Mediterranean Sustainable Architecture 2013 : international design competition

Abstract

MEA2013, the International Design Awards Competition, is honoring innovative and creative design solutions completed during the last five years in the Mediterranean zone, where climate and economic limitations are akin. Forty-one (41) projects realized around the Mediterranean were submitted by the end of April, aiming to enhance exchange of ideas on environmentally conscious design, and enrich the ecological sustainability approach. All participating projects should follow the principles of sustainability in architecture, mainly through environmentally responsive passive design solutions. Selected proposals demonstrate good appreciation of the competition objectives, with sensitive handling of local context and climate. It is worth noting that despite the diversity of origin and approach, all awarded projects promote the dialogue on the implementation of mild strategies of sustainability, which is much more than just energy efficiency. Beyond its declared focus on sustainable architecture, an important objective of this competition is to sail away from the dominant standards of our time and draw attention to peripheral creations, away from the race to catch up with the global narrative, to the slow, subtle process of coping with the rigor of the natural ecosystem that embraces the innovative, transformative and local. In fact. contrary to what one might think, implementation of sustainable strategies in design enhances originality. And, the use of contextual parameters, acts as a generator and inspiration for good architecture. The submissions and awards reveal case studies with both unities and diversity of building in present and future time. Evidently, the humanistic dimension of sustainability. by sensitive handling of local context and climate. expands well beyond the shores of the Mediterranean basin.