“Urban Platform” Wins First in Lisbon Open Room Competition

Recent graduates Bumjin Kim of MIT and Minyoung Kim of Columbia University have won first place in ARCHmedium’s Lisbon Open Room competition for their project “Urban Platform”.

One of 67 teams to enter the competition’s “Young Architects” category, the team developed a modular urban intervention for Lisbon, Portugal, with the intention of “[providing] a more flexible space” for the city’s urban centre. Learn more about the winning project and view selected images after the break.

Elevation. Image Courtesy of Bumjin Kim, Minyoung Kim

ARCHmedium’s four-month competition was held between July and October 2014, and invited teams of students and young architects from across the globe to propose “good architecture for the people” of Portugal, who were severely affected by the global financial crisis of 2008. Entries were evaluated against a range of criteria including response to context and local culture, consideration of social and economic factors, and engagement with the overall urban fabric.

Described by the jury citation as “a great system that originates from the union of few elements,” Bumjin Kim and Minyoung Kim’s “Urban Platform” rests lightly on the site, evoking the appearance of temporary scaffolding. The young architects’ intention for the intervention to be “invisible from the [sic.] distance” is expressed through a bare aluminum tubular structure that complements its urban surroundings.

Functioning as an elevated public plaza, “Urban Platform” incorporates five different “modules” which are easy to build and reconfigure, allowing versatility of function. These five modules are: “steps, stage, void, enclosed space and Miradouro (a Portuguese word denoting an open-sided gallery and vantage point)”. The modules each serve a distinct individual purpose, and can be merged and arranged to give new functionalities. The adaptable structure is designed to conform to a variety of contexts and accommodate a range of uses.

Void spaces and a skeletal structure maximize the site’s 2100m2 footprint by allowing people to experience the space both atop and beneath the elevated platforms.

“…it guarantees a variety of urban spaces,” said the jury, “A flexible architectural bar takes the scale of the place and intervenes appropriately depending on the actual uses and needs.”

Competition: Lisbon Open Room
Award: First Prize
Project Name: Urban Platform
Architects:
Design Team: Bumjin Kim, Minyoung Kim
Area: 172.0 sqm
Year: 2014
Photographs: Courtesy of Bumjin Kim, Minyoung Kim