The winner of the BIQ competition is Petra Krobotová

IQ Housing Competition
A non-anonymous competition for architecture students from Czech universities on the topic of housing
The announcement of the competition results and the opening of the exhibition of the finalists' projects took place on May 24, 2010, at Wines Home, Bílkova 13, Prague. The exhibition will last until June 20, 2010.
Organizer: the online magazine Bydlení IQ
Subject of the competition: A showcase of students' projects on housing prepared as school work within the curriculum. The aim of the competition is to support and promote architecture in the field of housing.
Competition conditions: Students could apply with their annual project worked on during one of the last three semesters (academic year 2008-09 and winter semester of 2009-10).

Jury members:
Ing. arch. Markéta Cajthamlová
MgA. Ondřej Císler
MgA. Michal Kunc
Ing. arch. Michal Kuzemenský 
Ing. arch. Antonín Novák

The general public is most capable of understanding architecture in the area of housing, making the competition on the topic of housing one of the bridges between architects and the wider public. Not only individual family houses play a significant role, but also the level of developers' projects. Only enlightenment of the broader public can lead to clients being able to recognize quality housing. The competition could help clarify to the public what the values of a cultivated environment are, which should surround our lives at every step.
Housing is of particular interest to the younger generation, who are addressing their own living situations. Students can offer them interesting ideas, as they are very close in age, face similar problems, and share a similar lifestyle.
A total of 143 projects were submitted, with 131 works from 123 students from six universities meeting the competition conditions. The jury selected 20 projects for the finals and awarded 3 prizes and two honorable mentions.

Jury's statement on the competition:
"The competition topic was the students' perspective on housing issues. The jury evaluated all submitted projects. It appreciated the representation of nearly all architecture universities in the Czech Republic and the diversity of types and forms of submitted projects.
The jury emphasized the connection between the assignment, i.e., the questions posed, and the quality of the response. It examined all levels of the project in detail, from the context of the building concerning urban aspects to the interior layouts of the houses and architectural details. 
A significant trend was considerations about the social structure of the designs reflected in the structure of the city. Important were the students' thoughts on the city's structure for pleasant living, and considerations of the scale of smaller residential units."

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First Prize - 40,000 CZK
Petra Krobotová / Norra Guldheden, affordable housing
Fsv ČVUT Prague / Erasmus, Gothenburg, Sweden, supervisors Mortan Lund and Gert Wingardh
Jury's evaluation: When something is successful, it is successful all around. Petra Krobotová chose an interesting assignment, an exciting location, a residual context in the city, and proposed an adequate program for it—alternative housing. In a wooded ravine above the city stands a group of wooden houses that oscillate between cottages, apartment buildings, and community housing. The housing and houses reflecting the natural context of the location, in form and materials, have well-thought-out interior layouts, practical and usable floor plans. The composition of the whole from the individual houses is just as well set up. Based on pragmatically solved tasks, the poetry of the houses stands out. A slightly deformed shape, a hint of carelessness, an apparent randomness in the composition of the facades and the entire group of houses. The greatest strength of the whole is the naturalness with which it inhabits the slope. When something is successful, it is not usually a coincidence but a lot of hard work that is not visible. An adequate response was found to an interesting realistic question.


Second Prize - 20,000 CZK
Tereza Naarová / Intensive low-rise housing development in Plzeň
FUA TU Liberec, supervisor Jiří Suchomel
Jury's evaluation: There was no dispute in the jury about the qualities of this project. The project of intensive low-rise housing development continues the best examples of concentrated modernist housing (e.g., Atelier 5, BIG) while responding to the current state of urban decay, of which Plzeň is a typical example. The author imbued the project with several essential qualities: it is an intelligent urban structure providing pleasant housing with sufficient privacy while maintaining a high population density. The site has a suitably layered hierarchy of private, semi-private, and public spaces. The specific architectural form of the houses is then highly cultivated. The project is professional and excellently presented graphically.


Third Prize - 10,000 CZK
Jiří Žid / The vicinity of Lucemburská Street in Liberec
FUA TU Liberec, supervisor Zdeněk Fránek
Jury's evaluation: The jury appreciated the author's great dedication. The project demonstrates sensitive handling of scale, population density, and work with urban-forming principles observed and transformed for the present, along with a sense of creating a beautiful city despite machine-like and bureaucratic thinking. The author is not afraid to demolish what is suitable for demolition and to densely build the area. He compares various available approaches to solving the problem. The result is a coherent view of the city, from broad ties in the landscape to detailed consideration of living space. The jury emphasizes the educational subtext of the author's approach.