

By: Tushar Choudhary, Priyanka Santosh, Navyaa Taneja & Reva Saksena

Description: Mangata: The reflection of the moon on water. “Let the water settle, You will see the moon mirrored in your being” -Rumi.

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Editor’s Choice: Centering Shibusa

By: Alicia Chen

Description: Centering Shibusa celebrates the ephemeral and imperfect state of nature which creates a safe space for occupants to pause and reflect inward.

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Editor’s Choice: The Fight

By: Abdulelah MJokhadar, Mehmet Fetullah & Bediz Başkan

Description: The main concept of our project is "Fight". The project approaches the definition of fight from two different perspectives. The first one describes the fight between the corrupt human with himself (the effort to return to the core). and the fight between "Nature" and "Architectural Structures" in the second scenario.

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Editor’s Choice: FOCUS

By: Samantha Rodriguez

Description: This project is named focus, like its name says it is focused on integration with nature.

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Editor’s Choice: Pause

By: Archi Han

Description: Building a place for contemplation and meditation. Use curves and light to create a quiet and stretched architectural space atmosphere.

 

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Discover the design brief here: https://uni.xyz/competitions/pause/info/about/ 

Discover the full results here: https://uni.xyz/competitions/pause/entries/    

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