EUROPAN 17 – LIVING CITIES/2

TEAM PRESENTATIONS

PLEASE SEND US THE FILES BY JANUARY 8TH, 2024

VIA WETRANSFER ONLY, AT contact@europan-europe.eu

Dear Winning team of Europan 17,

Thank you for your contribution to Europan 17 competition and congratulations for your prize.
To promote the prize-winning teams of the Europan 17 session, Europan Europe will publish on its website
portraits of the rewarded teams (Winners, Runners-Up & Special Mentions) during 2024, and will link each
portrait by a post + a Reels on Instagram.
To do so we therefore need your help in providing us with the necessary information listed hereafter. Answers
shall be sent either in English (or in English and in French).
Do not hesitate to consult the Europan 15 and Europan 16 winning teams online portraits for inspiration; the
publication format will remain the same for E17.

QUESTIONS

1. How do you define the main issue of your project in relation with the theme “Living Cities
Imagining architecture taking care of the milieus”? And in which way do you think your project
can contribute to an ecological and/or social evolution?
An architect’s role in society today is similar to an ecological activist – one has to fight for designing
considerately for all living organisms, not only for humans. Our project, Aallonharja, proves that a
minimal design based on human needs can enhance visitors’ experience, all while protecting the
natural milieu of the Finnish archipelago. There is no justification to keep ruining the environment just
to improve tourism, as it has been done before.

2. How did the issues of your design and the questions raised by the site mutation meet?
The nature on the islands is fragile, so we studied different solutions for unintrusive construction. We
avoided the need for heavy machinery and used only lightweight structures, which led to the final scale
and materiality. To save as much nature as possible, we used adaptable foundations on land and made
the toilet cabin float on water next to the landing jetty. We used an iconic shape and colour to make
Aallonharja distinguish itself from existing private cabins.

3. Have you treated these issues previously? What were the reference projects that inspired yours?
We have visited the Helsinki archipelago many times before and we have enjoyed our visits on many
different islands. These past experiences were the biggest inspiration for Aallonharja. The traditional
shoreline structures inspired us to create our own design. Similarly, we wanted to build according to
the site's nature and scale. We also took inspiration from our past projects in Finland.
 4. How can your project be implemented together with the actors through a negotiated process and
in time. How did you consider this issue in your project?
The key material for Aallonharja is untreated timber, which is the most common Finnish renewable
material, as well as cost-efficient and easily transported to construction sites. Aallonharja has a simple
modular frame that can be multiplied and combined, so it can be built by locals or volunteers through
workshops and programs led by the city of Helsinki.

5. How did you form the team for the competition and if yes what are the skills you associated?
We have once won favourite proposal for an urban planning student competition in Helsinki. Having
observed how well we balanced each other out, we tried to recreate that experience. Eelis is an amazing
problem solver and can gather and essentialize all ideas into a strong concept, while Filip has a great
eye for detail and can stretch that concept further into something unique.

6. How could this prize help you in your professional career?

Every project and especially the competitions challenge us and teach us something new about
architecture. This competition was no exception. It is also great to find out that with our current skills
we were able to win a prize for Europan17. We can now showcase this reward and the experience we
have achieved, which can open new job opportunities.

Thank you for trying to be as clear and to limit each answer to 400 characters
Text format: .txt or .doc (no .pdf!)

In order to design an « identity card » of your team, please answer the following questions

IDENTITY

1. Does your team have a legal status, an address, a team name?

If so, please give details below:
- Legal status: -
- Address: -
- Team name: -
If not:
- After your Europan prize, are you planning to create one?
At least not yet
- What is the individual status of the associates’ members?
Architects: Student writing thesis and an employed architect
2. What is the average age of your team (average of the associates ages among the team)?
29

3. Has your team, together or separately, already conceived or implemented some projects and/or won
any competition? if yes, which one?
Favorite proposal in the Vuosaari Centre Architectural Student Competition Helsinki 2018 (Eelis Leino,
Filip Neagu, Lisa Caraux)
MATERIAL TO BE PROVIDED

- Updated NAMES, FIRST NAMES and FUNCTIONS of the team members + updated CONTACT INFO
(address, telephone, email, website) of the team – attention: no team member can be added to the
competition team; only one telephone / email / website will be published per team;
- A coloured GROUP PICTURE respecting the following format:
1 RGB banner of 680 px large x 220 px height, 72 dpi, compression jpg 8
- 3 REPRESENTATIVE CLOSE-UP PICTURES OF YOUR PROJECT, REFERRING TO QUESTION #2:
o RGB, landscape 2x3 (ex: 900 px large x 600 px height), 72 dpi, compression jpg 8;
o numbered from 1 to 3 (in the file name, not on the image);
o with a caption (60 character max., spaces included) .
- 3 PICTURES OF THE SITE THAT YOU CONSIDER SIGNIFICANT FOR THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR
PROJECT AND REFERRING TO QUESTION #3:
o RGB, landscape 2x3 (ex: 900 px large x 600 px height), 72 dpi, compression jpg 8;
o numbered from 1 to 3 (in the file name, not on the image);
o with a caption (60 characters max., spaces included).
- 3 IMAGES ON THE TOPIC OF LIVING CITIES/2 THAT INSPIRED YOU FOR YOUR PROJECT
o RGB, landscape 2x3 (ex: 900 px large x 600 px height), 72 dpi, compression jpg 8;
o with a caption (60 characters max., spaces included)
o with official credits.
- 3 IMAGES OF THE PROJECTS MADE BY YOUR TEAM
o RGB, landscape 2x3 (ex: 900 px large x 600 px height), 72 dpi, compression jpg 8;
o with a caption (60 characters max., spaces included)
o with official credits
- 1 VIDEO OF YOUR TEAM PRESENTING THE PROJECT AND ITS IDEAS, TO POST ON INSTAGRAM AS A
REELS:
o format 1080x1920 px / ratio 9:16;
o it should not exceed 90 seconds;
o with an image that could be used as a cover for the video.

Thank you for respecting the requested image formats.