The Top Three Winners of the International Gastronomic Center Brussels Competition 2013

Three winners were selected for the 2013 International Gastronomic Center Brussels competition hosted by Arquideas. A total of 106 teams of architecture students around the globe submitted projects to create a gathering space for professional chefs and visitors to share ideas, experience, research, and to celebrate the appreciation of food.

After rigorous deliberation, the Jury selected the final 15 teams from which they selected the three winners and special mentions. The three winning proposals best answered the judging criteria which included the clarity and execution of the project's idea, the dialogue between public and private space, and the solutions provided for sustainability and energy efficiency.

The Jury was composed of Ferran Adrià (Chef and owner of El Bulli); Joxe Mari Aizega (General Manager of the Basque Culinary Center); Jose María de Churtichaga (Architect and Associate Dean at the IE School of Architecture and Design); Jon Muniategiandikoetxea (Architect, member of VAUMM); Edgar Gonzalez (Chief editor of edgargonzalez.com and professor at UEM); and Javier Ureña Carazo (Winner of Landscape, Architecture & Wine competition).

First Prize

Team Members: Viktor Nilsson, Pierre Maccario (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden)

Viktor Nilsson and Pierre Maccario of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden won first prize for "Whipped Stream." The 3-floor structure takes visitors and chefs on an interactive, vertical journey through the art of food and to learn about the creative process of cooking.

The narrative of "Whipped Stream" tells a linear story through the three stages in the cooking process: Imagination, Practice, Result. In each stage, chefs get inspired, create their dishes through experimentation, and then present their work. The walking path is "whipped" into a spiral that is divided into the "Public Path" and the "Chef Path" with an interaction area in between. – Click here to read more about this entry.

Second Prize

Team Members: Enrique Alonso Blanco, Patricia Ocaña Alcober, Paula Peña Toril (Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura of Madrid, Spain)

Here is an abbreviated, rough translation of the project description from Spanish to English provided by Google Translate. 

"In a society that continually directs us towards the search for immediate satisfaction of our needs, we propose a space debtor SLOW philosophy. This movement proposes sensitize with the environment: in this case, food and all that it implies. We are getting used to the clock direct our lives, leaving us little time to stop and think and enjoy the action. The food should be a stimulus for sight, taste, smell, hearing and touch, has become a simple need to cover, a fact demonstrated by the abundant proliferation of restaurants 'fast food'. We propose a sum of spaces revive the senses through training and exchange activities ranging from receiving a cooking master class to learn how to grow in a garden." – Click here for the full original text and project details.

Third Prize

Team Members: Margaux Leycuras, Adrien Girard (Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture of Nantes, France)

Here is an abbreviated project description roughly translated from Spanish to English by Google Translate. 

"The conceptual idea of the project is to pose a gastronomy cultural center that organizes around essential element in cuisine: vegetable products. Specifically, the building is enclosed by a greenhouse containing all hydroponic cultivation system. where they grow fruits and vegetables. The relationship you have the editions with Vertical garden has several meanings. At first, the green facade sensory acts as a filter between the city and cultural center and also draws attention to the building then everyone can be identifiable. Also, the facade wants be an element of the city, which could be defined as a gastronomic garden. This garden can be done as ride and have a pedagogical purpose." – Click here for the full original text and project details.

See also the five Special Mention entries in the image gallery below. All images courtesy of the International Gastronomic Center Brussels competition.