PG Bison 1.618 Education Initiative – 2023 brief launched
The annual PG Bison 1.618 Education Initiative competition is underway and this year’s competition brief recognises how social media has reached beyond the digital sphere to affect the physical world.
11/05/2023
PG Bison’s annual 1.618 Education
Initiative competition is underway. Lectures are
taking place at academic institutions around the
country to deliver the brief to the
participating third-year architecture and
interior design students. Themed
#WorldsOfDesire, the 2023 brief asks entrants to
imagine and design the ultimate luxury desert
oasis in the heart of the arid Tankwa Karoo.
The brief recognises how social media has
reached beyond the digital sphere to affect the
physical world. It centres on the idea of a
wealthy content creator who wants to invest in
creating a space in the Tankwa Karoo that she
can rent out to film and photography crews and
other social media content creators. This
entertainment oasis development therefore needs
to be visually appealing, with interesting
“Instagrammable” architectural and design
features.
Students interpreting the brief
need to meet various criteria in their
submissions, including using the existing
building on the site as an anchor point and
using PG Bison products within appropriate
internal spaces. Most importantly, they must
celebrate the basic human needs of eating,
sleeping, bathing and socialising through the
elements of earth, fire, air and water. With the
site located in a desert, the clever use of
water provides the wicked problem to the brief.
This year’s brief is a really fun
opportunity for students and their lecturers to
work on a project where they can add their own
flair, while showcasing their design skills,”
says Jason Wells, Brand and Marketing Manager at
PG Bison. “PG Bison have sponsored the 1.618
Education Initiative for over 30 years, and
although it started out as a means to introduce
third-year students to PG Bison’s products, it’s
now viewed by many students as a way to be
noticed and have their talent identified, in the
marketplace, as they near the end of their
studies and start to think about joining the
world of work. Many of the winners and finalists
have gone on to achieve great success, and
finalists are always sought after by employers
looking to hire fresh, young talent.”
The
2023 brief is a departure from its focus in
recent years on social issues. While this is an
important component of what built environment
professionals will do in their working careers,
Wells says the competition is first and foremost
an opportunity for students to demonstrate their
creativity and skills in an environment they
will not often be afforded in the real world,
where briefs tend to be more constrained.
The winning student and their lecturer will
each win a cash prize of R50 000, while the
runner-up takes home R25 000 and third-place
wins R10 000. Each of the top 10 finalists
selected is also invited to a special awards
ceremony, with travel and hospitality covered by
PG Bison, and those who do not place in the top
three each enjoy a cash prize of R2 000.
“We are looking forward to seeing what this
year’s entrants produce,” says Wells. “South
Africa has a wealth of young talent on offer,
and we can’t wait to see their responses to the
‘#WorldsOfDesire’ brief.”
For more
information, visit the PG Bison 1.618 Education
Initiative website, www.1sixoneeight.co.za.
As a company whose mission it is to enable beautiful living spaces, PG Bison puts 120 years of experience towards manufacturing quality wood-based panel products for the South African market that is distributed via a trusted network of retailers. Such panel products can be crafted into bathroom and kitchen cabinets, streamlined countertops, built-ins, and a host of other interior home projects.