Elías Ayala Juárez, from the School of Architecture of the University of Málaga, has won the first prize award of the Final Project competition degree program or Master's Degree Chair Madera Onesta, organized by the School of Architecture and Chair.

The project presented by the architect, graduate 'INSTANT PLUG', has stood out among the other proposals for "optimization, efficiency and good use of wood in the residency program of mobility international UMA students". In addition, "the project has an original structural system and adapted to the place where it is implemented, with innovative solutions in the housing occupation and with a careful development both in the construction and assembly of the proposal", according to statement the jury of the competition. 

"This award is an advance towards where I want to focus my professional degree program and is also a motivation to continue researching and growing in the world of architecture," says Elías Ayala. As for his project, he explains that "it is a system that through the modular spatial structure and the use of housing capsules ensures the social mobility according to its inhabitants, a construction system that allows customization, with wood as the main material. This research intends to delve into the total and sustainable industrialization of architecture".

Two projects awarded with runner-up prizes

In addition to the first prize award, two runner-up prizes were awarded. One of them was awarded to Laura Paz De Ochoa, from the School of Architecture, Urbanism and design of the National University of Córdoba, for her project 'New Industrial Landscapes - Infrastructure for the preservation of San Sebastián Bay'. He developed this project together with Mateo Boasso, from the same University. The jury valued "the clarity with which the intervention in El Páramo, located in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina), is approached. The project offers an alternative to the hydrocarbon industry through the design of a breakwater and an infrastructure that floats housing a pavilion composed of industrial and research uses. The whole is materialized as a floating piece of wood with a dynamic and adaptive character, coherent with the program it houses".  

"To receive this recognition gives us great happiness and satisfaction, for us it was very important that the thesis was something more than an academic project , we face it as a possibility to disseminate critical thoughts regarding issues that we are interested in putting on the table of discussion. goal Through the project we seek to think of overcoming opportunities that promote solutions for a true transition to a sustainable paradigm that has as its main focus the care of the natural heritage", comments Laura Paz. 

Image of project 'Nuevos Paisajes Industriales - Infraestructura para la preservación de la Bahía San Sebastián', by Laura Paz De Ochoa, awarded with a runner-up prize.

The other second prize went to project 'Horizonte próximo' (Interpretation center and archaeological park in the Alcazaba of Guadix), by Laura Muñoz González, from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Granada. The jury valued "the revitalization of the Alcazaba and the connection with the city of Guadix, adding value to the landscape, city and archaeological works. The project combines the serial use of wood and earth for the containment of the land, a rhythm that is appreciated in the temporary spaces by means of a light structure. The proposal manages to recover the image of the walled enclosure and gives the whole a unique unity and strength".

Laura Muñoz is grateful for this opportunity "to give our projects a route beyond the school and to bring us closer to the world of wood construction and its possibilities. Undoubtedly, it is a boost at the beginning of our professional degree program to face new stages with an ecological and critical look". As for his project, he emphasizes that "wood and earth coexist in a dynamic landscape that incorporates public and cultural uses while establishing a dialogue with archeology". 

Image of project 'Horizonte próximo', by Laura Muñoz González, awarded with a runner-up prize.

design with wood and sustainability

This is the IX edition of the contest whose goal is to reward the project Fin de degree program or Master's Degree (PFC - PFM) that uses wood as an important component in its design and takes into account aspects of sustainability. The award, which will be awarded on June 1 and 2 at the Baluarte Conference Center in Pamplona, consists of a scholarship for the Third Forum of Construction with Wood Spain (to be held in Baluarte), and the realization of a summer course of Construction with Wood of the School of Architecture of the University of Navarra.

The competition jury was composed of: Javier Sáez Gastearena, professor at School of Architecture; Marta Sánchez Fernández, director of Onesta's Projects Division; and José Manuel Cabrero, director of Chair Madera Onesta. When evaluating the proposals, the following criteria were taken into account: the use of wood as the main structural material; the creative and innovative use of wood in the design; the appropriate response to basic functional and architectural criteria; architectural coherence; and sustainability and environmental criteria.