Syracuse Architecture Students Win Top Prize at Home2124's Innovative Residential Design Award

Architecture students took home the prize for designing a residential building at an international design competition.

This 2024, the Home of the Next Century: Home2124's first prize was given to Syracuse architecture students in their fifth year. Their design, called 'The Domestic Nomad,' reimagines domestic living in the modern era.

Syracuse University shared that the competition is the fourth edition of Home2124's tournament. Sponsored by Archiol Competitions, it challenged architects and designers around the globe to imagine homes for the year 2124. Participants were encouraged to focus on adaptability, innovation, and sustainability, and consider other factors: climate change, technology, urbanization, and future visionary concepts.

Winner of Home2124

The Syracuse University Students, Yifan Shen and Yue Zhuo designed The Domestic Nomad with an innovative solution.

According to an Instagram post, rather than a typical housing solution, their design challenged the idea of private spaces enabled by capitalism. It also focuses on rethinking how people should live together in a communal environment.

Inspired by philosopher, Gilles Deleuze's concept of nomadism, the Domestic Nomad created a flexible living space in a multi-story building in Chicago. Featuring four levels, each comes with unique lighting, acoustics, and thermal properties that encourage community interaction while reducing the need for private areas. This way, residents can also adapt to their living activities based on the weather.

What Made Domestic Nomad Win

The Domestic Nomad, while looking at the factors that the future will come with, focuses on efficient energy use and adaptability by allowing living activities to move between indoor and outdoor areas. At the same time, it also uses sustainable building technologies and a passive thermal system, all connected by a central hearth that acts as both a heat source and transport system within the building.

There are also modular and multifunctional units called 'creatures' which allow the house to adapt to different needs, like dining or sleeping.

As the winner of the Home of the Next Century competition, Shen and Zhuo aim to share their ideas on creating communal living spaces suitable for the conditions of the future.

Besides Home2124, Domestic Nomad also won Syracuse's Spring 2024 ARC 409 Integrated Design Studio's prize and student design award from AIA CNY, American Institute of Architects Central New York Chapter.