People often talk about it. Mass culture is steeped in its legends and landscapes.Yet, this time the Ireland we are about to describe is not the Ireland of Celts, moors, fairies or sprites. This story is about a dusty Ireland made of dirt and sweat, efforts and poverty.
This is the Ireland of miners, men and women of brave heart that used to mine from the heart of the island the minerals feeding the furious 19th-century industry. This is a story of silent heroism, ordinary people, an extraordinary ordinariness attested by majestic ruins that are no less fascinating than the stark castles and mysterious abbeys depicting the best-known face of Romantic Ireland.
The architectures towering over Allihies mines are machine-buildings that used to move miners underground. Today, they appear as gutted stone engines that seem to defy gravity with their huge cracks. Nevertheless, for centuries they have been guarding natural paradises that had been abandoned or visited by a few passionate hikers.
Today, though, the common perception is changing, and new scenarios are being set for these architectures too.
There is an increasingly common need for solitude, silence, return to vast natural spaces.
Indeed, there is a growing need to escape from the urban environment, from an everyday life that is often too suffocating and alienating. There is an increasingly common need for solitude, silence, return to vast natural spaces. It is the need to reconnect with one’s intimacy to be met by visiting places with supernatural fascination. Notoriously, Ireland is studded with the most intriguing scenarios.
Ancient mines were built to mine minerals from the mountain. However, in their ruins, maybe contemporary humanity can mine something that is even more valuable than metals and find that sense of peace and harmony contemporary society has somehow jeopardized.
This is the goal of the competition Ireland Meditation Mine, aiming at turning Irish industrial archeology masterpieces into a retreat and meditation destination for people who look for meaningful experiences away from contemporaneity and immersed in the mystic beauty of a timeless nature.
Surrounded by stones tormented by the wind and uninterrupted silence, humanity can undertake the escape from civilization that urged the first wise men to retire to their caves in pursuit of a solitary life that has always been considered the most effective recipe for human happiness.
YAC thanks all designers who will accept this challenge.
Winners
First Prize
MFDPI
Pierre IDE, Matthieu FARIA
Second Prize
Mograph studio
Giovanna de Simone, Matteo Amicarella
Third Prize
ABBO1
Yeji Cha, Jinkyung Kim, Jeewon Koo, Bora Kim
Gold Mention
Marcelo Suarez
Marcelo Suárez
Gold Mention
AnT_MT
Antigoni Antonopoulou
Mention
LIU&LIU
Jiayi Liu, Meihan Liu
Mention
Eye for Sky
Siyu Zhu, Yijia Tang
Mention
PAMPA
Facundo Garcia Berro, Paula Lesch
Mention
Studio UFO
Laurens van Zuidam
Mention
BC-HA-CM
Carlota Mendes, Henrique Andrade, Bruna Cardo
Mention
Teams
Jiwon Kim, Shichen li, Jingxian Pan, Isadora Panjaitan, Yun ki Cheung
Mention
310 Architecture + Interiors
Albert McDonald, Alex McMillian, Fabiola Minerali, Clark Williamson, Lucas Stott
Mention
D.oT Architects
James Della Valle, Cira Oller Tovar
Mention
Imaginary Rock
Tul Srisompun, Sze-Hin Jason Leung, Nadina Bold
Mention
Studio Dash
Shida(世达) LIU(刘), YiKai(逸恺) LIN(林), Huixuan(慧萱) ZHANG(张)
Finalist
YUTA ARCHITECTS
Yutian Tang
Finalist
kamecki.architektura
oskar kamecki, Hubert Klimko
Finalist
YAO&YANG
Jiawei Yao, Zhaoxuan Yang, Tianjian Li
Finalist
BCMWY
Will Banks, Reilly Walker, Seungbin Yoo, Jia Mi
Finalist
SANCHEZ arquitectos
David Sánchez Pérez
Finalist
Be.Ne LAB
Carlo Bessega, Carlo Nessi
Finalist
DP1815
CARLOS AUGUSTO GÓNDOLA, DAVID YOUNG, JOSE LUIS DELGADO, GABRIEL ATENCIO FRAUCA
Finalist
JHMus
JIHO YOON, HAEMIN SONG
Finalist
netPLZ
minjae Lee, kyoungwon Song, jihun Park
Finalist
Atelier IN
Jinlong Li, Sen Yan, Zhouxi Bi, Yujing Chen
Finalist
ATVS6868
Son Bui, Thang Nguyen, Long Vu Nguyen, Anh Hoang
Finalist
HOOLIBA Studio
Joe Bayley, Robin Hoolachan, Kallum Lightfoot
Finalist
Bowen Chen
BOWEN CHEN, Yikai Qiu
Finalist
AltAug
Valerian Althammer, Merlin Augele
Finalist
RAYA x SANTHIA
Thanatorn Absanthia, Pitiwat Thitiyaphat, Sirut Reinhard Huehne
Finalist
cuhk1
Tsz Kwan Kelvin Chan
Finalist
NOOA____
Fabio Nicoló, Shotaro Oniki, Mattia Oretti
Finalist
OLENIECKI & PACHECO & ABI ANTOUN
Grzegorz Oleniecki, Ramy Abi Antoun, Letícia Pacheco
Finalist
KAL_2
Hyeonsu Kim, Chan Hyeon Lim, Ha Young Lee
Finalist
ImmHnQn
Quan Nguyen
Finalist
Studio Lord
Hugh Wyeth, Adrian Lord
Finalist
Sattopela
Tamta Jugashvili, Aleksandre Gachechiladze, Zhong Jian Kee
Finalist
BLOCK
Vusal Huseynli, Guntakin Abushova, Kenan Abdullayev
Finalist
Alliarch
Franco Allia
Finalist
JPLOIS
Juan Pablo Lopez Isabella
Finalist
YIIVA
Yunqi Wei, Yizhuang Liu
Finalist
AONED3
Jingwen He, Alexa Jaworsky, Libao Wang, Dominico Obmerga
Finalist
AM Studio
ALEXANDRA ACOSTA, RICARDO AVENDAÑO, VALENTINA CARDENAS, ANGELICA GARCIA
Finalist
studio correct
SHANGJUN CAI, YANG ZHONG, QI. WANG
Finalist
Carrello8
Danilo Freguglia, Mattia Pierbattista, Agata Cimoli, Chiara Biondi
Finalist
Yicheng Wang
Yicheng Wang
Finalist
SCALE
YOON HAE CHOI, SEOKHYEON KIM, JIN GYUNG CHOI
Finalist
Marc Sherratt Sustainability Architects
Marc Sherratt, Annelide Sherratt, Lance Ho Hip, Nakita Oberholze