A team of fifth-year School of Architecture students have won first prize at this year’s international design competition for their project, “,” which reimagines domesticity in a contemporary context.
In this fourth edition of the competition, sponsored by , architects, designers and visionaries from around the world were asked to redefine the future of residential architecture by designing a dwelling for the year 2124 that focused on innovation, sustainability and adaptability.
With issues like climate change, urbanization and technological advancements at the forefront, the competition invited participants to think beyond the conventional and explore the uncharted territories of architectural design by pushing the boundaries, challenging preconceptions and creating visionary concepts for homes that will define the 22nd century.
Guided by Marcos Parga, associate professor at the School of Architecture, the ϲ student team of Yifan (Ivan) Chen ’25 and Yue Zhuo ’25 designed “The Domestic Nomad,” a project that, rather than a housing solution, serves as a statement and provocation that redefines nomadism at a contemporary, domestic scale to address the rigidity of private enclosures promoted by the capitalist market.
“The Domestic Nomad”
Inspired by Gilles Deleuze’s notion of nomadism in “A Thousand Plateaus,” the team proposed a radical rethinking of residential spaces and household activities, prioritizing public, communal living over private ownership—even in cold climates like Chicago, their chosen site. Their project manifests as a versatile framework of four distinct levels, each offering unique combinations of height, light, acoustics and thermal properties designed to foster shared experiences and reduce the requirement for extensive private areas.
The design of “The Domestic Nomad” promotes efficient use of resources and energy, enhancing adaptability by allowing domestic activities to shift between indoor and outdoor settings. Sustainability and thermal consideration drive the formal output of the building. Throughout the project, tested building technologies and passive thermal systems that support dynamic living configurations are deployed on different levels, unified by a 22nd-century “hearth,” as theorized by Semper in his “The Four Elements of Architecture,” 1851, that serves as both a heat chimney and a vertical transport system.
Modular, multi-functional ‘creatures,’ a tribute to Hejduk’s “Victims,” 1984, become the catalysts for domestic mobility and community engagement by carrying practical function (sleeping, dining, etc.) and migrating to different levels through the “hearth.” Moving as shared infrastructure between the indoors and outdoors depending on the time and season, these nomadic apparatuses redefine interaction with the neighborhood and challenge the constructed borders of space, enclosure, program and privacy on a domestic scale.
Overall, “The Domestic Nomad” encapsulates a proactive approach to residential architecture by blurring the boundaries between private versus public living. The project invites residents to rethink their interactions with space and aims to set a precedent for how homes can evolve to foster a communal life in the century ahead.
“We wanted to use the Home2124 competition as an opportunity to present our thoughts on the future of living in a communal way and exhibit how novel spatial relationships and technologies could foster alternative forms of a collective domestic life,” says Shen.
After being critiqued by a jury of leading architects, designers and academicians of international repute, the ϲ team’s project was selected to receive the competition’s first-place prize. Shen and Zhuo were awarded a certificate of recognition, interviewed by competition organizers, and their project will be included in an upcoming publication.
In addition to winning the Home2124 international award, “The Domestic Nomad” received the overall design prize in the Spring 2024 competition at ϲ’s School of Architecture competition at ϲ’s School of Architecture.
“Shen and Zhuo’s project successfully merged creative freedom and real constraints, two critical challenges of my Integrated Design Studio course: it demonstrates an absolute commitment to experimentation and uses constructive imagination to celebrate an unapologetic approach to tectonics,” says Parga. “Their project encourages us to look closely at the dwelling spaces we live in and think deeply about the domestic landscape we would like to see in the future.”
“The Domestic Nomad” was also recently selected for a student design award from the American Institute of Architects Central New York Chapter (AIA CNY), which will be presented to Shen and Zhuo at the event on Friday, Nov. 15.
“We hope “The Domestic Nomad” will be remembered for its legible approach that not only redefines living spaces but also inspires a new generation of architects and students to think critically about the role of design in society’s progression,” says Shen.
