In an totally unprecedented international context, the young architects, engineers, designers -students and professionals- are invited to design the habitats and lifestyles for tomorrow and to bring out their passion and audacity as well as their own vision of these new worlds that are opening up. Confining will have a very specific meaning this year in the expected architecture projects.The contest is dedicated to those who wish to submit innovative bio mimetic architecture projects related to the Oceans, to Space or to the Coastlines. They are deeply committed to a sustainable and resilient future. They are acutely aware of the major climate changes. Their imagination on the evolution of the lifestyles in our societies is overflowing and they wish to build in a different way respecting biodiversity and for the common good of all.

Celebrating the 10th edition of the competition in 2020, Jacques Rougerie Foundation invites you to imagine bold, visionary projects, in accordance to the major issues of humanity. The human being must be at the center of your project which will be based on bio-mimicry, an infinite source of inspiration. Since ever, nature has designed and manufactured the most elegant curves, the most beautiful shapes, and produces the best materials. In addition, your work will be all the more appreciated if carried out in a transversal and in multidisciplinary way.

Architects, engineers, designers, seize, the opportunity to create tomorrow’s ways of life, to promote the richness of the sea and space, respecting them!

Today more than ever, we must find new forms of habitat and mobility, new ways of life that have to be inventive and efficient for the 10 billion people who will be living on earth in 2050, 75% of whom will live near coastlines and will be therefore particularly concerned by the challenges of the sea level rise. Prospective work on living in space has never been so ambitious. We must act to preserve and build the future of humanity in a sustainable way. To succeed in it, we must dare! In 1869 Jules Verne published “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea”. He was deeply convinced that

“Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real”.
The underwater Village

The underwater Village will host a community of women and men, the Meriens , aquanauts living in osmosis with an extreme environment for long term stays. It places the human beings at the center of this submarine world and carries values of solidarity. It can be located at different depths and will accommodate a community of 150 to 250 people or more.

Focus : Lunar village

All space exploration roadmaps include the Moon as the next step before a trip to Mars. The Human presence on this satellite in permanent infrastructures would therefore constitute a real springboard before further exploration. Jan Woerner, Director General of ESA (European Space Agency), proposed the concept of the “Moon Village” in 2015. This vision implies an incrementally growing ensemble suited for multiple uses and open to multiple users.

Focus : The African coastline

President Mandela said in 1998 that Africa’s long and beautiful coasts and abundant marine resources can contribute to improving the continent’s economic, food and environmental security. Africa, being bordered by the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Indian Ocean to the east and the Southern Ocean at the southern end of the continent, is well endowed.