The 3rd annual 2014 Life of an Architect ‘Playhouse Design Competition’ is technically completed – this last Sunday the winning raffle tickets were selected and all the wonderful playhouses that were designed and built are being sent of to their new homes. I am incredibly grateful to everyone who participated in this years event – we had an unbelievable amount of participation this year from all over the world. This year the Life of an Architect Playhouse Design Competition received 208 entries and every single continent was represented except Antarctica – but considering that Antarctica has a permanent population of zero, I don’t think it really counts.
We were able to build two playhouses from this year’s competition – next year we are shooting for 4! One of the “benefits” of having your playhouse selected for construction (other than getting built) is that you received a “Winner’s Profile” here on Life of an Architect. I know … big whoop. While there are probably some that think they would rather have some prize money, since this is a charitable event, we try to limit the amount of money we send out the door.
Last week we featured this year’s other playhouse competition winner so now we turn our attention to ‘The Hollow Tree House on the backyard’.
As a refresher, this is the submission board that we received for judging along with the accompanying bio:
Designer: Kania P. Anggriany – Bali, Indonesia
Bio: I’m a 25 years old woman – a full-time wife and half-time assistant of a talented young architect… which happens to be my husband. Together we join various regional and international competition to challenge our ideas about design. I like kids and I’d love to have fun with them… that’s what I saw in this competition
Say hello to Kania P. Anggriany from Bali, Indonesia. I sent Kania the questions I send all the winners profiled in the playhouse competition in an effort to find out a little bit more about the types of people who took advantage of their design skills and their time to enter the 2014 Life of an Architect Playhouse Design Competition.
How old are you?
I am 25 years old now… a golden age 🙂
Where did you go to school?
I completed my Bachelor Degree 2 years ago in Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia.
Are you currently working and if so, what type of work do you focus on?
Yes, I currently work in architecture Studio in Bali, Indonesia, which has design specialties in houses, villas, hotels, and other hospitality architecture. I also involved in several projects with my husband and his friends, and we are working in various types of building and master plans.
What lead you to enter the Life of an Architect Playhouse Competition?
Actually I accidentally found it on one of competition website and I found it very interesting! I love kids, and there’s a little part of me who remained a child. If I were a kid, I’d love to have a playhouse in my backyard; so why don’t I design one??
How long did you work on your design?
The first idea that came up to my mind was this tree house. But then I tried several other shapes (watermelons, rubic cube, etc) because I didn’t know how to make the circular shape more build-able. It took 1.5 weeks for wandering around from one to another shapes, then I decided to get back to the first Idea in about 3-4 days before the deadline.
What software did you use to create your submission board?
I use Google Sketch Up to draw the 3D modeling and adobe Photoshop for the presentation. But for the working drawing, I’ll need AutoCAD to make some details.
Was there one aspect of the design requirements that you felt was particularly challenging?
The most challenging part is to rationalize the circular shape and also thinking about the structure including joint system.
Have you ever designed a playhouse or similar small project like this before?
No, I’ve never design any playhouses before. But last year I took part in a Kindergarten Design Competition in Bucharest, although I wasn’t lucky yet….
How do you feel about having your playhouse be built for charity?
I really hope that what I did will help the CASA organization so much… so happy for that.
How did you come up with your idea?
As I write on my submission board, I always had an image of a hollow tree house since I read Enid Blyton’s book when I was 9. I always imagine how fun it would be; playing inside the tree and well… hide when your mother ask you to have lunch or take a bath and etc ;p.. I hope the other kids also find it interesting if I could make it come true…
Will you be coming to town to see it while on display?
Unfortunately I won’t have any chance to come to town, although I really hope I would. Well, maybe someday. Please send me pictures about the exhibition 🙂
Do you enter competitions with regularity?
Yes, together with my husband and our friends. It’s like an exercise for us to test our design skill. Let’s say that it is our way to having fun with architecture 🙂
I think it’s incredibly interesting to see just how different construction drawings look from other parts of the world. Kania put together a thorough set of drawings that the contractor could easily understand. One of the secrets to getting this playhouses built on time and in budget is a good set of drawings. It isn’t all that uncommon that the contractor has to make small tweaks to the design when building these playhouses – sometimes the construction methods need to be modified and occasionally the materials need to be changed to reflect what we have access to. I am happy to say that the few small revisions we made to Kania’s project really had to do with construction technique and the final product really does represent the original design intent.
Tri-Tex was the construction company that graciously agreed to build this playhouse. When I called Tri-Tex to see if they would be willing to help, owners David Lindsey and Randy Rogers agreed to help out immediately. Thanks guys.
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I would like to sincerely thank the Hollow Tree Playhouse Designer Kania P. Anggriany for participating in this year’s 2014 Life of an Architect Playhouse Design Competition. I would also like to thank Tri-Tex Construction for stepping up as a first time builder for this event and my competition. They did a terrific job and I was incredibly grateful for their participation and involvement.
(in case you are new to Life of an Architect – here is a little information on Dallas CASA, and the volunteers that donate their time to abused and neglected children)
Information on Dallas CASA:
Dallas CASA (which stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates) is a nonprofit organization of community volunteers trained and supervised to serve as voices in court for abused and neglected children. On any day in Dallas County, there are nearly 2,000 children waiting for a safe place to live. Many times the CASA volunteer is the only constant in the child’s life during this very difficult process. Parade of Playhouses raises funds for Dallas CASA to continue serving more children who need safe, permanent homes where they can thrive.
Thank you,
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Well, she can’t come to Dallas, so you and your family should take a vacation trip to Bali to meet her and her husband. Balinese architecture and its close tie to the culture and environment will blow you away.
The finished work looks amazing! I Hope i can join the next years competition.
can’t wait to see the future competition 🙂
Kania designed a TERRIFIC playhouse. This not-an-architect loves the whimsical and welcoming treetops look of it. Makes me smile. And Tri-Tex did a beautiful job building it as well. The kids lucky enough to play here will be enjoying it thoroughly, I’m sure. Hoping CASA made a boatload of $$ too.
This playhouse is deceptively simple but when I saw it complete, I knew that children would like it. They put it in a spot while on display so that people could look down on the playhouse from above – some folks might not have realized that there is an internal ladder and a second story. How else could you get up into the tree top?!?