18/08/20
Same as last year, the Will + Partners team is happy to announce that we continue to sponsor and to support young talented designers through the WILL+PARTNERS DESIGN PRIZE.
The WILL+PARTNERS DESIGN PRIZE was formulated on our beliefs and main theme of Wellness and Sustainability, a design prize that recognises and rewards outstanding design skills found in Brighton University Students- specifically Final year MArch Architecture and Final year Masters in Interior Design. It focuses on our effect as human beings within our architectural environment through our behaviour and wellbeing. One that enhances our quality of living and wellbeing through innovative and great design.
Winning this year's WILL+PARTNERS DESIGN PRIZE 2020, are:
Sasan Sahafi, a MArch Architecture student at University of Brighton, School of Architecture and Design and Beth Starling Masters in Interior Design at University of Brighton. Both students demonstrated a deep understanding of the importance of wellness and sustainability with digital acceleration throughout their design portfolio and their design ideas.
We also want to mention the exceptional work of both Nuria Garcia Vazquez and Adrian Petkov for their clever approach to design and their exceptional drawing skills. We would like to congratulate both Charbel Eid and Nour Amhal for their creative work and for being nominated for the WILL+PARTNERS DESIGN PRIZE.
The Port Towers of the Forest by Sasan Sahafi / University of Brighton
Below is a little of what the students had to say is response to receiving the prize:
"Dear Will and Partners, I would like to thank you sincerely for your recognition of my project and thesis for the 1st place in the Will+Partners 2020 Prize. It gives me great happiness to receive this award for a subject which I am very passionate about, the unignorable fact that architecture cannot exist without humans and humanity. An award that is even more precious in a time where architecture can suffer from a lack of empathy with humanity in the design. The fact that an award is given with such a concept of the architectural environment and its effect on human behaviour, gives me hope for a better future, and is a bigger reward overall. Thank you once again for giving the time to consider my project and giving such an opportunity even in a year of bleak uncertainty around the globe."
Sincerely, Sasan Sahafi. The Will and Partners MA Architecture Award 2020 – 1st Prize
"Dear Will and Partners, first of all, I would like to thank you for offering us the opportunity to participate in this award, and for taking the time to look at our work. I am beyond grateful for being given an honourable mention for my drawing skills and having the time I spent on creating the concept and representative style be appreciated. Once again, thank you for the recognition and for the opportunity."
Kind regards, Nuria Garcia Vazquez. The Will and Partners MA Architecture Award 2020 – Honourable Mention
"I would like to personally thank the judges for selecting my portfolio in first place for the Will and Partners prize. I strongly believe that the design of a space has a direct impact on how a person feels or behaves within it. I aim to design spaces which are animated and encourage user interpretation. Multiple configurations allow for increased functionality and personalisation. I really enjoyed exploring a varied creative process throughout this project. I am grateful to the judges for selecting my work and giving me the opportunity to have my work featured on Dezeen."
Beth Starling. The Will and Partners MA Interior Design Award 2020 -1 st Prize
More about the projects and the students:
The Port Tower(s) of the Forest by Sasan Sahafi
Social polarisation and environmental resource management are two intertwined problems facing our cities of the future. These problems are exacerbated by human-made problems such as rising population, unbalanced consumption, inequality of access to resources, narrow-minded governing bodies, as well as unforeseen natural circumstances such as climate change, disease and diminishing resources that are irreplaceable. These are the biggest challenges facing us in creating civic, socially and environmentally sustainable models for design concepts of the future.
As a designer, it is important to connect humanity and the environment in a diverse, rich, organic mechanism through the act of ‘gathering’. The spirit of ‘gathering’ is the sharing of ideas, resources, materials, spaces, and experiences, which can provide solutions to problems of the future. Designers should not attempt to directly solve the problems of humanity, instead, they should try to create the right environment for the ‘gathering’ events to happen. As an architectural designer, my aim was to strengthen the connection between the gathering of resources and social gatherings through an idea of a ‘port’.
The port tower is a model for a new city concept with movement at its core. On the social side of the connection, it provides a solution for short term gatherings and shared use. The movement from and to other living environments, such as existing towns and cities, will enrich the port tower and provide a healing mechanism for the existing living environments. This will provide a continuous dynamism by diversifying the users. With each contribution, the tower itself will evolve, and the more diverse the ‘movers’, the richer the gathering.
The idea of the collection of rainwater through a specifically designed façade provides the main environmental gathering aspect of this connection. The collected water is both for the users of the tower, as well as being stored and distributed to the surrounding areas.
The Port Tower concept provides an infrastructure for gathering and spreading of environmental resources, and more importantly, the experience of events via the people. It is a vessel that brings together different people in a shared place, to build up experiences and share them back, therefore enriching the cultural fabric of society, like a high street.
The Port Towers of the Forest by Sasan Sahafi / University of Brighton
Animated Art Creation by Beth Starling
"This project developed from the understanding that user comfort is dependent on their spatial environment. The adaptable workspace sits within the Turbine Hall at The Tate Modern in London. It invites activist groups and those experiencing social inequality to inhabit the space, letting it give voice to their cause. It aims to modernise the concepts of teaching, making, researching, and displaying by embodying themes of collaboration, inclusion, rebellion, and honesty.
The installation travels across site, animating space and evolving its purpose as it enters the different phases of listening, activity, and display. This co-working space encourages collaboration between activists, multiple artists, and visitors of the Tate Modern. Art is generated as a mechanism for exploring complex discussion and is built on the understanding that everyone can be an artist.
The workspace recognises that people are individual. The environment has a significant impact on how a user behaves within a space. For this reason, the space has numerous configurations which allow for independent study and group collaboration. The space becomes a hub of inclusive and dynamic activity, which can be manipulated by its user, dependent on personal preference and desired spatial use. The level of adaptability reflects the numerous groups which may inhabit the space successively.
Sustainable work spaces should be designed with consideration towards present and future use. This installation grew from the belief that the spaces should not be static. Designing an environment which is easily adapted increases its longevity. As projects develop spatial purpose evolves and creative processes advance. It was important to design a space that adjusted and grew simultaneously as project discussions shifted through phases of research, art creation and display."
Animated Art Creation by Beth Starling / University of Brighton
Alternative City by Adrian Petkov
"The Alternative City is a concept for an annex I designed as part of my master's degree in Interior Design at a gallery in London, the Tate Modern. It essentially aimed to increase the capacity of sharing artists’ skills with the public, improve the building’s circulation and engage with a broader audience. Overall, my design aims to mirror the false representation visitors are encountered with upon entering the gallery (brick exterior/steel interior) and create a game of overlapping geometry and materials. It’s fundamental for museums to provide various route choices in order to generate a random distribution of people so I wanted to accentuate this through my moving studios and bridges. Their architecture intents to maximise the visual and physical encounters users would experience and promote the multidisciplinary communication among them. The modular bridges connect people from different locations in Tate Modern and serve as a social point for the public to contemplate between exhibition visits or observe the work carried out in the nearby studios. The studios are designed for artists to work in, however, because of their nature curators could also create a whole new experience and journey within the gallery. The workspaces are stimulating the free flow of ideas but are also flexible and adjustable enough to suit individuals' needs. They are accessed through a scaffolding structure which provides an exhibition point and creates a local space within the Turbine Hall's ground floor encouraging visitors' exploration. With this project I was interested in the abilities architecture offers when it comes to stimulating certain activities. I aimed to acknowledge the importance of the work environment and its effect on our productivity because more than ever, the workplace design has shifted and could be potentially reconfigured. I will further explore this through my master's thesis work. "
Alternative City by Adrian Petkov / University of Brighton
