Design and environmental friendliness can go hand in hand. When it comes to eco-friendly houses, most people tend to think of adding more green elements to the building. That is one way to do it, but participants in "Elle Decoration Young Talent Design Project 2015" have learned that there is a lot more than that.
The contest chose the theme "Super Natural" -- which means extremely natural -- as the starting point. All participants were required to design a home to fit the demands of green-advocate couple Pipat "Top" Apiruktanakorn and Sirapan "Noon" Wattanajinda, who prefer their abode to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
Participants had to apply at least one of the five given ecological design rules to their work. The rules included a design that complies with the environment; furniture made from recycling materials; use of the eminent energy principle; electrical appliances that save energy; and use of solar energy as part of the design or decor.
More than 200 young architects below the age of 32 and students participated in the contest that began last August. There were 15 finalists, and the winner was announced at a ceremony last week.
Winner Matusorn Surachattumrongrat, 27, came up with the concept called "Blend Eco To Living". "I blended different eco materials, types of space and cultures and then added a touch of Thainess to the decoration."
The winner applied her two-year-experience from working as an interior designer to work on this project. She realised that when it comes to a place for living, what customers actually need is not something fancy but simplicity and comfort.
"In the process, I needed to figure out what I could do with the space I was assigned. I applied the gradient technique with lath -- going from dense to sparse. I take some pieces of wood to create the pattern, and I ended up using only 40% of the wood. This way, the material can be reduced and it also helps increase visibility to the scenery outside," said Matusorn, who graduated with a degree in interior design from Assumption University.
For the interior living space, hemp was selected as the material for partition, grading from clear to opaque, from top to bottom. This is to give users privacy without feeling closed in.
According to Pipat and Siripan, the house owners in the project, the living space would be the most frequently used. Matusorn, once again, applied the idea of blending interior and exterior together.
"If the house owners spend more time outside, they can save more energy as they can use natural light instead of electrical lights and natural wind instead of air-conditioning."
The winner admitted that she wasn't familiar with eco-friendly design. But after going through this project, she has learned a few things on the way, especially that architecture can be part of nature.
"I think people now pay more attention to eco buildings because it's the way urbanists can live closer to nature and it is exactly what people want."
Leursak Yodrabum was the first runner-up in the contest. His design concept is called "Big Shelves".
"I want to emphasise the function so I installed big shelves on the walls for the owners," said the designer.
For the eco-friendly part, Leursak focused on materials by using wood floors, thin walls and a skylight roof so the wall would not absorb much heat, while natural light that came through the roof reduced energy usage.
"I think the 'eco' quality in architecture is about how to live well with the environment," said the 24-year-old architect. "Apart from natural light and wind, I want to bring nature closer to the house so I leave space for some climbing plants to grow on the outside walls and install the system where rainwater can automatically flow to the plants.
"This is the first time I have done a project along this concept. Now I understand what an eco-friendly house is, and what the important elements are," said Leursak.
The green advocate couple said they are delighted to see creativity from the upcoming architects who have gained more knowledge on eco-design, and eco is the topic they think is essential.
"I do believe that we can adapt ourselves to be more friendly towards the environment, beginning with something close to ourselves. I choose design to be the tool to attract people to give more importance to the issue. And I hope this project would help raise people's awareness on that."
Duangrit Bunnag, a well-known architect who served as one of the judges in this year's design competition, said that the "eco" concept may seem like a fad.
"But people in the design business truly express their concern about the issue. If there is something we can do to improve the ecology, we will try to do it."
