Gonggan Ceramic Co., Ltd. (CEO Cho Baek-il), a company specializing in clay bricks, is holding the “1st Gonggan Ceramic (Clay Brick) Architecture Award.”
Gonggan Ceramic has committed a total prize pool of 100 million won to reawaken people to the benefits that healthy earth brings to humankind, and to expand the use of clay brick—an eco-friendly building material beneficial to both people and the global environment—as a widely used interior and exterior finishing material, thereby leaving behind clay brick buildings of heritage-worthy artistic value to pass on to future generations. Prizes will be awarded as follows: Grand Prize (1 work) 30 million won, Best Award (2 works) 10 million won each, and Excellence Award (10 works) 5 million won each.
In particular, one Best Award and one Excellence Award will be allocated to works that have contributed to solving the housing problems of the underprivileged and low-income groups. In addition, more than 30% of the architecture awards will be assigned to works by up-and-coming architects who possess outstanding talent but are not yet well known, in order to broaden award opportunities for young, emerging architects.
Gonggan Ceramic explained the background of holding this competition, saying, “Clay brick is a building material that humankind has used for over 8,000 years. Made primarily from pure earth and fired at a high temperature of 1,150℃, it releases no harmful substances, is beneficial to human health, is eco-friendly, and is semi-permanent, so it requires no maintenance costs.” The company added, “For these reasons, clay brick is still actively used as a building material in advanced countries. Yet in Korea, the eco-friendliness of materials has recently taken a back seat, and due to a preference for outward appearance and aesthetics alone, many interior and exterior finishing materials harmful to the human body are being used—posing a threat to health and the environment. This is regrettable, but it is the reality.”
Entries for the “1st Gonggan Ceramic (Clay Brick) Architecture Award” are open to buildings completed between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021, and can be submitted during the same period through the Gonggan Ceramic website (www.ggceramic.com). The winning works will be announced and awarded in April 2021.
The required documents are as follows: one copy of the sealed application form (PDF format); a detailed description of the work for blind evaluation (HWP file); one bird’s-eye-view photograph and one photograph each from the front, back, left, and right (JPG format); basic architectural drawings (site plan, floor plans of each level, section, and elevation) (PDF format); detailed architectural drawings and photographs (portions that can demonstrate the special construction features noted in the application form, interior photographs in cases where clay brick is used as an interior finishing material, and other distinctive parts that the applicant particularly wishes to be taken into account in the evaluation of the entry) (PDF and JPG format); and, in cases of contribution to solving the housing problems of the underprivileged and low-income groups, verifiable supporting documents.
Judging for the “1st Gonggan Ceramic (Clay Brick) Architecture Award” has been entrusted to the Korea Institute of Registered Architects, ensuring fairness and transparency through blind evaluation by judges and professors recommended by various architecture-related organizations, while also expanding award opportunities for fresh and ingenious young, emerging architects. The specific evaluation criteria are: △creativity in clay brick architecture, △excellence in interior and exterior clay brick architectural design, △ripple effect as a clay brick building, △harmonious finishing with other materials, and △technical skill in clay brick construction.