Brit Insurance Designs of the Year 2010: Architecture

The shortlist for the Architecture category of the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year 2010 awards showcases the best in international design of the past 12 months, as nominated by respected design experts, curators, critics, practitioners and enthusiasts.

The winner of the Architecture category was the Monterray Housing Project in Mexico, designed by Chilean-based company Elemental S.A., which answered the brief to find housing for a city-centre community of long-term squatters with a development of halffinished prefabricated structures, designed to facilitate self-build expansion by a further 50 per cent at minimal cost.

The ‘half-house’ concept also brings in communal green areas around the development as close as possible to the houses, thus creating favourable conditions for maintenance and care. Unlike most private property, the value of social housing often decreases over time; Elemental’s half-house solutions have been shown to rise in value as the self-build expansions are created.