CEDTI (Centre d’Etudes sur le Développement Territorial Indo-océanique), in partnership with Medine Group, launches its second edition of architectural design competition focusing on ambiances of affordable houses as part of the Colloquium 2026.

Architecture has long distanced itself from the lived qualities of place and in a recent study (Kan et al., 2022) it has been shown that worsening living conditions tend to contribute to a higher probability of mental illness. The atmosphere—a space-time that is being experienced sensorially through sound, smell, light, color, heat and airflows—is widely neglected in affordable housing. Augoyard (1998) reminds us that ambiance is a situated phenomenon shaped by physical signals, cultural meanings, and perception, not a sum of isolated technical parameters. Bambous, once a village structured around sugarcane fields, has grown into a fragmented peri‑urban territory with strong sensory markers — open landscapes, mountain silhouettes, prevailing winds, and community soundscapes. The Land Drainage Masterplan also identifies recurrent flooding pockets, revealing how hydrology and micro‑topography actively shape daily life.​

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This competition invites participants to design dwellings and shared spaces in Bambous that are economically viable, climatically resilient, and sensorially grounded — restoring ambiance as a central driver of architectural conception. In addition, participants are required to propose a new community‑based activity rooted in local culture, crafts, ecology or social rhythms, and to integrate it into a public or semi‑public space within their project. This activity should strengthen everyday social cohesion, activate shared spaces, and contribute to the sensory identity of Bambous. How can affordable housing become a model of climate‑ready, ambiance‑rich, socially cohesive living — while remaining financially viable for builders and fostering new forms of community life?