For more than a year, CAFx has been collecting short films documenting inclusive and non-discriminatory design solutions, urban projects, public spaces and architectural practices. Through a global open call, international film workshops, and open-source educational material more than 300 films were submitted and are now part of the collection visible on the Film Mosaic platform.
An international jury consisting of Architecture Film Directors Békà & Lemoine, Architect Anupama Kundoo, Founder and Editor in Chief of ArchDaily David Basulto, President of Congress for the World Congress in Copenhagen and Vice President of the UIA Nordic section Natalie Mossin and Founder and Director of Copenhagen Architecture Festival, Josephine Michau, have selected three winning films to receive the 1st prize of 2500€, 2nd prize of 1500€, and 3rd prize of 1000€ at the award ceremony in Copenhagen during the UIA 2023 World Congress.
The 1st prize goes to:
DOCKING (Hong Kong)
by Spade Hung and Wingchun Cheng
‘Seasonally, street sleepers in Kwun Tong Public Pier need to move out like the tide falls during the pier clearance by authorities, and move back to the pier like the tide rises afterwards. A mobile unit prototype is built with street sleepers themselves to deal with the seasonal clearance. It attempts to save construction materials without destroying the settlements, which save energy for street sleepers rebuilding shelter and authorise to dump the construction waste respectively. By enhancing the efficiency of moving in and out, the project hopes to stretch the tension between authorities, public and street sleepers on the usage of Kwun Tong Public Pier. The team will continue to document the intervention and situation of the pier in the upcoming clearance.’
Docking is the first collaboration between Wingchun Cheng and Spade Hung, an offering to their home, Hong Kong. The collective grew from 'Seeds of Resilience - Re(dis)covering the City', exhibition by 2022 Hong Kong Biennale of Urbanism \ Architecture exploring various aspects of resilience in the city. After the exhibition, the artists continue to work with and document the lives in the pier in Hong Kong.
The 2nd prize goes to:
Boundary in Flux (Japan)
By Takuya Watanabe
‘In Obara village, Fukui Prefecture, Japan, just one elderly individual persists. Once thriving local industries are now mere history, their absence highlighted by the harsh natural environment that hinders a modern lifestyle. The intricate relationship between humans and nature, often seeming like a conflict between the natural and artificial, becomes even more complex when we consider the role of 'weeds'. This is a glimpse into the intricate entanglements of symbiosis within the Satoyama - the gradually disappearing ancient Japanese rural landscapes.’
The film was created by Takuya Watanabe, born in Tokyo. While addressing the circumstances of individuals he meets through research and interviews, Takuya produces video installations that paradoxically reveal the structures and power dynamics of our society.
The 3rd prize goes to:
Four Green Chairs In Skanderbeg Square (Albania)
By Camila Flores-Fernández
‘Every day, for three hours, street musicians take over parts of Skanderbeg Square, the main plaza of Albania's capital city. They appropriate Tirana's iconic free-use green chairs to position themselves as part of the urban landscape and engage through music in a spontaneous process of placemaking. This film follows a day in the life of a group of local performers.’
The film was created by Camila Flores-Fernández, researcher, visual anthropologist and cultural practitioner born in Lima, Peru, based in Belgium. Her practice comprises nonfiction writing, video and mixed media focused on gender, urban marginality and grassroots resistance. The winner of the A-PLACE production award from the LOOP Festival Barcelona, she is currently producing her first medium-length documentary in Belgium.
About the Film Mosaic
The Leave No One Behind (LNOB) agenda is the central, transforming promise in the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It represents the unequivocal commitment of all UN Member States to eradicate poverty in all its forms, end discrimination and exclusion, and reduce the inequalities and vulnerabilities that undermine the potential of humans and other living beings.
Discrimination persists in the design of the built and planned environment, indoors, outdoors, public and private. This includes discrimination against socially, physically or mentally vulnerable or challenged groups based on gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, limited mobility or income.
The Film Mosaic aims at documenting solutions to these forms of discrimination, creating an understanding of the diversity of the reality in which the LNOB agenda must be resolved, and generating new knowledge and insight about sustainable cities, residential areas, buildings, building materials, infrastructure, and other urban practices that promote the fight against inequality.
The incoming films constitute a global Film Mosaic of everyday voices from different geographical and cultural contexts, available for researchers, educators, laymen and decision-makers on the Film Mosaic Platform. The Film Mosaic will be used as a powerful tool of impact during the UIA 2023 World Congress towards the many decision-makers gathered in Copenhagen then—and as the point of departure for a more significant impact campaign that can spread rings beyond 2023.
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