Winners unveiled for Volume Zero's Tiny House 2022 competition

Competitions organizer Volume Zero has announced the winners of their Tiny House 2022 Architecture Competition. The contest attracted entries from more than 100 countries, with winners from Iran, Malaysia, Botswana, and Sweden.

"The built form of a home is evolving rapidly, its design adapting to various other needs that were not limited to this space before," the organizers said about their motivation for the competition. "Homes today are versatile entities – doubling up as offices, play areas, work-out zones, and spaces for interaction and recreation, transformative, multi-purpose, and evolving to adapt to us, not the other way around."

The winning entries have been published below.

First Prize: YOU DECIDE by Mohammad Saeed Maaleki and Amir Mohammad Hassani (Iran)

Project excerpt: "In the sea, in the desert, in the city, in the forest, in the mountains, the home occupies only 80 square centimeters of land. The footprint of this house on the ground is limited to the size of a column in the role of the central core of the structure. It has the same impact in the forest as a tree in the soil and no more. Different modes of facade are seen in the view of a fixed observer due to rotation and height changes. It dances to adapt to the environment, just like the sunflower. It can rotate in the central axis to provide energy and to look around, it moves away from the ground for its safety. It changes for life."

Second Prize: Lilac Cloud by Ooi Yong Rong (Malaysia)

Project excerpt: "The concept was to design a house with folding translucent screens with hydroponic systems and reflective faces to connect the building seamlessly to the clear coastal skyline and to spill the multi-functional spaces out onto the expandable terrace and down to the horizon above a calm blue sea. The house also offers a new focus and social vision of the development of mobile self-sufficient buildings that manifest the shifting relationships between cities."

Third Prize: The Funnel Hut by Omaatla Charlesfinney Moilwa and Gwafila Leon Tema (Botswana)

Project excerpt: "Nature is the greatest architect, and its influence is felt in both vernacular and contemporary design. The design features a prominent overhanging canopy mimicking a tree, designed to funnel water to a service core which we refer to as the 'trunk'. The 'trunk' consists of water storage, a kitchenette, and a generous shower while also sheltering served spaces consisting of the living room and bedroom that are kept at each end of the plan to appreciate of the views."

Student Prize: Retractable Tent by Zhaoheng Wang and Jiale Huang (Sweden)

Project excerpt: "Inspired by the most intelligent invention of people living in the wild the tent we offer a new solution for the tiny house. It follows the stable structure of the triangular support in form but takes into account the material and spiritual needs of contemporary human living space in function: a living space to meet the needs of daily life, and adequate space for rest. It was challenging to fit these two spaces into a 28 sqm house, which is a composite of separate functional rooms in a modern house. So, we set up a large staircase in the room and thus brought a diagonal element to redefine the use of this composite space."

Learn more about this year's winners and honorable mentions here.