[Faculty of Architecture & Arts] Received Encouragement Award at the "University Collaboration Housing Review Meeting" with the participation of 5 universities!

Hiyori Takaoka, a third-year student in Faculty of Architecture & Arts, received the Encouragement Award at the University Collaboration Housing Review held in March.

The University Collaboration Housing Review Meeting is run by students and sees works submitted by students from five universities in Hyogo Prefecture. This is the third such meeting this year.
The participating schools this time were Otemae University, Kobe University, Kwansei Gakuin University, Kobe Design University, and Mukogawa Women's University, and 54 works were exhibited.
Each school worked on its own unique design theme, and the students came up with housing proposals that were unique to them.

The first round of judging was conducted using architectural models and panels displaying photographs, drawings, and the design intent. Approximately 10 works from these entries advanced to the second round of judging, where they gave presentations to the judges and other participants, and were subsequently awarded the Encouragement Award!

Takaoka's proposal for a residential project is for a house to be built on a slope.
This is a "slab gradation" house, where the slab (floor board) has a difference in height and the rooms are connected by a few steps of stairs or furniture, without any walls or doors between them.
There is no distinction between the first and second floors, and all spaces that combine the living areas and those for welcoming visitors are connected while still establishing "private" and "public" spaces. Various ingenious design ideas have been put into the design, such as providing many spaces with public elements on the lower side of the slope near the entrance, and increasing the level of privacy as you go up the floors.

I hope to use this experience to continue to be successful in the future!

[Comment: Hiyori Takaoka, 3rd year student Faculty of Architecture & Arts]

Since I was taking on the challenge, I wanted to achieve results, so I received guidance from Lecturer Shimoda (majoring in interior design) and also advice from a senior in my seminar, who was a fourth-year student at the time, and created a plan for a house and an architectural model.
The presentation at the "University Collaborative Housing Review Meeting" was judged by people from outside the university, so the atmosphere was different from the selection presentations made on campus, and I was very nervous.
During the judging process, we received questions from perspectives we had never considered, as well as very specific feedback and suggestions for improvement.
I feel that it was a very good experience for the students who gathered as volunteers to give their comments sincerely.

In the future, I would like to continue completing assignments in the seminar and determine my own interpretation and direction in architecture.
What I'm thinking about now is incorporating psychology.
I would like to create something that combines emotion with architecture and interior design.

(Source: School Public Relations)