After months of evaluation, prototyping and community review, the Air Cavities Design Challenge has reached an exciting milestone: three designs have been selected as finalists, and each will receive a US$3,000 prize before advancing to the next phase of the challenge.

Congratulations to:

  • Cavity Bricks, submitted by Lonwabo Somphali of South Africa
  • Triangle Window, submitted by Ekim Güney Öztürk of Italy
  • Adaptive Air Cavities, submitted by Victor Ngumbau of Kenya

These three solutions were selected from the five shortlisted designs following a hands-on community review in Siaya County, Kenya. Residents interacted with physical prototypes and assessed them alongside local artisans and fabricators, considering not only airflow and mosquito protection, but also privacy, security, ease of use, appearance, affordability and suitability for local homes.

The review offered an important reminder that a successful housing innovation has to do more than work technically. Households also want solutions that feel secure, practical and attractive — improvements they can imagine becoming a lasting part of their homes. The three finalist designs received the strongest overall community support and will now move forward for further refinement.

Next, feedback from homeowners, artisans and fabricators will help inform technical refinements to each design before the finalists move into household installation and field testing. This next phase will give the project team an opportunity to see how the designs perform in real homes and continue evaluating which solution is best positioned to meet the challenge.

The three finalists remain in contention for the US$15,000 grand prize, which will be awarded at the conclusion of the challenge.

Thank you to all five shortlisted solvers for the creativity, time and persistence they have brought to this process, and to the community members and local partners whose feedback is helping shape what comes next.

Stay tuned as the three finalist designs move from prototypes into homes — and as the challenge continues toward the selection of a final winner.