Architizer A+ Awards — Concept / Materials / House

Triple-category strategy

Architizer A+ allows entering the same project in multiple categories. MINE should enter:

1. Concept — House ($295) — unbuilt residential proposal
2. Architecture +Materials ($295) — Cor-Ten + Komagatake + Hokushin 3-material narrative
3. Sustainability — Off-Grid ($295) — 72kW PV + 30kWh LFP + 2× geothermal 100m bores

Total entry: $885 · Deadline: typically 12 月. Both Jury Vote (architecture critics) and Popular Vote (public) winners announced.

Submission text (English 800 chars)

MINE is a project of reduction. On a 200-metre Hokkaido hilltop, eight identical 7×7×4-metre Cor-Ten cubes huddle around a 12-metre andesite plaza. Same envelope, same material, same single aperture. What varies is the floor level — ranging from a sunken −2,500mm bath to an elevated +1,500mm dojo mat — registered on the exterior as a zigzag of light-slits around the plaza ring.

The Polaris cube sits 16.5m further north, in alignment with the celestial pole. Each cube has two apertures: a Hokushin (五光星, Meiji-era pioneering emblem) laser-cut wall slit, and a Polaris roof oculus framing the actual North Star at night. Material discipline reduces to three: weathering steel, local Komagatake andesite, and a settler-era five-pointed star. SIPs prefab core enables 3-week site assembly. Off-grid by 72 kW PV + 30 kWh battery + 2× 100m geothermal bores. ¥96M / 392m². The plan is a celestial diagram drawn on snow.

Images to submit (5 max, 1920×1080+)

1. aerial.jpg — primary hero, shows constellation pattern
2. night.jpg — Hokushin projection + Big Dipper visible
3. plaza.jpg — twilight ensemble, snow texture
4. dojo.jpg — inhabited cube, aperture detail
5. section.svg — skip-floor logic exposed

Categories breakdown

Concept — House: judged on concept + drawings + renders. Strong typological reduction = high score.

Architecture +Materials: judged on material specificity. 3-material discipline + locally-sourced andesite + cultural-safe Meiji motif = unique angle.

Sustainability +Off-Grid: 72kW PV / 30kWh battery / geothermal HP / 24h HRV + Polaris oculus operable for natural cross-ventilation. UA 0.16 W/m²K exceeds Japan HEAT20 G3.