Summary of the competition

Our home is the centre of our lives. Without improving the quality of our houses we cannot have a real ‘quality of life'. Our home is the ‘stage' on which we live our lives. It must fulfill all our fundamental needs and wishes. Without a house which suits this purpose we can never find a ‘real quality of life'. In America, Canada and Europe, which can be called ‘Housing-Developed Countries', the value of a house remains high for many years, and the longer a house stands, the more the owners attachment to it grows, and the more they can sense a real ‘quality of life'. Japan has a long history of constructing timber buildings, including houses, and many old timber buildings remain standing, showing their traditional beauty to new generations. Recently in Japan it has become possible to build ‘large-scale timber structures' in city centers, where only fire-proof buildings are allowed, and the advantages and calm beauty of timber structures have been rediscovered. In this Century, we, as world citizens, have recognized the urgent need to protect and preserve the Earth's environment, and timber houses designed with an aim of long life, such as our company's ‘Houses to last for 100 Years', are attracting much attention in Japan. We believe that our company's commitment to enhanced forest management ? balancing the cycle of planting and cutting ? and our construction of structures in recyclable timber, contributes to the prevention of global warming. Above all, I believe that, in the 21st Century, we need to create buildings that are environmentally sustainable, that are designed for our happiness, that are of high-quality construction, and that retain their asset values. We would like to invite ambitious architectural students from all over the world to join this student ideas competition. It is a good opportunity to nourish their design abilities. The selected students will receive the jury's critique, and be encouraged in a warm and supportive atmosphere. It is our aim to make this competition a gateway to success in the architectural profession. We hope that architecture students will grow to become good architects, and design environmentally friendly buildings with quality and value for the future. We publish the results of the competition in a variety of media, as part our mission to promote improvement in our natural and built environments all over the world.

The Shelter Corporation President & CEO Kazuyoshi Kimura