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Learn moreUNStudio
Netherlands
SOM
USA
Mecanoo
Netherlands
Neri&Hu Design and Research Office
China
Princeton University, MOS
USA
Studio Fuksas
Italy
ArchDaily
Lebanon
Partner at Foster + Partners
UAE
Head of Innovation, Kingspan
USA
Director, Zaha Hadid Architects
UK
Senior Architect, Snøhetta
Norway
Associate Partner, MAD Architects
USA
Director of Sustainability, Kingspan Insulated Panels
USA
Founder and Partner, Peter Pichler Architecture
Italy
Norman Foster Foundation
Spain
TenBerke Architects
USA
Practice for architecture and urbanism: PAU
USA
Director of Graduate Studies, PhD Program, School of Architecture, Princeton University
United States
Architect and Professor at TU Berlin
Germany
Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts, Kharkiv National University V. N.
Ukraine
Arup Berlin
Germany
Somaya and Kalappa Consultants (SNK)
India
Safdie Architects
USA
Mayor of Kharkiv
Ukraine
Design a memorial that speaks to the cause of ending all nuclear weapons programs
Use architecture to create different emotional states
Only participants selected and invited by Buildner can enter these closed competitions. To be considered for future opportunities, please set up your account on Architects’ Network Plus.
Prize 350,000 + Construction
Eligibility Invitations-only
Participating in an architectural competition involves learning to think deeply through a process where there are no right answers, while developing the creative ability to think outside the box. It is also an important opportunity to strengthen teamwork and learn how to collaborate effectively.
To push boundaries in architecture and life, allowing us to improve our overall experience and knowledge.
We participate in architecture competitions to refine our design skills and explore innovative concepts beyond everyday projects. These competitions provide a platform to push creative boundaries and develop visionary ideas that can inspire future architectural work. They also offer valuable opportunities for collaboration and professional growth.
Competitions provide a unique opportunity for us to engage in design beyond our regular work, keeping our curiosity and creativity alive as we explore projects outside our usual scope. They also serve as an outlet for us to share our design perspectives and ambitions with the industry. Additionally, by engaging with a broader audience, competitions allow us to address important societal questions through the architectural lens.
Architectural competitions are an open field for sharing ideas and rethinking, with an optimistic view, the future in which we want to live. Every competition is like a celebration—a new opportunity to learn and challenge your own ideas alongside other architects.
We participate in architecture competitions to stay creative. As young professionals, competitions are opportunities for us to do creative work aside from our regular job tasks and allow us to fully express ourselves through our designs. Competitions also allow us to keep learning through different types and scales of projects and broaden our knowledge in the field, encountering new challenges and opportunities. They also allow for our work to be exposed to more people internationally, as well as train us to work in teams challenging us to learn how to self-organize our work and be independent in design projects.
An architecture competition is a platform to work freely and creatively, allowing me to fully immerse myself in the process of creation. A competition is a great mental exercise. It adds to my experience and helps me test my creative abilities, not only through words or thoughts but through actual work and drawings on paper. Moreover, there are certain benefits if the work is successful. I see it as an opportunity for growth and a tool to enhance professional skills.
Competitions challenge us to expand our skill sets and connect with the architectural community. The Sansusī Sound Sculpture competition, in particular, offered a fascinating topic with real potential for realization. We were especially drawn to the use of wooden structures.
We participate in architecture competitions to deepen our passion for design and challenge ourselves to think beyond conventional boundaries. We chose to engage in this particular competition over the summer as an opportunity to explore our design thinking outside the academic environment. Although our academic semesters are filled with coursework and extracurricular commitments, and our summers are dedicated to internships, we made a deliberate decision to continue participating in the competition. This allowed us to further refine our design skills and continue our professional growth during the break.
To challenge myself and see what I can accomplish when putting my skills to use under pressure. I always view it as an exercise—first and foremost, I do it for myself. Additionally, participating in a contest is creatively valuable because you don't see the other submissions until the end. After doing extensive research to develop your solution, it’s fascinating to see the results, knowing all the specifics of the site, the rules, etc. That experience is humbling and, in my opinion, incredibly valuable.
This is my first architecture competition. I participated because I think it's a great opportunity to test creativity and skills while also learning something new, especially when you find a project that resonates with you. I highly recommend participating to all students. Competitions are an important platform for professionals, but I believe students, in particular, will benefit the most. You will learn things that aren't taught in school.
I hope to keep my mind active and spark inspiration by participating in engaging architectural competitions. Of course, I also aim to discover potential opportunities through these competitions.
Competitions serve as a platform for us to explore fresh ideas, challenge ourselves, and experiment with cutting-edge design concepts. They grant us the freedom to think creatively and approach problems in unconventional ways, fostering a culture of innovation within our team. This environment enables us to continuously refine our skills as we engage with diverse design briefs and problem-solving scenarios, offering a sense of growth and development.
We are very interested in participating in architecture competitions, as they provide an opportunity to engage with unique projects and unfamiliar contexts. These competitions offer challenges that promote both personal and professional growth.
I participate in competitions for the creative freedom they offer, allowing me to explore ideas and experiment beyond the constraints of commercial work.
Though I'm a novice in architecture, as a designer, the allure of creating a building or structure is always present. Whenever I travel, I make it a point to visit incredible architectural landmarks. So, when I saw that one of my design heroes, Philippe Starck, was a judge for the Architecture Chair competition, I couldn't pass up the chance. I may not be great at buildings, but designing a chair for a legend like him was an opportunity I couldn’t let slip by.
I participate in design competitions to ignite my creativity through new briefs and energize my work with fresh challenges. These opportunities push me to broaden my perspective, expand my sources of inspiration, and continuously drive innovation in my work.
To challenge myself, competitions provide space for learning, experimentation, and pushing boundaries. They inspire me and give me the freedom to be creative and do what I love.
I think that my answer to this question would be something like, “to test myself and get feedback on whether I can do this job well by having my work evaluated by different professionals.”
I participate in architecture competitions to challenge myself and broaden my exposure to architectural discourse and design briefs outside of my work context.
This competition was recommended to me by a colleague, the faculty leader at the university where I teach. I enjoy participating in competitions where I receive feedback on my work from professional experts. I believe participating allows us to challenge our creative boundaries and gain valuable exposure for our work. Competitions also provide an opportunity to connect with other designers and architects, expanding our design thinking and engaging in broader discussions in the field of architecture and design.
We firmly believe in the importance of exploring new frontiers in design and construction, which drives us to actively participate in various competitions. These competitions offer us a unique platform to experiment and develop innovative approaches that challenge traditional norms and enrich our architectural proposals.
Ironically, we take part in architecture competitions to create more opportunities for us to design. The majority of our time spent in practice requires us to deal with the pragmatic aspects of architecture. While that is fulfilling in its own way, competing allows us to be freer in our designs.
We believe that participating in architectural competitions offers several key benefits. It allows us to gain new experiences and practice teamwork, which are crucial for our professional development. Competitions also provide an opportunity to add innovative projects to our portfolios, showcasing our skills and creativity. Furthermore, we acquire valuable skills that will be useful in our future work and studies, making us more attractive to potential employers.
Participating in architectural competitions is a form of expression. It gives me the opportunity to explore and develop concepts that excite me while honing skills in design and representation. Especially as I dive deeper into professional practice, competitions can be a breath of fresh air that allows me to keep engaged with my inquisitive side.
Competitions provide an opportunity to explore and share innovative ideas. For instance, this competition allows me to investigate the concept of a "Stonehenge house" - an idea I've been curious about and eager to develop beyond just a personal project.
What motivated us to participate in this competition was the proposal: connecting with light as a material of visibility and knowledge. Light-based design questions the design process, inverting the idea of habitat, intimacy, and protection, and challenging the choice of materials and the scope of the technical aspects of elements.
We see architecture competitions as an opportunity to push the limits of our thinking and test our strengths in every aspect of working as a group.
There are several reasons why participating in architecture competitions is valuable. First, these competitions provide a great opportunity to showcase creativity and test innovative ideas. They are appealing because they allow for experimenting with new design approaches and advancing innovative architectural techniques. Additionally, competitions serve as platforms to actualize projects and receive evaluations from experts. This feedback is essential for understanding how one's work would function in real-world environments and for making improvements.
We love exploring the world through travel and design. Competitions offer fantastic opportunities to learn folklore, reimagine sites, merge experiences, and design new dialogues.
Architecture competitions provide a relatively uninhibited freedom to dream. These opportunities keep the thoughtful passion for design alive.
Participating in architectural competitions allows us to challenge ourselves creatively and professionally. Participating in international competitions like this one helps broaden our perspective and consider new cultural experiences beyond our own norms and tastes. We also wanted to design freely again, as we did in our university days, focusing on aesthetics, function, and sustainability rather than being defined by guidelines, requirements, or money. We hoped to create something truly beautiful while pursuing the ideals of architecture.
We participate in architecture competitions to find the space to complement our different backgrounds in a challenging project and to contrast our ideas with the collective.
Competitions are a very stimulating and complementary method and tool for working on everyday projects in the office. They help you stay engaged with research and encourage "out of the box" thinking and creating. Through sensible and sensitive experiments, you can temporarily escape your everyday space/time realities, routines, local legislation and politics, and sometimes narrow investor logic. In the case of this project (Iceland ski snow cabin), we also traveled in our imagination to the dramatic, archetypal, and beautiful landscapes of this remote island, which we have already visited and with whose nature and culture we have developed a very passionate, intimate relationship.
Architecture competitions allow me to experiment with design ideas for unique programs and sites.
We have participated in a number of architectural competitions during the last two years. We believe they are an excellent way to challenge our skills and provide a vehicle to highlight our architectural approach to the issues that we have discussed above.
As students, we have found that competitions give us the opportunity to work on projects that we wouldn't encounter in the professional realm and to explore out-of-the-box solutions to common challenges. Competitions have been an excellent opportunity to share our ideas and see what other students and architects from around the world propose.
Competitions are an opportunity to explore, often in less-bounded ways, allowing new ideas to emerge.
Architecture competitions are an incredible way to broaden one’s mind and elaborate on knowledge. This first competition for all of us also meant working together with people we held in high regard. It was a way of actively choosing who to work with and learning to be productive despite having multiple things going on in our lives and being far away from each other.
What excites me the most is the challenge of providing my own solutions for a wide variety of tasks and being able to share them with a community. The platform offers young architects, in particular, the opportunity to present new and inspiring ideas to enhance growth and personal development.
Participating in architecture competitions allows us to challenge ourselves creatively, explore new ideas, and stay engaged with the latest trends and innovations in the field. It provides opportunities to showcase our skills, collaborate with other professionals, and gain recognition for our work.
This aims to present more possibilities in architecture. It is also an opportunity for young architects to showcase their work to experienced professionals.
We participate in architecture competitions because we are proud of our work. In school and post-graduation, we’ve designed projects defined by public service and community remediation. We feel this is the ultimate duty of the architect, beyond the niche and aesthetic. Herein, we want to share this work with our peers and inspire those with these creative skills to design generously.
Competitions often provide the opportunity to design for places and specific needs that may not ordinarily arise in a client brief. Competitions are a great way for architecture studios to challenge their thinking about architecture’s role and or contribution to society. To think big and to see ourselves as an agent for positive change. It is also an important exercise to test a firm’s ability to respond to a brief and compare their proposal to their peers.
I participate in architecture competitions to improve my design skills. Dealing with specific topics always provides new inspiration and enables me to continuously develop. Additionally, I enjoy seeing the diverse approaches that other participants take to solve the same challenges.
Unlike existing contests, BUILDNER addresses aspects of society that are not yet considered. This gives us many opportunities to think and has the power to change society. We also entered this contest to be part of such an initiative.
I believe that participating in architectural competitions can greatly help me broaden my thinking and allow me to design boldly while trying out new design methods. For example, I think that the functionality of a single building is limited, so I aim to solve complex problems through designing systems. The topics provided by Buildner are always innovative and challenging, which is why I want to use this architectural competition to practice my ideas and receive diverse feedback from around the world. This experience will be a great exercise for my professional skills in the future.
Taking part in architecture competitions is a way for us to break the routine of our day-to-day jobs. It allows us to push design boundaries and take concept ideas that stem from our unique approach to briefs and architectural visions to the extreme.
Participating in architecture competitions allows us to challenge ourselves and observe our group dynamic with a project beyond university settings. It is a means for us to test our abilities and push our boundaries.
Competitions provide opportunities to tackle innovative design challenges, fostering skill development and creativity, and exploring new ideas and design approaches that might not be encountered in everyday work.
Participating in architectural competitions offers an even playing field for individuals at different stages and levels of exposure within the profession. When students and professionals compete together, the experience can push the boundaries of knowledge and creativity. This expansion can challenge preexisting concepts and ultimately propel the profession forward by sparking innovation and solving existing challenges in new ways. It is also a wonderful opportunity to network with peers while addressing interesting problems.
The competition provides us with an opportunity to explore and challenge various topics, pushing us beyond our comfort zones to try different types, thus fostering a continuous learning process. In competitions, we are often faced with numerous requirements and constraints, similar to those encountered in future architectural practice. However, they are also more theoretical, which stimulates our imagination and creativity. This is particularly meaningful for us as students.
We were interested in seeing if others could relate to our new concept, and I seized the opportunity to participate.
There are many reasons for this, but the main one is that the competition is a way for teams to see their skills and teamwork before they graduate and use the opportunity to improve individually.
Architecture competitions are an important step in developing personal skills, expanding one's knowledge in a specific field, and having the freedom to experiment without particular constraints or obligations. Furthermore, engaging in these competitions with a team of people who share your interests is a smart way to foster team building and highlight the peculiarities of each member. For our group, this collaboration was very efficient and allowed us to get to know each other personally and professionally.
Participating in architecture competitions allows us to explore new design challenges, push the limits of creativity within a team, and showcase innovative ideas to a broader audience. These competitions provide valuable opportunities for professional growth, networking with peers and industry leaders, and gaining global recognition.
Participating in architecture competitions offers a valuable opportunity to engage with professionals from around the world and acquire new knowledge, especially when projects are carried out in teams. This experience involves the ability to collaborate with others and compare different ideas to create a final project. Moreover, competitions typically present design challenges that demand innovative solutions, encouraging the development of new design approaches. Additionally, taking part in these competitions provides significant visibility and prestige, showcasing one's work to a wide audience and increasing future opportunities, both academically and professionally.
We participate in competitions for fun! Architecture competitions offer us the chance to let our creativity run wild, unfettered by the usual shackles of professional projects. We architects thrive on challenges – the kind that make us grow taller, not just our buildings! These competitions throw us into a whirlwind of diverse concepts, like a wild ride through the theme park of design. We get to play with different design philosophies, shuffle spatial arrangements like a deck of cards, and indulge our curiosities until they're bursting at the seams. It's like being mad scientists in a laboratory of architectural innovation!
Although it’s worth noting it’s an opportunity to push boundaries with creativity and technical expertise, like many others have said, who have answered this very question. But, to be real it’s to show the world what we are capable of, either as individuals, architectural designers, or as recent graduates/students, out of the academic/professional settings.
Architectural competitions provide an kerf to look though real issues around us and encourage designers to think outside the box . This is a great opportunity to help architects understand the world, mutually, it allows the world to meet our vision.
As a recent graduate in architecture, I feel that I still have to mature in certain aspects when facing a new project. In addition to exploring my capabilities as an architect, participating in this type of competitions helps me improve not only in the project phase but mainly, in how to efficently present and explain a project.
We believe that architectural competitions offer opportunities to experiment with novel solutions and themes, pushing us out of our comfort zone and challenging our capabilities. It's an excellent method for rapidly acquiring new knowledge and skills. Furthermore, we view competitions as a meritocratic form of recognition and consider idea competitions to be invaluable training for the design challenges we will face in our future careers.
Participating in architectural competitions provides us with an excellent platform to showcase and demonstrate our abilities, which is a rare opportunity. Collaborating and creating alongside partners from diverse backgrounds greatly enhances our understanding and familiarity with the project design process.
I participate in architecture competitions to immerse myself in projects that deviate from the ordinary, encounter new and stimulating design challenges, and test my abilities, all while having the opportunity to witness my projects come to fruition.
We view competitions as a perfect exercise for testing creativity and exploring innovative proposals. They present a challenge for us and offer an opportunity to seek solutions to current problems. Additionally, competitions serve as a means to reach out and create a community among colleagues in the profession.
I participate in architecture competitions because they allow me to explore innovative design concepts, push the boundaries of my creativity, and refine my technical skills. They provide an opportunity to tackle design challenges that I might not encounter in my day-to-day work.
As a collective, this is the first time we have all individually collaborated on a project together. Being relatively new to the field of architecture, we are eager to understand and analyze the current conditions of our built environment. Architectural competitions provide us with the platform to establish our voice and explore our interests through the act of creation. In academia and the professional world, the design and construction of a building can be a lengthy process, whereas competitions allow us to work swiftly based on our instincts and intuition.
Architectural competitions offer the freedom to realize projects according to one's vision. While rules provide direction for thought, they don't restrict creativity. This enables the expression of one's full creative potential and design perspective. Our primary objective in participating in competitions is to refine our creative voice and diversify our portfolio. We believe that this experience will deepen our engagement with the design process.
Competitions provide a means to escape the numerous rules one must adhere to when designing a client's project. They offer freedom and prompt questions like, "Is this allowed?" or "Should I explore this path instead?" This encourages searching for new and different approaches. It's not just about expanding one's portfolio; it's about exercising the brain and having fun.
We participate in competitions because, while larger firms may prioritize commercial projects, we aim to maintain a sharp focus on pushing the boundaries of design creativity.
Primarily to hone my abilities in visualization and communication as well as using the prompt to test a particular idea or theme of exploration. The architectural work I do always seems to return to similar themes in different contexts. A new prompt or project offers a way to consider these themes in a new way.
I take part in competitions because, for me, architectural competitions are not only about winning, but also a chance to gain experience, showcase skills, better understand the project, and receive recognition. By participating, I work on honing my skills and become even more motivated to create.
I participated in this architecture competition to stimulate my architectural thoughts, for fun and because I liked the competition's brief.
Competitions give the opportunity for you to work closely with teammates you admire, allowing you to learn from them as well as how to collaborate with them. As a bonus, competition work will be useful for enriching academic portfolios and future job applications.
I participate in competitions because I believe that architectural competitions are extremely stimulating occasions—a 'space' free from constraints in which you can express your point of view. They allow me to explore different and original topics and constitute a precious opportunity for creative enrichment and self-reflection.
This was our first competition entry, with the goal to challenge ourselves, showcase our skills, and share our ideas. As students, we believe competitions are the best opportunity to be part of and develop projects that contribute our young concepts to the real world. We firmly believe that practice makes perfect. To improve our capabilities, we seek to participate in as many design competitions as possible to refine our respective styles and grow as architects.
We pursue the excitement of design, and architecture competitions are an avenue to fulfill our desires and share our passion with others.
I highly appreciate designers who strive to push the boundaries of possibilities and go beyond what is already known. In our daily professional work, we may not always have the opportunity for such exploration, which doesn't necessarily positively impact our development. However, design competitions provide an ideal opportunity to explore new concepts and create something truly unconventional.
We firmly believe that continually challenging ourselves is the catalyst for our professional evolution, compelling us to engage in an ongoing process of self-critique. Staying in sync with trends while actively pursuing innovation is imperative for advancing our brand. It serves as the driving force behind nurturing our adaptive and creative capabilities across diverse markets.
It is a good way to challenge your creativity.
Competitions benefit me in several ways, the most immediate is exposure of my work to peers and new audiences. But, personally, a competition creates a real deadline for me to organize a project into a thoughtful and complete form that is ready to share. This is especially important for personal projects that have no external deadlines.
Competitions serve as valuable learning experiences. They provide a chance to hone our skills and expand our creative horizons, receive feedback from jurors or peers, and refine skills and techniques. The process of conceptualizing, developing, and presenting a competition entry can be incredibly enriching, fostering growth and improvement as an architect.
It's a great exercise for ingenuity, it promotes thinking differently and it’s a great way to express design philosophy.
I believe architecture competitions are important to push us as designers and also see how our own skills compare with those around us. Less about competition and more about improving ourselves as designers.
Participating in architecture competitions helps you see things from a different perspective, opens up various opportunities to experiment, and allows you to try something you have not attempted before. By doing so and navigating through the process, it encourages you to find your own approach. This experience helps expand your skills and insights by providing a platform to express yourself. Additionally, it serves as excellent practice for teamwork and leadership.
As students, participating in architecture competitions gives us a glimpse of how our proposed design can become a reality. It puts us in the mindset of designing something that has a certain potential to be built, which is exciting. It also helps us think uniquely and keeps us constantly improving our skills and designs.
For us, architecture competitions are a way to work on a project without the constraints or limitations that are often present in a profession setting, which allows us to push and expand the ways we are thinking and making.
I participate in architecture competitions as they can be a rewarding experience and offer me opportunities for professional growth, networking, portfolio enhancement, exploration of ideas and receiving feedback from jury members and peers in the industry.
Architecture competitions are a fundamental tool for experimenting, exploring concepts, and exploring possibilities that allow us to discover new worldviews. They are a true playground where it's possible to build step by step one's identity as an architect and develop a personal design approach.
Before being a competitive space, an architecture competition is a hub where stories and possibilities can be shared. As a student, this competition provided me with an opportunity to expand my understanding of the current situation, in a site that I might never have had a chance to work with. The competition brief was our studio brief, and it was an excellent project to explore the unknown while proposing the most site-specific response possible for this site.
I participate in architecture competitions to showcase my design skills and challenge myself with project types I wouldn’t typically see in my day-to-day work. With unconventional programs and unique competition sites that encourage designers to embrace complete creative control, I can explore innovative design ideas and systems that have the potential to transform a project and its community.
Competitions serve as a platform for us to explore fresh ideas, challenge ourselves, and experiment with cutting-edge design concepts. They grant us the freedom to think creatively and approach problems in unconventional ways, fostering a culture of innovation within our team. This environment also enables us to continuously refine our skills as we engage with diverse design briefs and problem-solving scenarios, offering a sense of growth and development.
Participation in architectural competitions allows one to improve their skills and acquire new knowledge, as well as broaden their perspective and gain unique, valuable experience. There is great value in observation and connecting with other human beings, which is done in a very particular way during such competitions. They allow for deeper analysis and understanding of other approaches and work ethics. They also facilitate dialogue with people from various cultures and backgrounds.
Competitions give the opportunity to test ideas uncontained from real world constraints. New concepts can be experimented which broaden our research and offer critiques or opportunities for implementation in our own future projects.
We believe that competitions are the most democratic exercises in architecture. They are the most honest way to highlight the need for good architectural projects to address the demands of a constantly changing world. Moreover, we think they challenge us, take us out of our comfort zone, and make us more creative.
We believe that participating in architecture competitions can develop our perception of spaces and sensitize us to the issues of the modern world. Moreover, we think that contact with people from all around the world can enrich our design experiences.
Competitions like this allow us to join the conversation on pressing global issues and explore if and how architecture can contribute. They can remove certain barriers to being innovative and radical when approaching solutions. I also enjoy reflecting on and learning from the variety of perspectives on these different design prompts.
I participate in architecture competitions to give freedom to my imagination and creativity, and also to experiment with new ideas, forms, and technologies. Furthermore, as a young architect, competitions are a way for me to improve my graphic design and communication skills, as well as gain greater visibility on a professional level.
Architecture competitions provide us with a way to experiment with our ideas that are not limited as in the professional field, and not as directed as in school. Essentially, it is a platform for creative freedom within the set rules given by the brief.
In our opinion, architecture competitions provide a wonderful opportunity to challenge ourselves by engaging in unconventional projects around the world. We thoroughly enjoy exploring different cultures, and architecture competitions serve as a means to do just that.
Participation in ideation contests represents a valuable opportunity for us due to the creative freedom they offer and our ongoing interest in research. We chose this competition for its potential to explore new ways of living and enhancing the quality of life for older adults, a group often ignored in society. Additionally, as young architects starting our professional careers, it can be a great opportunity to showcase our philosophy, potential, and reflections on architecture to the world.
We take part in architecture competitions because they offer a chance to unleash our creativity, learn from others, and potentially win exciting projects. It's a way for us to grow personally and professionally while sharing our passion for design with the world.
Architectural competitions offer us a platform to cultivate innovative ideas rooted in contemporary issues. It is inspiring to learn from the architectural community in competitions as every participant uses different approaches to address the same prompt. All participants bring their unique expertise and past experiences into their designs, allowing us to learn from others in the field, challenge our own ideas, and develop our skill sets.
We participate in architecture competitions because they offer opportunities to broaden one's perspective on architecture and contribute to society.
Competitions occupy the middle ground between the rather wide disjunction between design school and practice. They simultaneously offer autonomy to individual designers who generally work (and think) eclectically as a group, but also more closely simulate the design timeline from 'conceptual to specific' that one experiences in professional practice. On a personal level, although Yifan, Lucas, and I are only one cohort apart, we realized that our experiences in the same school varied differently as a result of pedagogical changes and disruptions, such as the pandemic. This opportunity gave me some insight into a much more dexterous mode of working that they had to adapt to.
We see architecture competitions as a way to work on important questions that may not be addressed in commissioned projects. Therefore, we view ideas competitions as a small but critical part of a larger project with many inputs and outputs, along with additional sources of support.
Architecture competitions of this nature allow anyone to challenge and provide a fresh approach to existing design dogmas. It is an incredible chance to step away from the conventional means of execution and present a different perspective to a broader audience. It helps to facilitate change in the profession through exposure and discussion, as well as one’s own professional growth. Competitions are a great venue for experimentation, and a laboratory to unpack and test design philosophies.
Architectural competitions offer a framework for testing ideas. The potentialities of this process catalyze personal growth via the continuous design dialogue found therein, and thus shape new perspectives on evolving creative pursuits.
For us, participating in architecture competitions offers the opportunity to approach design in a less typical manner. The guidelines and requirements for competition projects often allow us to think outside the box, which greatly aids in creating increasingly innovative work. As students, it's important for us to showcase our projects beyond the university setting. Both the chance to receive feedback on our designs from industry specialists and the opportunity to win various awards are additional reasons for us to participate in competitions.
As a recent graduate, architecture competitions help me test my approach and design solutions in a realistic setting. They give me confidence and positivity in my design process and approach, providing a strong guideline for future works.
Participating in competitions provides opportunities to expand our knowledge on subjects we may not have access to in our practical work. We always approach competitions by questioning our preconceptions of design while still keeping constraints and feasibility in mind. This approach has allowed us to grow our knowledge and reshape the ways we design in our day-to-day work.
Participating in international architectural competitions provides an opportunity to become acquainted with outstanding designers worldwide. Through competition platforms, designers can engage in mutual exchange and interaction.
Participating in architecture competitions is a great opportunity to gain experience in a professional field before graduating. It may enrich a student's formation with new ideas, together with learning how to cope with tight deadlines, team work and responsibilities. The most challenging thing about this is not having someone guiding us throughout the process, but it is up to us to be more self-critical and enterprising.
In these competitions, I feel free. I believe that for an artist, nothing is better than the feeling of freedom to create.
Taking part in competitions provides us with a competitive and stimulating framework for tackling out-of-the-ordinary architectural subjects. It's also an opportunity for us to collaborate.
Architectural competitions are challenges that I can easily reflect my own design approach. The reason I participate in competitions is to challenge myself with talented designers from all over the world. The unique atmosphere of each project pushes me to solve the problem by approaching it by sustainable and effective ways with futuristic thinking.
As students, participating in architectural competitions allows us to know more architectural projects, broaden our horizons, and see the thoughts of different interpretations of people from different cultural backgrounds. At the same time, it prompts us to improve our professional skills and design methods.
To constantly learn more and develop new projects that may one day be realized is a goal. These competitions provide a platform to showcase your work to the world.
As strange as it may sound, I enjoy architecture competitions less for their rivalry and more for the exchange of ideas with fellow architecture enthusiasts around the globe. It serves as a great exercise to demonstrate fascinating (and magical) typology and design methods, away from the traditional approach that oftentimes is full of (boring) constraints. I’m always intrigued whenever I see these competition posters because they always come up with peculiar—sometimes hilarious—challenges that spark instant curiosity, just like love at first sight!
We want to compete with many people around the world. Besides that, participating in competitions can help us improve our knowledge, skills, logical thinking, and perspective on different programs and architectural scales.
I participate in architecture competitions to stay curious. In ideas competitions, there is enough freedom and enough restraints in place to be playful while remaining mindful.
Competitions provide us with an intellectual outlet to explore our core interests, investigate new challenges and opportunities, and quickly test out ideas. These competition briefs may deviate from our current projects and provide a refreshing and stimulating exercise.
We participate in architectural competitions to challenge our ideas, push our thinking further, reconsider our universe, reject the status quo, and take certain concepts to even greater heights.
Participating in architecture competitions gives me the opportunity to break free from the confines of conventional thinking that architects often find themselves in. It allows me to escape the limitations of my ideas, encouraging me to explore beyond the ordinary and perceive from diverse viewpoints. It is a refreshing way to stay inspired.
Architectural competitions offer a chance to explore various scales and usage typologies. They provide an opportunity to unleash your creativity while tackling new and unfamiliar challenges. Competitions serve as a tool for self-expression and growth within architecture, allowing us to apply our learned knowledge to different briefs and scenarios, continuously challenging our own ideas.
I participate in architecture competitions because they present diverse challenges, prompting me to seek varied solutions. It's an invigorating exercise that allows me to try, dream, and actualize my visions, continually refining my approach and expanding my design horizons.
To me, participating in architecture competitions is a conduit for innovation, learning, and professional growth. They provide a platform to explore new design paradigms, confront contemporary challenges, and engage with diverse architectural ideologies. Through competitions, I delve into uncharted territories of architectural and urban design, aligning with my ongoing exploration of blending traditional practices with modern technological advancements.
Competitions help me fuel my creative spirit, pushing me to innovate and convey my vision creatively amidst challenging constraints. This journey assembles a global brainstorming, fostering an enriching exchange of ideas and ultimately helping us shape our architectural practice.
International competitions pose the most pressing questions of the moment, challenging architects to address society's most urgent problems and emphasizing the need for their vision where it is most needed. Therefore, I feel obligated to provide a direct response to the current societal challenges, shaping the future and envisioning what it means to take charge. This year, I participated in several competitions independently and attempted to formulate a Ph.D. proposal topic. However, the work is still in progress and awaits approval.
We see architecture competitions as opportunities for our team to challenge ourselves and continually develop our design skills. They often involve unique and complex design problems that push us to think creatively and find innovative solutions. Competitions often have fewer constraints than real-world projects, allowing for greater creative freedom. This encourages us to explore unconventional ideas and collectively push the boundaries of design.
I participate in competitions to test my creativity and explore my ability to transform ideas from my mind into tangible environments and spaces. These challenges push me to find innovative solutions, engaging and stretching my creative capabilities.
Participating in architecture competitions is a conscious and deliberate decision on our part, driven primarily by our desire to maintain a platform for personal expression and to preserve our intellectual curiosity. These competitions represent a fertile ground where ideas can grow unrestrained, allowing us to push our design ideas beyond conventional boundaries and explore theories that pique our interest.
We aim to push the boundaries of architectural concepts and explore various forms of architecture. Architecture competitions also help us build networks with professionals and share design ideas within the industry.
Participating in architecture competitions opens doors to diverse projects beyond my regular work scope. The research and learning throughout these contests not only deepened my grasp of architectural design but also expanded my understanding of different cultures and societies.
Architecture competitions are an opportunity to push forward our ideas and continue being a student. It lets you explore your creativity. It’s also an opportunity to get familiar with other tools and softwares that we want to improve.
For us, competitions are an opportunity to showcase our ideas and confront challenges that we would never encounter otherwise. It is a break from ordinary life and a way for us to fulfill our creative desires.
We envision competitions as a means to express and communicate our vision of life through architecture. We feel the need to participate in competitions as a constant practice, reinforcing our methodology, enhancing verbal and visual communication skills, and embracing creativity.
Architectural competitions are very different from the daily projects I've encountered. The nature of these competitions allows me to explore, reflect, learn, create, and experiment with new ideas and skills. Throughout the process, I've also had the chance to refine and develop my own beliefs and narratives about architecture.
Competitions offer architects a platform to explore innovative and experimental design ideas that may not be possible in typical commissioned projects. They allow us to push the boundaries of our creativity and test new concepts. Additionally, competitions can be a valuable learning experience, enabling us to receive feedback from juries and improve our skills.
We want to share and express our thoughts on architecture and design with the world, hoping that, through this, we can bring about some positive changes to society.
Participating in architecture competitions has not only enabled us to explore various approaches for our own projects but has also allowed us to share our processes and receive valuable feedback from different perspectives. Overall, this experience enriches us and provides an opportunity to explore new concepts, pushing our boundaries.
For us, competitions provide a testing ground for ideas which may not have an immediate market. It allows for broad speculation on emerging realities which are not yet known. It gives us an opportunity to integrate our academic research into our professional work without the restrictions imposed by a client.
We participate in competitions to challenge and test seemingly impossible ideas.
We participate in architecture competition to challenge ourselves to design innovative programs.
I decided to participate in an architectural competition because as a young architect, it is an opportunity to confront my point of view with real life. It was also an opportunity for me to concretize a process and a methodology. For me, the culture of experience is what makes an architect, and these competitions are good ways to confront the concrete.
Participating in contests means being constantly active, thinking, designing, and dreaming of new possibilities. Attempting to solve design challenges through contests speeds up thought processes and provides the space to be exceptionally creative.
Architectural competitions allow us to challenge ourselves with diverse design approaches. They also provide an opportunity to bridge the gap between academic knowledge and real-world practice. Overall, this creates an exciting environment for us to experiment and explore unconventional ideas, which we truly enjoy.
We both have a strong passion for sharing ideas, fostering creativity and collaborating. This led us to seize the great opportunity to work together. For us it is important to keep exploring unconventional thinking, different settings, and new frameworks beyond our usual projects.
Participation in architecture competitions opens up creative horizons to other fields beyond our current work environment and keeps us updated and informed about non-conventional topics. It also stimulates creativity and explores new research possibilities.
I think it is a great way to explore new situations, needs, and challenges, and in doing so, grow and become more aware of the broader world we live and create in.
I chose to engage in architecture competitions as a means of broadening my horizons, thinking outside the box, and combating burnout. Competitions, in my view, offer a platform for expressing and showcasing our ideas. They provide an opportunity to break free from conventional constraints and explore innovative design concepts.
To me, every architecture competition is an uncharted journey and a challenge. Competitions help us think from a wider variety of perspectives that we never did before.
It was an interesting and challenging exercise where we had the chance to combine our different experiences in a joint project.
Competitions are extremely beneficial in testing and challenging an architect’s perspective and abilities. For architecture students, competitions offer a valuable opportunity to design beyond the constraints of academic curriculum or professional restrictions.
Competitions enable us to explore innovative design approaches, push our creative boundaries, and demonstrate our ability to create spaces that enhance the experience within a harmonious and inspiring environment.
We participate in architecture competitions because they provide us with an arena in which we can play gracefully with ideas. Competitions challenge us to make design decisions always in relation to people and to place, and they encourage us to consider the material, structural, and anthropological implications of architecture.
Competitions always allow you to see many different perspectives on one task. You can see many different ideas that you have not considered yourself and are always a great source of inspiration and new experience.
This is the first time we have taken part in such an architectural competition. We are interested in the topic of a conscious ecological approach in tourism and construction, as well as the beauty of the nature of the Latvian coast. This topic combines our love for nature and interest in spiritual practices.
Our team participated in an architecture competition to seize the opportunity to explore various topics beyond what we could learn in school. Additionally, we embarked on this project to compete on the global stage and share diverse ideas with the worldwide community. These experiences have allowed us to take a step forward in our growth before graduation.
Hyosik Kim, Changjoo Lee and Youngjun Lee from South Korea!
The competitions allow the freedom to explore conceptual ideas and transform your ideas into forward thinking and innovative designs.
The architectural competition is a training opportunity to push the unrealistic projects in the mind to reality through step-by-step deliberation exercises. And this kind of opportunity is particularly valuable for our students. It breaks away from the school's training logic, so that we can have the opportunity to show this logic combined with our own understanding.
As architecture students, we are always looking for ways to challenge our creativity and hone our design skills. Design competitions allow us to exercise our abilities in design and software, as well as give us more opportunity to work with a team and collaborate towards a common goal.
We love space for thoughts and money to live.
Architecture competitions play a vital role in expanding our horizons beyond daily work settings. They create a space for creativity and exploration, allowing us to integrate innovation, sustainability, and humanity into our designs.
Architecture competitions gives us an opportunity to work outside our comfort zones. To explore a new societal way of life and understand the complexities of designing that lie around them. It is one of the few mediums that allows architects to go wild with their imagination, designing your unique vision of how you see the world.
Competitions are a unique platform in which you can test ideas and skills which you may not be able to test otherwise and, all with a deadline so you can reward yourself with a wine at the end - just like in the real world!
We see architecture competitions as an opportunity to engage with ideas, clientele, and geographies that are different and removed from those we regularly encounter in our practice.
As an architect, I participate in architecture competitions primarily to challenge myself creatively and intellectually. Competitions provide a unique opportunity to explore innovative ideas, push the boundaries of design, and break away from the constraints of traditional projects.
Participating in an architecture competition is an opportunity to introduce myself to the world. Additionally, through participation in the contest, I receive an objective evaluation and an indicator that my design is heading in the right direction.
We like the fact that competitions help to create new and high-quality projects. For the client, it means offering multiple answers to a specific brief, which pushes the quality of the final design validated by multiple solutions.
Competitions are a good challenge, not only for professional growth but also for personal development. They provide an opportunity to step away from routine and do something unusual. Additionally, it's a great way to learn something new about another country's culture and people.
Competitions provide me with opportunities to practice my skills and can also help me find potential opportunities to enhance my career. Sometimes, competitions offer unique and attractive programs that I have never experienced before, such as the Olive Guest House competition.
Architecture competitions serve as a powerful tool to enhance the creative process. I also believe that they provide a virtual journey to different places, allowing us to immerse ourselves in their customs, aromas, landscapes, and diverse architectures. This experience serves as a prelude to the project and enriches the design exploration.
In our opinion, architecture competitions provide a wonderful opportunity to challenge ourselves by engaging in unconventional projects around the world. We thoroughly enjoy exploring different cultures, and architecture competitions serve as a means to do just that.
For us, participating in architecturecompetitionsmeanshaving the opportunity to find new alternative and sustainablesolutions for each project weundertake. Multidisciplinarity and innovation are the constant approaches in our research, in order to define new solutions for a less environmental impact of architecture.
What we find very exciting about the architectural endeavor is its unique existence between theory and practice, and we are eager to combine our academic knowledge with practical experience. This means that we seek the opportunity to continually test our theoretical assumptions against reality.
We have developed a strong foundation in teamwork and self-challenge since our university days, as we believe in learning from others. Engaging in architecture competitions, even with ongoing commissions, allows us to expand our knowledge, explore new territories, test and exchange ideas, and tackle design issues that may not arise in our everyday work.
We occasionally participate in competitions that align with our professional interests and visions. We view them as exercises, opportunities to delve back into research mode, self-educate, and enhance our skills. Competitions enable us to refine our ideas and showcase them without the constraints of a client or budget.
I participate in architectural competitions for several reasons. Firstly, they provide valuable experiences that expand my ideas and allow me to explore new concepts. Secondly, they serve as a platform for young architects like myself to discover our professional identities and develop innovative projects.
I have participated in several architectural competitions with the purpose of not only winning awards but, more importantly, challenging myself and stepping out of my comfort zone. This allows me to continuously engage in critical thinking and remain focused on design.
At CEB, we participate in architecture competitions for several reasons. Firstly, it provides us with an opportunity to compete with established companies, showcasing our skills and making a distinctive contribution. Secondly, we highly value the experience of competing with renowned names in the architecture community and receiving their feedback.
Architecture competitions of this nature enable individuals to challenge and offer fresh approaches to existing design dogmas. They provide an incredible opportunity to break away from conventional means of execution and present a different perspective to a wider audience.
We participate in architecture vision competitions when we have spare time during our school work. The value we derive from participating in these competitions is that they enhance our vision, challenge us to consider design issues that we may not encounter within the university, and introduce new ideas into our future careers.
We don’t normally enter a lot of competitions, but we were looking for a challenge for our team on the side of the commissioned work. A project with a little more freedom that we could use to test some new software and workflows within the office.
As mentioned before, we have a strong interest in exploring the field of architecture for elderly people, which is the main reason for our participation in this topic. Additionally, competitions provide a valuable platform for young architects to express their opinions, which may be perceived as naive but are worthy of being heard.
Architecture competitions are like playgrounds where you must allow yourself to drift without a compass or a stopwatch. They provide opportunities to explore unknown paths, igniting our imaginations and thoughts. It's a chance to experiment with new scales, both in terms of design and the various ways in which it can be represented.
I participate in architectural competitions because I believe it is a way to stimulate the creative mind. It presents new challenges with unique programs, uses, and locations. I enjoy witnessing the diverse proposals and ideas from other designers while also sharing my own.
Architecture competitions are a good way to break routines and project without the restrictions of everyday work. They help encourage architects to express themselves in different ways and propose less conventional ideas.
Competition projects serve as the perfect laboratory for us to imagine and test new ideas, serving various purposes. For the organizer/initiator of the competition, we strive to present a different, unique, yet always fitting and realistic idea to address the challenges of the design brief.
We appreciate the fact that competitions contribute to the creation of new and high-quality projects. For the client, this means having access to multiple answers for a specific brief, which enhances the quality of the final design by validating it through various solutions.
We join the competition for the reason that it provides us with a platform to inspire our passion and create works freely. Architects often face multiple restrictions in their routine work due to various reasons.
Architecture competitions are an opportunity for Atelier L’Abri to explore new ideas, foster innovation and showcase the workshop’s creative capabilities and expertise.
One brief, multiple answers. Competitions broaden our views, revealing the multitude of approaches that can be taken to address the same question, thus transforming it into a powerful learning experience.
Participating in architectural competitions is a form of expression, similar to painting or performing. It provides me with the opportunity to explore and interrogate exciting concepts while developing my design and representation skills. Particularly as I delve deeper into professional practice, competitions serve as a refreshing outlet that keeps me engaged with my curious nature.
Competitions provide a platform for architects to explore new concepts, technologies, and materials, encouraging creative and innovative thinking. For instance, in the "Home of Shadow" project, we discovered that the absence of natural light enhances the connection between humans and nature while deepening our understanding of low-carbon and sustainable development.
We humbly participate in architecture competitions, acknowledging the valuable opportunities they provide for our growth and learning. These competitions allow us to challenge ourselves, refine our skills, and broaden our horizons.
We have actively participated in architectural competitions to enhance our overall knowledge of architecture. Additionally, we strive to engage in larger-scale competitions to test our skills and gauge the extent of our current knowledge.
As students, architecture competitions provide us with a valuable opportunity to apply what we learn in a real-world context beyond the school environment. They allow us to take risks, engage in discussions, develop our ideas, and explore our own unique understanding of architecture.
We enjoy participating in architecture competitions because, to us, it feels like play. Regardless of the outcome, it is a wonderful experience to derive joy from the process of designing, particularly as a group of close friends.
Architectural skills provide us with the opportunity to consistently exercise high levels of conceptualization for a project.
You have the opportunity to challenge yourself to the maximum, refining and sharpening your skills, from the inception of the idea to the most expressive and honest way of conveying it. I have always believed that the anonymity offered by international architecture competitions is extremely important.
Competitions challenge us to constantly push ourselves and reach new heights with each step we take. Needless to say, they help develop and refine our raw qualities.
Architectural competitions challenge us to think beyond the everyday constraints of projects in our office and local conditions. We find this incredibly valuable for expanding our design process, thinking, and methods of working. Researching and considering new typologies and locations is invaluable for the growth of our practice and team.
We participate in competitions because it allows us to expand upon our own interests into new typologies. It gives us the ability to express our own individuality in a project that could otherwise be suppressed by hierarchical structures in a professional practice.
I enjoy participating in architecture competitions for several reasons. The primary reason is to gain experience. I have observed that with each competition I enter, regardless of the outcome, my knowledge and problem-solving abilities expand significantly.
Competitions provide an ideal platform to nurture our creativity and explore new solutions. They allow us to discover new programs, develop innovative ideas, and break free from the constraints imposed by clients. Competitions enable us to be more radical, pushing us to develop concepts and ideas that may be more challenging and theoretical in nature.
Through gaining experience and building our portfolio, we cultivate self-motivation in our shared field of interest, potentially preparing ourselves to venture into our own business. Architecture competitions balance the conceptual image with the realization of construction, helping us maintain the necessary design sensitivity and stimulate our creativity.
We participate in competitions as they provide a great platform to stimulate and explore the creative potential of architecture. As recent graduates, competitions allow us to further develop and learn in a team-based environment, working within the parameters of the brief and critically questioning architectural processes and interventions.
During our time as undergraduate students, participating in architecture competitions enabled us to immerse ourselves in the design world and develop valuable skills in collaboration, time management, and graphic representation. To this day, we continue to enter architecture competitions as a means of exploring experimental and unconventional design.
For us architectural competitions are a way to test and exchange ideas and approaches, grow professionally as well as an opportunity to realise our own projects and get publicity.
I participate in architecture competitions because they provide an opportunity to embrace new design challenges.
First and foremost, our primary goal is to enhance our architectural design skills through participation in competitions.
To enhance our abilities in architectural thinking and the design process, we aim to study the latest trends in architectural visualization.
Engaging in architectural competitions on various topics provides an opportunity for personal development and expanding knowledge. Through these competitions, one can acquire new experiences.
Participating in architecture competitions offers us a platform where our creativity knows no bounds and where opportunities abound, beyond the limitations of traditional design work. It allows us to imagine the unimaginable, delve into complex themes, and question the obvious, creating an exhilarating architectural journey.
We perceive architectural competitions as an opportunity to enhance our design skills, enabling us to create functional projects that resonate with our own identity and propel us into the future.
We strongly believe that contests are the most effective means of acquiring knowledge. While working in a design firm is valuable for honing professional skills, it often restricts creative freedom. Design competitions, on the other hand, foster idea generation and provide creative suggestions.
Competitions are a good way to improve working on complex tasks in a short period of time. We chose this competition because we saw it as an opportunity to experiment with “bigness” and arrange an enormous density to a human scale.
Competitions offer a unique opportunity to fulfill our deep-seated passion for creative exploration and experimentation, allowing us to grow as designers.
Participating in competitions is a way of testing myself. It is one way to learn how to convince people, how to think of questions and restrictions, and to improve digital skills.
Architecture competitions provide us with a unique opportunity to explore new ideas, enhance our abstract thinking, and enjoy in the purest form of creative expression what architecture embodies.
Competitions have always played a crucial role in nurturing my creative and technical abilities. I'm deeply committed to constantly refining and adapting my skills to meet the unique demands of each project.
Participating in the various competitions that are now on offer allows me as a student to work on different phases/subjects that I have not yet explored. Moreover, it is a way to challenge myself individually. It is almost a way to reinterpret contemporary architecture to one's own perception, to push the ordinary to the extraordinary due to a certain form of freedom.
On one hand we can address some of the contemporary problems, on the other we can test our ideas relating to geometry, presentation, function or typology.
In the architecture contest, you encounter and challenge new things other than learning architecture at school. Team members review what they each learned in the design studio, apply and negotiate in a new way, and complete projects that could not be created alone. The whole process is not smooth and difficult, but there are definitely gains.
Beom Seok Ko, Joo Hye Lim, Shiwon Kim and Eun A Jeong from South Korea!
Architecture Competitions give me the opportunity to have a break from my everyday projects and express my architectural intentions more freely. Furthermore it gives me a more clear idea of that kind of architect I want to become and develop my creativity and my tools one step further.
Architecture competitions offer me opportunities to think about future buildings and cities, to explore the boundaries of architecture, to study how new technologies can impact architecture.
Designing a spontaneous architecture, strong of meaning, uses and materiality. To explore new geographical territories, to research about construction systems and materials that we do not encounter in our projects. Discover and connect with cultures, different peoples, maintain way of thinking and know-how.
Architecture competitions are icebreakers, relieving the pressure to create something realistic to uncover magical ideas. One of the easiest things to do in design is to be stuck repeating what works, I believe the best work is often found outside that status quo. Competitions are opportunities to break that repetition.
I participate in architecture competitions since the first year of my university. For me it is a way of challenging myself as an architect. Competitions provide me an opportunity to explore new design ideas and push boundaries beyond the constraints of a typical project. Additionally, participating in competitions is my way to engage and learn from architecture community.
For us the participation in an architecture competition is a unique opportunity where you can follow your passions, work creatively and explore on your own responsibility.
Projects for competitions are a manifesto of pure creativity. They appreciate the courage of thought, the unexpectedness of the ideas. The main point is to offer a bright, clear concept, and adaptation to the features of the real physical world is the following step. Which may not follow at all.
It is the first competition I have participated in. The topic that I worked on was very personal and I felt like I had something important to say. I am planning to take part in more competitions in the near future. I think that competitions give us the possibility to test new ideas and change the way we think and we design.
We believe that it is important to participate in competitions as a working professional, because they keep you tethered to the importance of design and narrative so that as you grow, you understand how pragmatic reality and conceptual design come together to help make you a more powerful thinker and competent maker as an architect.
I participate in competitions partly to develop my skills in designing narrative spaces and to hone my craft in representation. Prompts I am drawn to exist outside of the reality of a traditional brief for a built project as they stimulate creative impetus in a way that is difficult to source outside of academia or intentional collectives.
I participated in a competition because I enjoy contemplating interesting topics and expanding my perspectives. Additionally, when I see the works of others in the competition, it sparks my interest in new viewpoints and methods of expression that I may not have been aware of before.
The open-ended briefs of architecture competitions allows us to imagine and speculate futures, as well as test them with the methods and tools we’ve learned from the discipline.
Architecture competitions are unique experiences for young and experienced professionals to trigger and revitalize their professional dynamics and to recognize themselves and even push their limits.
Architect is a thinker; we should use our knowledge from what we learned to share the ideas to the society. And Buildner gives us an opportunity to do so.
We love to explore the world of architecture through unique themes. Especially in this competition, for us, the brief of Memorial for Witches is very interesting. This competition encourages us to build a strong idea about injustice uniquely.
You are given the chance to challenge yourself to the maximum, to refine and sharpen your skills, from the birth of the idea to the most expressive and honest way of transmitting it.
Joining architecture competitions let us jump out of daily practice once a while and the process of brainstorming really provided us more inspiration and insights. Also, it made us pay more attention to the society around us and expanded the scope of architecture itself.
I find it a good reason to flex your mind creatively and see where you stand in relation to the collective order of things within the profession. The fixed deadline and topic forces you to operate in a way as you would with a client but with much greater freedom.
We see the competition as a place to connect with fellow artists who share same passion about architectural visualization as our team.
Participating in architecture competitions has been an important part of my personal and professional development as an architect. These competitions have allowed me to explore different techniques and approaches to design, including visualization, communication, typology, and more.
Architecture competitions are a good way for me to prepare for later working life. They are also fun and a challenge because you always have a new task or topic to deal with over a certain period of time. I think you always acquire new skills and learn from them.
With the multitude of architects and designers on the rise in this day and age, architecture competitions provide an excellent platform for students and professionals in the field to showcase their best work.
Some of competitions that are different from traditional architecture, especially interaction design and interdisciplinary art. These give us more creative possibilities and space to explore.
I participate in architecture competitions because it can give a work direction, focus and a set time frame. I find this gives me a space and an arena to bring forward ideas that otherwise might continue to float around without ever reaching their full potential.
We participate in architecture competitions because they are an exciting opportunity to learn and experiment with novel ideas. We also enjoy how architecture’s creative design process necessitates research in order to familiarize oneself with different environments and cultures.
Competitions are challenging and allow us to gain experience by playing with our creativity.
I participate in architecture vision competitions when i find extra time in my academical work. Competitions in architecture are an excellent method to test out strategies, explore individual interests, and exercise more creative flexibility.
"Sometimes in the capitalist world it’s hard to bring your own voice while working on commercial projects. We, architects are lucky that there are available competitions where we can express our creativity and leave the commercial boundaries behind. For me right now it is a perfect way to explore my limits in an international context."
While design assignments within schools often have a lot of rules and regulations, competitions allow us to maximize our whims. Participating in architecture competitions has helped us develop our passion for architectural design, so that we would not lose ourselves in rigid academic projects.
It is because I am curious about the thoughts of people in other cultures and want to share them.
Competitions are opportunities to develop other ways of doing things and to reflect on subjects that differ from the demands of traditional sponsors. For the agency, this has always made it possible to freely explore fields of ideas and to shape new concepts.
I was interested in the topic itself.
We participate in architecture competitions to be able to test out our ideas and our will to create. Additionally, it provides us with a platform for not only exploration but also growth and put us in a critical condition. In academia, or even in practice, the brief and the learning outcomes are already set out prior. With architecture competitions, we can pick and choose what sort of briefs interests us.
It would take a good psychologist to know. Something magical and fascinating happens during architectural competitions. Just think of two people who have never met, do not speak the same language, live in different places, at different times, and despite this they communicate with each other.
We participate in competitions because they are fun. A group of us gets together and researches a brief that gets us excited. Each competition entails research, experimentation, ideas and conversations.
I think that it allows myself to go a step further and get out of the profile of projects that I have usually been able to face.
This is a new and exciting experience that differs from our usual workflow. Architects usually refer to participation in competitions as leaving their comfort zone. For us, in Ukraine in 2022, this competition was actually an opportunity to return to our comfort zone. A chance to practice our creativity and switch attention from the context of war we live in.
We both believe that an architecture competition is a great opportunity to challenge ourselves and work on designs that develop our creativity. They force us to respond to problems we might have never come across during our education or professional life as architects. Moreover, it is an opportunity to share ideas internationally and compare your work with other design propositions.
I personally participate in competitions because it allow me to get out of my comfort zone and experiment with new challenges. By pushing myself to explore new ideas and approaches, I find new inspiration and approaches to design that I can bring back to my regular work.
Challenges are an integral part of a designer's experience, and I believe that they are essential for growth and development. I find it particularly meaningful to tackle architectural design competitions, as they provide an opportunity to test my skills and creativity in a competitive environment.
We participate in competitions in order to work without too strict boundaries, but still within a given task and a set of goals. Competitions allow us to test and stretch rules to achieve a better solution in the context.
It was an exciting experience and the opportunity to convey ideas through the prism of your worldview. We've got out of our comfort zone in a way, had valuable interactions with the newly formed team, and enjoyed fascinating research and analysis of new information – everything we hoped to get out of the competition and more.
It would take a good psychologist to know. Something magical and fascinating happens during architectural competitions. Just think of two people who have never met, do not speak the same language, live in different places, at different times, and despite this they communicate with each other.
As young architects, competitions are greate opportunities to test out your imaginary ideas and visually communicate with the world. We also learn a lot from competitions through collaborating with the team as our different ideas constantly benefit each other.
We enjoy participating in competitions, as the thinking process during competitions allow us to push boundaries and experiment, and those experimentations can certainly create the unusual and spectacular.
Working in competitions challenge me to jump out of my comfort zone. To work on projects that are in a different context than my usual work. It is also a great way to test out my skills in problem-solving and graphic communication.
We think that architecture competition is a really productive way for students to experience the architectural design workflow in the real world.
Architecture competition is field of opportunity to testify your architectural knowledge and aesthetic perception through out rapid pace of design process. From this process, you can strengthen your design ability by exploring yourself to the ocean of idea that you have never experienced. Also, it is the best resource for us to express our design capability to the public.
Participating in competitions helps us make these discoveries. We exchanged existing design principles during these processes, discovered new design methodologies, and disputed new techniques and materials. Regarding architecture as a living organism, and giving each part of the building a definition in biology is the new methodology we found, and is effective for connecting each part.
Architectural competitions allow a sense of freedom to test my own ideas and inventions, free from client constraints and agendas of office life. To me, they provide the perfect training and challenge of my own architectural ability and provide a welcome break for architectural self-reflection.
We are extremely glad about this result, and we hope that this success will enable us to develop our collective. At the very least, the competition will help us create common basis for our urban and architectural approach, and debate about the shared values that we want to express across our architectural practice.
It’s great field for exchange views and thoughts based on the work put into the design processes. It's not about competing, it’s about our self develop.
The competition presents us with a rare opportunity to broaden our design philosophy through the investigation of innovative architectural ideas and the resolution of new and diverse design challenges. At LMTLS, we view this competition as a platform for experimentation and a means to continually refine and evolve our design philosophy and approach.
We participate in architectural competitions to test ourselves on the international stage. During our studies, we mainly design in Poland. Competitions, especially international ones, allow us to encounter other cultures with different building and aesthetic needs.
Architectural competitions allow us to develop proposals focusing on fundamental architectural concepts and open up new fields and ideas that are not always available within conventional practice.
Competition work is an opportunity to engage with often interesting narratives and contexts outside of your everyday experience.
It is an opportunity to challenge ourselves and think in unconventional ways, working with other themes, settings, and frames than what our common projects provide. It is not every day we are asked to design dwellings for bats for example.
I wasn't entirely satisfied with my academic projects, and so external competitions were both a way of improving my skills in designing, and also served as an act of redemption to prove myself.
Collaboration elevates design quality by fostering a broad range of perspectives and creative problem-solving by integrating the design approach of various architects. Competitions produce demanding programmes that call for these original and comprehensive concepts. By participating in architecture competitions, we hope to promote improved design quality through collaborative design.
Participating in competitions allows me to focus on conceptual thinking. I always try to pick something new, a subject or a programme I haven’t had the chance to approach before, so I learn a lot in doing research this way. It is an excellent way to better your concept approach, learning about new technologies, adding a great project to your portfolio, etc.
Through architectural competitions, we can better, and to some extent more freely, show our creativity. Even many buildings that are difficult to realize in real life can be boldly attempted in architectural competitions, which also promotes the development of the architectural industry to a certain extent and provides more possibilities for architectural design.
We think that entering an architecture competition like this means exploring new and innovative design ideas, without the constraints that other types of projects often have. It is very important to take advantage of the opportunity to discuss and study the most current themes of architectural research.
We see competitions as a challenge of our strength and potential. It goes beyond the boundaries of a real project and inspires us to explore our creativity, energy, and new techniques.
By participating in the competitions, it is great opportunity to go out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself. It can help broaden your horizons and creativity. By participating in international competitions, it is possible to learn and understand the wonders of the culture of other countries through their architecture.
We decided to participate in architecture competitions because it allows us to think creatively without any constraints, especially when we are faced with projects that might be out of our comfort zone. Therefore, we can have fun while also challenging ourselves to enhance our potential.
We feel architecture competitions are beneficial to the participants because they allow for feedback and the exchange of ideas without the confines of working in practice.
While participating in architecture competitions, we can utilize all possible and impossible ways to try to provide our help and visions for real social issues or personal requirements for specific locations, programs, and functions.
I'm taking part in architecture competitions because I enjoy developing new ideas and turning them into designs.
Personally, I see architecture competitions as an intellectual delight and a way to acknowledge and measure the current practices on an international basis. Also, it is a way to improve my skills of design and graphic representation and keep them at the sharpest level.
Competition is the moment to be involved in different themes and scale, sometimes to do pure research with less constraints of real world, sometimes to confront with projects about your professional interests to indagate new solutions.
Architecture competitions of this nature allow anyone to challenge and provide a fresh approach to existing design dogmas. It is an incredible chance to step away from the conventional means of execution and present a different perspective to a broader audience. It helps to facilitate change in the profession through exposure and discussion, as well as one’s own professional growth.
In our view, architecture competitions challenge their participants to reconsider their point of view and to find new ways of thinking and designing. They also give a chance to collaborate with professionals from different fields and gain new insights into the built environment.
Architecture competitions are a fun way to challenge our thinking and improve our skills. Participating in competitions gives us an opportunity to work with architecture without the constraints of permits, policies and regulations. It is fun to push the boundaries of what architecture can be.
This has been our first time participating in an architectural competition as a team. Although sometimes loosely based on reality, competitions let us go all-out and experiment with ideas and concepts we wouldn’t be able to carry out realistically.
By taking part in architectural competitions, we are given the opportunity of a different approach to each project, as there is a freedom in design that is often not affected by regulations, giving us the opportunity to expand our horizons and take our idea a step further.
I believe participating in architecture competitions is a way for me to do more innovative thinking and get out from my comfort zone. It is challenging and fun at the same time.
It is about the assemblage of form that has the ability to stir emotion and change preconceived notions about space.
We are 4 students from Cairo, Egypt. We are very passionate about architecture. It is a job and a hobby for most of us. We love participating in such competitions that stimulate creativity and discover new things through architectural elements. We enjoyed this competition very much.
Architecture competitions provide an opportunity to explore specific topics in a research-like manner. Experimentation, in these cases, can be more advanced, with positive spin-offs on other projects as well.
Competitions are the opportunity to get immerse in new world projects, in understading new cultures, and to let our minds create with no limits (or fewer).
Architectural competitions are a great way to broaden your own horizons. In addition, it is a good way to exchange design philosophies with other students and professionals. We are constantly looking for new architectural challenges.
We do enjoy the chance to challenge ourselves. We like to think out of the box, test our strengths and endurance. We love to collaborate, share ideas and be creative.
To express the creative side in me and challenge my own style and views on architecture.
I wanted to challenge and express myself in a project carried out autonomously without university supervision.
We like to participate in architecture competitions because the proposals are always very interesting and allow us to experiment with new concepts in different places.
I think architecture competitions are very importante to chalenge my day to day work and take me out of my comfort zone. The start of a new project is always very exciting and the competition format, where we only get feedback in the end, makes it even more thriling.
We believe that competitions develop architectural practice. We are excited to work in different subjects and fields. Seeing different approaches on the subjects studied gives us new perspectives. We also enjoy developing projects.
We can think out of the box and try different kinds of concepts and new experiments. Thinking conceptually, applying new ideas and developing sketches into actual buildings and concepts – in some small measure, it is a feeling of the divine, because you are allowing something that was not there to be created. It appears later in its context, providing meaning and experience.
Participating in architecture competitions allows me to push my creativity and grants me the freedom of experimenting with innovative solutions without many restrictions.
We like to challenge ourselves, work on something together and learn new skills and architecture competitions are a great way to do that. We also want to do more projects than we have on our studies and we have the freedom to do whatever project we want. Through team work we learn how to communicate and discover what we need in order to work our best.
Architecture competitions have two sides that make them attractive to us: on one hand, it is a way to democratize architecture by making everyone compete on the same level, and on the other hand, it is a way to go back to designing as it was done in the academy.
Architectural competitions are a great way to advance the understanding of architectural design with bold and free steps, and to discover new perspectives. It is a platform where anyone with a good idea, who wants to make a proposal for important issues about the world, contribute to the design literature, has equal rights and can share their ideas so that they can reach a large audience.
What fascinates me about architecture competitions is the creative process. From the eager exploration of new cultures, sites and history to the absolute freedom to express oneself fully without constraints. Nonetheless, it's a great exercise for me to build confidence, express my ideas and engage in dialog with other architects around the world.
Competitions are fun but serious, short but have a lot to learn from, and most importantly are usually on new and most contemporary issues. Therefore, competitions are a great way for architects to gain experience, stay up to date, and greatly improve their skills in just a short period of time.
Honestly, this is also the first time I participated in architecture competition, I hope to continue improving my design skills during my gap year, I think this is a good opportunity to let more professional practitioner see and comment on my design.
To me, every architecture competition is an uncharted journey and challenge. Competition help us think in a wider variety of perspectives that we never did before. I really like the main subject of microhome competition. The allowed buildable footprint is tiny but I don’t consider it as limitation. Instead, the restriction is the force triggering more creative and unthinkable imagination.
It is an opportunity to evaluate the creative and problem-solving abilities of our team, which go through the confrontation of our ideas with the rest of the contestants based on the objectives set. It is a pleasure for us to be able to be involved in events of this type, where important personalities from the field of architecture and design evaluate the solutions.
I participate in architecture competitions because I’m a designer and these give me the opportunities to continue to improve on my creative skills. It gives me the opportunity to be as creative as I can be, get experimental, test the limits of what’s acceptable in architecture. It’s also an opportunity to continue to work on improving my skills in drafting, model making, etc.
Architectural competitions, such as this one, give us the opportunity to step out of our day-to-day routine and explore new concepts and ideas. They are the perfect way to boost our personal portfolios and get the desired recognition while increasing our creativity and imagination.
This is a chance to challenge yourself and level up your knowledge, skills and experience. Architectural competitions also provide you with networking opportunities due to the media exposure secured for the successful participants. Lastly, you get to see many like-minded individuals’ projects, which has to be inspirational for every designer.
I have always appreciated the place of competitions in the architectural discourse. It is an opportunity to explore ideas and theories in a consequence-free environment and hone one’s concepts and aesthetics. I am seasoned professional looking to promote a new company. Winning recognition is amazing and will certainly help, but I strove to make work that could be used in promotion, regardless of results.
To explore the possibilities that architecture and urban design has applied to different contexts and realities.
We participate in architecture vision competitions as our means to improve our creativity and skill sets. PMA is composed of designers that are longing to create a better environment through practical solutions. Despite our busy schedule, we always try to spare time to join competitions to give the opportunity especially for our junior staff to learn and grow.
Competition is a good way for us to test our thoughts and skills. It allows us to think outside of the box and envision how an idea can take off and be visualized in a short time-frame.
It’s a necessary exercise, both internally and externally of the profession, for designers to participate in an imaginative disciplinary dialogue. Having the possibility of a platform to share our ideas with others is also a great additional opportunity.
As we said above, we’re happy to take up new challenges: new context, new problem-solution setting, and new continents:) Win is fun, getting known in the new markets is great for business, but the key is learning and getting stronger after every new case - the skills we later apply for our work with Customers.
Architecture competitions of this nature allow anyone to challenge and provide a fresh approach to existing design dogmas. It is an incredible chance to step away from the conventional means of execution and present a different perspective to a broader audience.
Chang Yuan Max Hsu from United States!
In the competition we can explore our creative thinking with certain themes that are prepared, and also we can see the different approaches from other participants in solving the same problems. Enrich our insight.
Andre Halim from Indonesia!
I usually don't participate in competitions, but the topic of solving affordable housing (simultaneously with the problem of sprawl) is near and dear to me as someone who values nature's role in cities, and wishes for everyone to be able to live with dignity and comfort.
Martin Chow from Canada!
We participate in architecture competitions to improve our design knowledge and to challenge our ways of thinking. Through the speculative lens in which we propose solutions to a competition prompt, we often discover new ways of practicing that we tend to oversee. Combining this with exposure to real world project delivery, we’ve always learnt something new that we carry with us into future pursuits.
Xian Chris Li, Elitsa Vutova and Nadthachai Kongkhajornkidsuk from United States!
I participate in architecture competitions because it stretches me past any perceived limitations. Through it I am able to explore the depth and breadth of my creativity and innovation. Using it as an expression of art, I am free to push all boundaries and really find that which lights me up. Through every competition I participate in, I come closer to truly expressing my soul through architecture.
Architectural competitions are a great opportunity to think outside the box, to let ideas run wild, and sometimes to express innovative ideas. It gives a sense of freedom that I think is essential for a creative career. I think it is excellent that there are more and more such competitions and that students can take part in them.
Competitions offer a great opportunity to develop new ideas and utopias independently of clients and budgets. You can fully develop yourself and your ideas and have a great platform to share and spread them.
Anna Schuler and Sofie Louise Vieth from Germany!
It became a fun and educational extracurricular activity ever since my student days when I, with a group of colleagues, entered our first big competition and won the third prize.
The participation in this architecture competition was a part of a university project.
This is a chance to create an interesting concept not defined by money. And besides, this is a good opportunity to present our solutions to the many problems with which the world today is measured. Especially as young architects - it’s important to talk if you want to be heard.
Piotr Rajewski and Kinga Gawlik from Poland!
Through competitions you are able to express yourself in a very raw and creative way – straight from your soul. An idea is growing without all the noise of daily (work-)life. Viewed upside down, it’s also a way of finding yourself by researching topics you identify with.
Christian Rudolph and Justus Würtenberger from Germany!
Participation in architectural competitions helps me escape from everyday routine. This is an opportunity for me to approach the designing process more freely, research new trends and develop as a professional.
Participating in competitions is a way to challenge and express myself. There are not too many restrictions, there is more room to play, and the design will be more interesting. Seeing the designs of talented people also inspired me.
Architecture competitions are a great way to explore risky and unconventional ideas and communicate them to a larger audience. I see a lot of value in having the chance to share my work with people from around the world and hopefully start new conversations about it.
Many international students participate for the BUILDNER’s architecture competition, and the panels and plans for the projects became so much inspiration to us. It has been very helpful for us to do the project and we have been interested in your competition for several years.
Dong Young Kim and Young Hyun Choi from South Korea!
Participating in competitions helps to experience the joy of working with others to complete a task in practice. It can better stimulate the exploration and innovation spirit of designers, and strengthen the mutual communication between designers.
Bochuan Zheng, Jiayi Cai and Xuhan Zhao from United States!
The competition is a free place dedicated to abstraction and experimentation, where knowledge and imagination can be combined in the creation of ideal human scenarios through architecture and design.
Because competitions not necessarily for architecture confront you with new things, you get out of your comfort zone and increase your abilities to solve current problems, that is, with each competition you raise your level of competitiveness.
Stiven Rojas Sierra and Ana María Gaitán Ávilafrom from Colombia!
I enjoy the process of being creative, finding solutions, and the challenge of a competition.
Competitions are a way for me to sharpen my skills, develop new ones, and experiment. They also allow me to test my creative problem-solving skills through unconventional briefs I might otherwise not be exposed to.
As a lover of competition, participating in architecture contests seems like a great opportunity to train creativity and detach from everyday routine. A very important factor is also the visibility and the possibility of sharing projects with a much wider community, which especially in my case, as I am just out of university, is very important to start a professional career.
We participate in architectural competitions to strengthen our skill set and see how we stack up against other architects across the globe. moreover, observe various architectural trends. Along with adding more exciting projects to our portfolios.
It is a great way to challenge yourself to find innovative and creative solutions to design problems. For this specific competition, the chance to explore and play with a virtual environment was very exciting for us. We felt very "free" throughout the process since the scope of the competition allowed us to experiment with different elements and go beyond limits.
Ipek Duzova, Ertug Erpek and Kaya Emre Gonencen from Turkey!
We find competitions compelling and challenging. They are a great opportunity to sharpen our workflow and organizational skills, while tackling new and interesting topics. Our line of work is still developing and is very dependent on current trends, which is why it is easy to lose focus. Competitions require us to think and work fast, while retaining a sense of art direction.
Roman Krajcarz, Marko Blazevic and Luka Jecic from Croatia!
This is our first architecture competition, and we wanted to participate in order to gain experience with this medium. We believe that architecture competitions are a great entry port to the real world of architecture. Open competitions have an important democratic function in helping young architects to show their work.
Vilhelm Tham, Felix Olofsson, Svante Hallgren and Adam Rydén from Sweden!
We consider competitions as a challenge to improve our creativity, a chance to get out of our comfort zone, a moment to experiment and learn about different structural, material, and formal subjects. What's more, we view competitions as a way to put ourselves in a more flexible design environment than the one we face in our daily jobs.
Gabriel Rodríguez Apolito and Franco Allia from Uruguay!
It became a fun and educational extracurricular activity ever since my student days when I, with a group of colleagues, entered our first big competition and won the third prize.
We enter competitions to explore spatial ideas more freely. To speak up and ask questions. We have found the process eye-opening and encourage all those curious about space, shelter, enclosure to do the same.
Will Gant, Michael Brudi and Carly Le from United States!
We participate in architecture competitions as they provide a positive environment to further develop architectural research while stimulating creativity to produce experimental, yet adequate design solutions.
Matteo Fraticelli, Motomi Morii and Martin Lee from United States!
Architecture competitions are an excellent provocation for creative exploration. They are a fun opportunity to explore new ideas and develop or challenge existing ones playfully.
Emma Jurczynski from United Kingdom!
Competitions are opportunities for exploration and research that guide the architect to take a stand on a topic, contribute to rethink the ways in which humanity relates to the environment and how this can be improved/modified through architecture.
Daniel Muñoz Ramírez from Chile!
It became a fun and educational extracurricular activity ever since my student days when I, with a group of colleagues, entered our first big competition and won the third prize.
Predrag Vujanovic from Sweden!
Exercise our design skills and test what we have learned. Expand our horizons and communicate with professionals. Competitions are a great way to help us explore new ideas for design, and we keep brainstorming,even with countless revisions and self-denials, the process is not painful, we are immersed in it, it is more like a kind of enjoyment.
Jiang Yifeng, Chen Kuanghua and Li Jiaqi from China!
I participate in architectural competitions for the experience of giving form to my ideas.
Kenta Ikejiri from Japan!
By participating in competitions, it is possible to compare the reality of different people and their perception of a problem and its corresponding solution. It's a challenge to develop as an architect or designer and make a name for yourself.
Javier Barrios Rodríguez and Jesús Vera Zorita from Spain!
Competitions are a little like fireworks. Shots in the dark that can result in something spectacular and unexpected. We see them as an opportunity to explore a topic, and quickly bring abstract thoughts and interests to fruition without some of the constraints other kinds of projects often have. They also give us room to create from our own raw sense of design.
Paul Mccoy and Madison Green from United States!
I love the themes and new directions which the competitions offer. They reflect the pressing problems of today, blending them with insights into future opportunities. It expands my horizons and pushes me to understand the role of an architect on a very large scale, globally.
Tatiana Skorduli from Italy!
Competitions could be a fascinating glimpse of being passionate, creative, experimental, more serious, and be desperate on something that you really care about. You don’t have to struggle with bureaucracy, budget, or worry being political means.
Youngjae Shin and Byungdoo Youn from South Korea!
Competitions generate provocative thinking from worldwide perspectives, being in this process challenges me to learn and think on a more complex level upon every entry. For me, it helps to develop deeper knowledge and a broader vision in projects that tackle prominent issues, which is not often in professional or academic work.
An-Tai Lu from United States!
Architecture should adapt contemporary trend and the user’s involvement. The competitions are the best chance to call the attentions to adaptive and parametric architecture, and let them see the future from our perspective. More importantly, participation in such competitions aims us to think universally and provides us with valuable experiences.
In the architecture contest, you encounter and challenge new things other than learning architecture at school. Team members review what they each learned in the design studio, apply and negotiate in a new way, and complete projects that could not be created alone. The whole process is not smooth and difficult, but there are definitely gains.
Beom Seok Ko, Joo Hye Lim, Shiwon Kim and Eun A Jeong from South Korea!
We saw architecture competitions as opportunities to challenge ourselves and explore possibilities. We have been practicing and developing our architectural theories during our studies at the university. By participating in the competitions, we can apply these theories in different scenarios and test out the feasibility.
Chukang Liang, Zeke Zhang and Wanyue Peng from China!
Because architecture competitions offer the possibility to explore, experiment and make questions that we do not ask ourselves in the daily profession practice.
Juan Cruz Catania, Agustina Verdura, Tomas Kranevitter and Manuel Pastoriza from Argentina!
We believe we are still on time to change things by making conscious decisions. So we take architectural competitions as a chance to make a statement, to show and tell our story and share our philosophy. We want to promote our vision of sustainable housing as a manifest for joy, nature, crafts, aesthetics, community and future resilience.
Dana Liepinsh and Lorena Del Moral Navero from Spain!
Every architecture competition is an uncharted journey and challenge. Competition help us think in a wider variety of perspectives that we never did before.
We participate in architecture competitions as they provide a positive environment to further develop architectural research while stimulating creativity to produce experimental, yet adequate design solutions.
Matteo Fraticelli, Motomi Morii and Martin Lee from United States!
By taking part in design competition, we accept a challenge and opportunity to provide out of the box ideas for organisations looking for innovative solutions. Participation in architecture competition encourages us to push our limits, try on new ways of representing our ideas and break the norms of physical territoriality.
Vishal Shah, Prakruti Desai and Vishal Desai from India!
We participate in architecture competitions mainly to share our architecture and urban ideas and to check the level of our work against the background of the works of other participants. We like to work on creative topics that competitions give and try to think outside the box to make our projects more and more original.
Daria Bal, Klaudia Elsner and Marta Sanigórska from Poland!
We participate in architecture competitions because they provide a democratic instance for projects development. At the same time they give us the opportunity to learn, experiment and apply innovative solutions.
Matías Salas Ramírez, Miled Lahoud and Francisca Lopez Gonzales from Italy!
I think architecture competitions provide chance for me to explore new things and challenge myself.
Here at Hortian Consultancy, we are constantly looking for opportunities to challenge ourselves, and to test ideas for its novelty and feasibility. By participating in architecture competition, we can also expand our view and perception on how different solutions are considered by different culture and society.
Xin Kai Tham, Ahrum Oh, Jason Ng and Jianyu Lou from Singapore!
For us, architecture competitions are a challenge and an opportunity to understand different contexts, cultures, landscapes and societies. We develop them with the aim of acquiring experiences through the process of creating and conceptualizing ideas.
We participate in competitions to get out of the comfort zone. Competitions are always good opportunities to learn about other places and to extend our knowledge. They are challenging ourselves with contemporary issues and new ideas all over the world.
Shuangyun Chen, Stefano Agliati, Raul Martinez Medina from Netherlands!
It's a way of pushing ourselves to go beyond the limits of conventional design and think from new perspectives.
Javier Monasterio, Natalia Cuevas, Maria Eugui and Jonander Rodriguez from Spain!
I want to share a different perspective from mine.
Jae Hwan Cha and Sung Min Lee from South Korea!
Architecture competitions are a great opportunity to train our creativity, make a statement, and present original ideas. However, it is also an opportunity to go beyond the boundaries, a great way to pump up the level of our skills and expertise, to realize the flight of our imagination.
Zlata Rybchenko and Kateryna Shumikhina from United Kingdom!
Because of the possibility to develop ideas quickly. A good exercise to remind yourself that you do not always have to think about every screw. It is only about the effective transport of an idea.
Anselm Kranebitter from Austria!
We enjoy participating in architecture competitions because they are always a challenge and at the same time allow us to experiment and learn new things.
Andra Panait, Oana Doina Trusca, Adelina Jinga and Teodora Rotea from Romania!
We participate because it encourages us to explore and share some new perspectives about contemporary architecture, as well as the possibility of materializing these new ideas and to approach to other cultures. It also presents the opportunity to see the diversity and plurality of ideas developed under the same requirements.
Lucas Yael Ibarra Lages, Cun Hernandez and Juliana Lareu from Germany!
Architecture competitions allow us the freedom to experiment with new ideas and techniques outside a scholastic setting. This removes any pressure from what the result ends up being, as well as allows us to improve our own ability to iterate and refine our designs. It helps us build critical thinking skills and better our time management.
Fabian Gottfried and Yihao Ni from Germany!
Architecture competitions are a useful exercise, essential for me to keep my mind trained. But most of all because I enjoy the design process.
Architecture competitions are a great way to explore personal interests, test strategies, and have more creative freedom.
By participating in architecture competitions, we learn the methods and ways of finding architectural ideas. It`s always surprising to find many different solutions for one location.
Grzegorz Mączka and Marta Mączka from Poland!
We chose to participate in our first competition to test our skills, but also for fun. For us, studying architecture turned out to be a passion which we are lucky enough to carry out in our everyday life.
Francesco Patetta, Simone Pasini, Alvise Morandi and Elisa Montani from Italy!
The architectural firm GDA participates in competitions because it believes that it is the only instrument of excellence for creating quality architecture.
Joining architecture competitions allow us to experiment with different design solutions, while challenging ourselves on stimulating and new topics, developing fresh insights, and defining a common path in our professional growth.
Simone Marzorati and Silvio Lussana from Italy!
Architecture competitions form an anonymous platform for designers to think beyond their current situation. Apart from the constraints of the brief – competitions allow you to explore alternative design processes, contexts, and typologies.
We love challenging ourselves, especially when facing original, creative, and out-of-the-box proposals. Taking part in architecture competitions is not only a great chance to improve your skills and show the world your ideas, but it is also a smart move career-wise, as it can be the first step when trying to make a name for yourself in the industry.
Jaime Argudín Fraile, Miguel Bermejo Morán and Teresa Cabezas Carreño from Spain!
Architecture competitions are opportunities for us to test new ways of representation and design. As young architects, they also allow us to forge a work methodology and to sharpen our architectural discourse. Moreover, the competition subjects allow us to push concepts quite far, and to re-use the best of them in our work.
Clément Molinier and Philippe Paumelle from France!
It is a way to challenge ourselves by competing with people from all over the world, whether they are students or professionals. Apart from learning new working methods that allow us to develop better as students and future architects.
Ángel Bolaños and Fernanda Díaz from Mexico!
Competitions are a fantastic way to challenge ourselves, they spark our imagination, and also present a unique chance to test our ideas.
We decide to participate in architecture competitions because we want to expand our horizons, think outside of the box, and fight creative burnout. We perceive competitions as a way of expressing and presenting our own ideas.
Weronika Plata and Wiktor Stankiewicz from Poland!
To push ourselves to our limits, to experiment as well as to develop our imagination in concepts with different needs, which we may not have a chance to encounter in our professional career.
Participating in architecture competitions is a great way to keep keen on design concept, make a strong statement of one’s own design philosophy, and present innovative solutions without many constraints.
This is the first competition District. has entered, it was borne out of a desire to test ourselves outside of our typical client constraints and look at how we could approach a brief without a known end user. We see competitions as a great opportunity to test ideas and explore concepts.
Michael Rees, Jemima Ashton-Harris, Barbara Witczak and Tom Kerr-Bell from United Kingdom!
During the war in Ukraine, we faced new challenges related to construction requirements. We saw that the current system is imperfect. At that time, we found the microhome competition and decided that it was a great opportunity to try to show what the solution to these problems could be.
Valeriia Sema, Dmytro Yahodin, Olga Kovalchuk and Maryna Machulina from Ukraine!
To find out the answers I mentioned above, architects need to challenge themselves, to experiment with new strategies. Architecture competitions provide a platform for architects like me to show their understanding of these questions and discuss the durability of these experiments. That’s something practical architecture can never have.
Competitions are a good way to train as a team and explore new ideas. They are also an opportunity to share your work with a larger community.
Competitions are a different way of learning and exploring architecture. What I learn from my own project and from other projects can be my biggest motivation when not only the process, but also the results are released.
"I see architectural competitions as an opportunity to focus on the roots of the design process. Every project and every competition is individual, and therefore a new challenge to broaden my personal horizon."
"Participation in architecture competitions is an opportunity to promote and emphasize the value of interdisciplinary practice. Architecture competitions bring everyone together at the table, bring visibility and voice to diverse perspectives, and bring out the creative spark within each of us."
Tessa Mccharles, Choi Ho, Evan Allan and Marie Etcheverry from Canada!
"Competitions are an amazing intellectual exercise which give us the opportunity to explore architecture in its pure form without any practical and mental boundaries. They give us the opportunity to talk with our inner self, to work on our decision-making, and fight our self-doubt. It is a battle against ourselves."
Dunja Ratkovic from United Kingdom!
"For me, architecture competitions are the purest essence of our work. They are fields in which to try out our ideas, to stretch and broaden our way of thinking, to try something new, and to say something we are usually not in a position to say. Fields to explore and play. Pure joy! (If it results with a prize or realisation – even better, of course.)"
Grusa Bauman from Ireland!
"We consider the format of architecture competitions to be a really good creative muscle workout. The time span is short, and the productivity is high, plus we get to work on unusual projects; it’s a win-win."
Cristina Bao Ye and Ignacio Urbistondo Alonso from Spain!
"As a recent graduate working in the industry, I participate in competitions to further develop my creative and design skill set. Competitions have also provided unique briefs and typologies that are intriguing as they aren’t as common in everyday practice. This has given me the freedom to explore new ideas, think outside the box, and not be afraid to be innovative. It is a way of fulfilling my creative passion for architecture as a young designer."
"Competitions are an opportunity to make a statement, to be critical, and to show an alternative to traditional methods and material. It is an opportunity to be educated and use new tools. It is a way to be involved with projects and topics that are not being practised in the daily routine; at the same time, working on a competition enriches other projects that run parallel."
Hagar Abiri, Justyna Piasta, Zuzanna Światowy and Klara Krešo from Germany!
"Competitions/contests are not part of the architecture studies, I therefore wanted to take part in one as soon as possible to gain experience. Discovering (new) subjects, each one more varied than the others, while having the freedom to give an answer true to myself. And then to see how other participants responded is very enriching."
Arthur Vincent and Elliott Bellanger from France!
"Competing in architecture grants freedom, which would not be possible in other ways. It urges you to really try to find the strongest ideas that a site and environments stimulate. There are many other competitors, and it is necessary to find something unique, which is worthy to base the design upon. For us the thrill of this procedure is what made us compete in our first nationwide architectural competition."
Réka Szvath, Barnabás Rácz-Szabó and Nikolett Szemelveisz from Hungary!
"Competitions provide an opportunity for practitioners to speculate freely and dream outside of the constraints of client work – often in areas of practice and/or at scales of work that we have yet to explore in daily practice. Competitions also provide a means for emerging practitioners to demonstrate competency and garner recognition."
Michael Leckie, Jason Hall, Peter M Wenger and Melody Chen from Canada!
"Architecture competitions provide a great venue for experimentation and development of our skills as well as the opportunity to test our ideas among other individuals who have a similar motive. It is a means of learning how to communicate our work with the world."
Rania Gegiou and Dionysia Tsakiri from Greece!
"There is always a consistent struggle with decision-making and self-doubt that I continually experience. Participating in architecture competitions excitingly positions you to face that discomfort and come to a resolution."
Maxim Seitter from United States!
"Participating in architectural competitions for me is a great way to gain experience in formulating and sharpening ideas and architectural concepts, practicing the skills necessary to translate my ideas and it is essentially what I love doing most: Problem-solving and inventing things."
Lorin Wiedemeier from Switzerland!
"Participating in architectural competitions takes us out of the daily routine and gives us the opportunity to play in new fields that cannot be experienced much in the world of practical work. Moreover, we see competitions as an opportunity to interact with each other and explore our wildest ideas, with a chance to win. What could be more exciting than this?"
Farshid Roozitalab, Sadegh Kaveh and Ahmadreza Dehghani from Iran!
"We don’t. This is our first."
Francisco Saraiva and David Matos from Portugal!
"I do enjoy remixing the Knowledge of interactive disciplines within my design. Construction, Mathematics, Mechanics, Computers, Shipbuilding, Science Fiction, Literature etc. Based on this, the process from conception to completion of a proposal could be so fascinating."
"Competing in architecture competitions is a way for us to cultivate new ideas and an excellent platform to express ourselves. We also enjoy the design process, it brings us great excitement and is a rewarding experience."
Shrijan Pradhan, Mitchell Coenraads and Mikhail Singh from Australia!
"This was our first ever competition. We were excited about the challenges this particular competition offered, and the opportunity to participate in an international competition that addressed such a unique situation, site, and important topic."
Irish Feryle Barruga and Elenie Joyce Pagtulingan from United States!
"It’s an opportunity for me to set aside my day-to-day routine and try out new thoughts that I didn’t get a chance to explore. And I believe that as architects, besides providing our professional service to the client, we have a social responsibility as designers to create environments that are not just for aesthetics but beyond."
Mingshan Fang from United States!
"Competitions allows us to work with fewer boundaries. To first think with our hearts, find the big idea, and then work down from there to a more realistic project."
Guillaume De Pontaud and Zoé Bouillet from France!
"We participate in architectural competitions to feed our desire to explore idseas without the bounds of a commercial or corporate setting and use the process as a speculative steppingstone towards a one day built destination. But most of all because we enjoy designing."
John Clayson and Andrei Dinu from United Kingdom!
"We believe that various architecture competitions are an opportunity to explore further a variety of different topics as well as to experience an adventure. It is a great chance to work in different settings with your team and learn new skills from each other."
Aurelija Kniukštaitė, Jonė Virbickaitė and Kotryna Bajorinaitė from Lithuania!
"I cannot avoid feeling the pull to participate when a particularly challenging brief stimulates my interest and triggers the design process. Architecture competitions give me the chance to express my personal point of view regarding a specific topic, to challenge my creativity and technical skills without hard boundaries, strict budgets, or by having to get down to compromise; all situations that often recurs during work life. It is a liberating process that helps me to get in touch with myself."
"We find great benefit in competition work. Each allows for some level of experimentation that invigorates our ongoing design conversations. The freedom from typical project constraints and the excitement around a new challenge a design school studio like atmosphere. We use it as a vehicle to challenge ourselves, try new processes and techniques, research construction typologies and test software. We think of it as a development platform for design staff and a way to bolster our design culture."
Alex Mcmillan, Fabiola Minerali, Lydia Richardson and Lucas Stott from United States!
"Architectural competitions proved to be one of the best methods for me to develop as an architect. The knowledge gained by constantly refining and tweaking ideas, and how to present them, proves to be useful in my academic and professional work every day. To this, competitions are a great way to collaborate and reach out to the architecture world. Ultimately, they are the most exciting and fun projects to be a part of!"
"I think architecture competitions are the best and faster way to challenge with people of other countries."
"We, after working in architectural filed in our country and participating in internal competition, we felt to be in challenges of international competitions and certainly we will be witness of the positive effect of this issue in our professional work."
Hamid Khalili and Mohammad Mobin Mahdizadeh Kaffash from Iran!
"Architectural competitions are a good opportunity to improve various skills from an idea to its presentation. It is also interesting to see the approach of other teams and how diverse solutions can be within the same brief."
Georgy Fedulov from Russian Federation!
"We hope to utter our thoughts on the prospective developments of an architectural typology of office space in the post-pandemic era. Our proposal does not aim to give a decisive spatial solution but instead challenges the conventional office design and raises discussions toward the relationship between individual workplace and common space in the modern metropolis."
Wenjun Wei and Qi Chen from China!
"As explained earlier, as an architect, we have been interested in otherized and capitalized spaces. In particular, our team thought that the existing way of working and domestic space intensifies the problems of the current capitalist society. We participated in this competition to think about how our society should change beyond how the relationship between two programs should change in the future."
Yeonghwa Choe and Hakyeong Jeon from South Korea!
"We participate in architecture competitions to test our ideas, skillsets and challenge our preconceived concepts of what has been done and how we can do it differently - it gives us the perfect platform to test daring / radical ideas."
Mond Qu, Sonny Do, Adrian Bonaventura and John Khory from Australia!
"We participate in architecture competitions in order to test out ideas, and concretise the goals of our future practice. Architecture competitions allow freedom from real-life constraints such as regulatory and budget demands, while also setting up an ideas-led brief to create the basis for the testing ground."
Yiling Shen and Yuchen Gao from Australia!
"Architecture competitions offer a productive setting for exploring design ideas by eliminating some of the limitations of the real world."
"Architecture competitions provide an experience outside your comfort zone, which makes you understand and improve your creative and technical ability to develop projects. In addition, it exercises creation processes and ways of communicating architecture that are beyond the professional routine."
"Architectural competitions can take you out of your comfort zone and present challenges, locations and opportunities you may never have encountered normally. In response you can develop new skills and ideas previously unconceivable. These are be invaluable for broadening your understanding of architecture and be further developed over time."
Gareth Cotter and Maria Mera Vera from United Kingdom!
"It is not every day, an Architect get a chance to face an exciting design challenge. It is a learning experience. An opportunity to tackle and solve different societal issues by way of architecture. Get excited. Be stimulated. Discover things that could improve status quo. Get recognized. And possibly, share a meaningful contribution to society through your winning solution."
Gül koc GmbH interior design + construction services from Germany!
"Competitions are opportunities to engage with exciting briefs, to test and build upon your ideas more freely developing personal interests and approaches."
Zsuzsa Peter and Anna Gulinska from Austria!
"11 years. 35 competitions. 30 didn’t make it. 1 win. 3 honourable mentions. Now 1 up. Many years of controlled disappointments. Yet fondness is found where “fail” is at its most spectacular. “We could say that competitions are to everyday architecture what competitive sport is to everyday fitness training.” – Farshid Moussavi, writing on competitions in Architectural Review in 2013. A chance to go beyond what architecture is, but what architecture can be. The desk top at night. Clicks, saves; tools and trials. Restart."
"As young architects, architectural competitions give us opportunities to broaden ideas and it is a great exercise for us to use what we have learned in university to apply in real-life scenarios. It escalates our passion, raises our inspirations and makes us eager to attend more. Participating in competitions not only makes us learn more but also seeing other previous projects of other participants widen our perspectives towards architecture."
Kantinan Na Nakorn, Sasipim Sivaroroskul and Theethaj Pholampaisathit from Thailand!
"We see architecture competitions as a way of expanding our understanding of architecture. Competitions enable us to explore new cultures, places and develop new client relationships."
Jens Brinkmann, Emily Pearce, Chiara Sanguin and Nicole Salfatis Sadka from Germany!
"We participate in architecture competitions because Architecture is our passion. We love to solve problems that challenge us, and that makes us leave our comfort zone."
Nicolas Mayorga Trujillo and Nicolas Pineda Otalora from Colombia!
"Competitions provide an opportunity for practitioners to speculate freely and dream outside of the constraints of client work – often in areas of practice and/or at scales of work that we have yet to explore in daily practice. Competitions also provide a means for emerging practitioners to demonstrate competency and garner recognition."
Leckie Studio Architecture + Design Team from Canada!
"Architecture competitions are a way to challenge ourselves with problems that are far from our surroundings. It is a way to gather knowledge about problems all around the world, get educated about different cultures, history and ways of life. We are constantly seeking intriguing briefs from all around the world in order to further augment our academic development."
Stanislav Milchev and Vasil Delev from Bulgaria!
"Participating in competitions is a way to test ourselves and deal with new and unknown themes. These are opportunities for competition and research, which allow us to get to know places, cultures and new ideas. Participation in competitions is also a way to interact with other designers, to understand how they have faced the same theme. We think this is very stimulating for our cultural and professional growth."
Simone Miraglia and Celeste Mangone from Italy!
"Competitions allow you to answer a pure architectural question gaining knowledge and insight into many international cultures and contexts. All while allowing one to express their response to the question through architectural design."
Hudson Parris and Matthew Cox from United States!
"Architecture competitions provide a unique platform to design and propose exciting innovative project, while testing theoretical ideas in a structured setting. Apart form any constraints imposed by the brief, competitions like this one, allow complete freedom to express new design styles, and typologies. The great thing also about participating in a competition is that if you are lucky enough to win, the client has already bought into your vision, therefore the next stage would be working together with the client to realize the design."
Derin Kinacigil and Juan Franco from United Kingdom!
"We participate in architectural competitions as they provide us a platform to experiment with new ideas. We can express ourselves and work with different design issues that we don’t come across everyday. We also enjoy that we can experience working on projects in different parts of the world."
Asli Aydin, Yining Cong, Karla Citlalli Contreras Marin and Liujun Chen from Turkey!
"This particular competition was part of our design course this fall semester. During the semester we analyzed and discussed architecture competitions from different angles in parallel with developing this submission."
Kaylee Lamb, Alexander Johnsson, Palina Siarheyeva and Kristina Striewe from Sweden!
"It makes me think of a collective brainstorming session. We all want to learn from one another, n'est-ce-pas?"
Monika Rudnicka from Germany!
"I think competition is a stage for the young architect. As an architecture student, I want to prove myself and measure my designing level through worldwide competition."
Hyosik Kim from South Korea!
"Competitions usually have fewer design restrictions than other types of architectural work. It gives you the liberty to look at things from a different angle and you have the chance to come up with unconventional solutions. We belief this practice is important to generate innovation and we enjoy being part of it."
Ana Richter de Arce and Jakob Fischer from Germany!
"We look for the stimulation that architectural creation brings. We enjoy challenging ourselves on subjects that we do not encounter in our daily practice. It is an excellent way of putting forward values that we share and that we hold dear."
Adrian Dullin, Marine Charles and Amaury Lecerf from France!
"We like to feel challenged by a competition to think creatively and with less constraints than in everyday practice."
Daniele Pepe and Barbara Wielebska from Netherlands!
"It is a great avenue for exploring new conceptual territory that our everyday design and architecture projects may not always afford us. It isn't so much about the accolades or monetary gains, as it is the ability to participate in the design process, the purity of creation and the idea of connecting with like minded individuals in this socially distanced world."
Mark Pylypczak, Hamid Mohammadi and Tim MacKay from Canada!
"We believe that participating in design competitions is essential to building community. The creative process that takes form in a competition is unique and refreshing. It allows us to stretch various design muscles, engage in new design ideas, and innovate in areas outside of our usual practice."
Dianna Montzka, Kyle Elliott and Lily Cox-Skall from United States!
"It is a place not only for people to find out about your work but also to create a community with other architects, designers and independent creatives. These events and platforms are a valuable source of information of what is happening all around the world and the local solutions given to global problems."
Sofia Mendoza Díaz from Mexico!
"We don’t do a lot of competitions. This Birdhome competition is actually the only one we have done in the past two years. We have applied for a very specific reason: one of the founder of Cutwork (Antonin Yuji Maeno) is a bird watcher since he is 8 years old, and has always dreamt of designing a bird home; this was the occasion."
Antonin Yuji Maeno, Andrea Levorato and Simon Colombat from France!
"Architectural competitions allow you to expand your exposure to different scales and typologies of use. Competitions provide an opportunity to let your creative side out while working through new and unfamiliar challenges."
Liam Fujita and Justin Lieberman from Canada!
"They are a good springboard and offer interesting opportunities to develop radical ideas and prospective thinking."
"The variety of design challenges, where participating in competitions is one of them, is for us a key element in the search for our own identity; this preserves the flow of creative energy."
Liliana Krzycka, Rafał Pieszko and Szymon Tobias from Poland!
"Architecture competitions like this allow me to think about projects that are grounded within tangible limitations and affordances. They are good opportunities to test out ideas and methods I have acquired during my studies."
Josh Ren from United States!
"Making a project is just like making a puzzle with infinite solutions in the eyes of everyone, but just a few solutions in your eyes. A competition is also that, a puzzle to be solved, but it’s even more enjoyable because at the end you can see all those infinite answers that you dismissed or didn’t think about. Why do I participate in architecture competitions? To challenge myself and to learn from others."
Javier Roig Iglesias from Spain!
"The main reason why I participate in architectural competitions is , that allows me to try and reflect on new fundamental conceptual ideas, as well as to understand and refine my creative process by experimenting with different tools and methods. This is good opportunity to get to know yourself and to look at the surrounding whole."
Martynas Degutis from Germany!
"Competitions take on interesting, innovative and forward-thinking topics. They are often the only formula for expressing creativity without inhibition. The international character of the contests strongly motivates us for personal development and is always a valuable perspective-broadening experience."
Michalina Linkowska, Zuzanna Zdanowicz and Joanna Spychała from Poland!
"This was my first time I ever evolved into an international architectural competition. I was looking for something new after several years of working on multiple projects, sometimes at the same time."
Matej Gurka, Karol Gregor and Andrea Bočková from Slovakia!
"Continue to challenge ourselves as designers. Exploration of details in design. Details can be small, but the details always matter."
Mengru Wang and Rachel Reinhard from United States!
"We find it necessary to participate in architecture competitions as they offer a chance to exercise and challenge our design capability within a limited time frame. They can also provide a diverse and interesting array of briefs that are not normally on offer to us professionally."
Christopher Taylor from South Africa!
"I see architecture competitions as a great opportunity to focus on topics that really bother me."
"I participate in architecture competition for a number of reasons. Firstly, I enjoy the thinking process, the search for solutions to different challenges that the competitions provides. Secondly, they test and at the same time, they expand my view about design, helping me to evolve my practice."
"Within such a competitive field as architecture, engaging in competitions, challenges us at a professional and individual level. It is an opportunity to test new concepts and ideas and to foster our creativity. On one hand, it gives us the ability to learn from our mistakes and on the other hand to gain confidence with the several challenges we overcome."
Mafalda Mota, Mariana Simões and Henrique Andrade from Portugal!
"We wanted to participate in architecture competitions because we think it is a great opportunity to challenge ourselves with new design problems outside of school. It allows us to truly exercise our creativity by testing the new concepts and ideas that we have. We are able to learn from the process by thinking through and solving the challenges. It’s a learning process for all of us."
Sophia Liu, Yichen Zhang and SongYuan (Cindy) Wang from Canada!
"We wanted to gain more experience outside of the academic realm, but most importantly we wanted to test how we work as a team and gain more collaborative experience. We felt that architectural competitions force you to continuously make decisions that are tangible, which can get lost in academic projects. Those restrictions enable at the same time a different form of freedom and challenge for the creative process."
Sari King, Vang Anh Tran, Ching-Han Chiang and Seonwoo Kim from Germany!
"To work with friends and learn from each other."
Claire Hicks, Joshua Tan and Christina Zhang from United States!
"To strengthen teamwork between team members, increase exposure in this field, help develop strengths and talents. Topics of Architecture competitions held by Bee breeders involves a wide range of interesting architectural sectors, we strongly recommend every young architects should try to get involved."
Ricky Wang, Deidre Zhang, Alem Abulizi and Jack Xie from Australia!
"Competitions are a great opportunity to engage our skills and broaden our perspectives through research. Specifically, the Microhome competition’s size limitation was compelling to us. Incorporating green technology and thinking critically about lifestyle and behaviour were exciting challenges as well."
Chizumi Kano and Masayoshi Nozawa from United States!
"We participate in architecture competitions to consider how design can resolve social issues the world over. We participate in architecture competitions to exercise a creative freedom through which we can gain a better understanding of contemporary issues that the profession must deal with."
Eric Bell and Diego Bazzani from United States!
"We want to challenge, hone our skills and gain experience from competitions."
Doan Bang Giang and Truong Minh Quan from Vietnam!
"Since the projects ATO is working on are constricted due to client’s budget and regulations, participating in competitions is a way to keep being innovative. They are the opportunity to keep on working on conceptual approaches and being more sensitive and poetic. The idea is, little by little, to merge the conceptual approach and the real-life constraints."
"For us, this is an opportunity to challenge ourselves. It is a way to express some ideas you are insecure about; it is easier to let go and create without holding back. This is not always possible in your work or study projects."
Aleksandra Zhuikova, Sofia Velichanskaia and Elizaveta Gradusova from Italy!
"We participate in architecture competitions because they offer rich topics and stimulate people's infinite imagination and creativity of architecture."
Emanuele Cavaglion, Baixue Fang and Xiaoxu Liang from Italy!
"To challenge and develop myself professionally."
"Architecture competitions give us a lot of adrenaline. We can face our weaknesses and love sharing our time together, taking up ambitious activities. After the deadline we always have a feeling that we could explore the issue more, which leaves us even more motivated and curious."
Michalina Linkowska, Wiktoria Ciszak and Karolina Kozłowska from Poland!
"We believe that competitions are a way to measure and create a dialogue with worldwide professionals. We believe that it is important to show our reflections on architecture, our way of approaching it, and the meaning it has for us."
Diogo Lopes, Sara Pertile, Simone Antonelli and Susan Isawi from Portugal!
"Competitions offer us a chance to think about new design challenges, like Monte D’Oiro's winery, to express new ideas and to share that thinking with a larger group that might not be in our daily architectural milieu."
Matthew Baird, Ines Gulbenkian, Will James and Robert Estrin from United States!
"I can always find interesting challenges thanks to the variety of project types and contexts in architecture competitions."
"We participate in competitions because we have fun with it, and we really enjoy the process of creating architecture. The opportunities and freedom to design are unlimited, and having the opportunity of being recognized afterwards makes it more exciting!"
"Why participate in architecture competitions? Competitions help us develop our position towards architecture and potentially also give us some public exposure. This really helps in the process of setting up a company. In the best case, obviously, the project also gets built."
Jorik Bais and Alexandra Heijink from Germany!
"Apart from obvious reasons, I become interested in a particular topic or brief. In the case of the Monte D’oiro Hotel, it was a challenge to continue the previous studies of wine architecture in the low-density suburban environment. Whenever I see an objective that interests me, I start thinking. If I can’t stop thinking, I participate."
Anton Burdein and Diana Burdein from Germany!
"Competitions are great for experiences. You always learn from them. It's a great way to get exposed to new topics and materials, and thereby expand your horizons."
"Architectural contests provide the opportunity to design and propose novel ideas; they place no restrictions on creativity and allow for complete freedom of expression in terms of design. They also present the architect with a special kind of client: an absent one. What better challenge for an architect?"
Alexandru Ioan Patrichi, Claudia Galvan Zuluága and Iñaki Omar Millán from Belgium!
"We can think outside the box and try different kinds of concepts and experiments. Thinking conceptually, applying new ideas, and developing sketches into actual buildings and concepts – in some small measure, it is a feeling of the divine, because you are allowing something that was not there to be created. It appears later in its context, providing meaning and experience."
Misak Terzibasiyan, Taura Aurylaitė, Amir Feizinezhadgheshlaghi and Danai Dafnouli from Netherlands!
"It's a good practice for improving ourselves and gaining experience, while having a little fun in a short period."
Hüseyin Melih Baktır, Nebile Ece Onulay and Çağla Kıran from Turkey!
"We participate in architecture competitions for the thrill of it. Even if the odds of winning are slim, it’s a great experience to give something your whole attention and engage the whole process of envisioning a piece of architecture. This is something that can become quite rare or difficult to achieve in professional practice. The arena of the competition lets you tune out the noise of the world."
David Gallo, Franklin Min and Shivani Bakhru from Finland!
"With every new competition I decide to participate in, I am really interested in penetrating new horizons. It is a great way of entering new sectors and learning about countries where I may not have worked yet. It is clear that by their merit-based nature, competitions push architects to cross new creative thresholds. I consider it a great exercise in delivering ambitious ideas while also aligning with realistically achievable results."
"Participating in competitions is a great learning opportunity. Different tasks can develop creativity, skills, and knowledge. Often, there are aspects of the architecture tasks that are unfamiliar to us, which gives us the opportunity to learn something new. It’s also a great way to learn some soft skills, such as time management, teamwork, creative thinking, conflict resolution, and others. Competitions motivate us to strive to become better at what we do, competing with architects from all over the world."
Plamena Draganova and Tsvetelina Gadzhelova from Bulgaria!
"Architecture competitions are a beautiful training exercise for professional practice. This allows us to deal with different topics, programs, and contexts. The pragmatic answer in an architecture competition can become more peremptory and archetypal."
Andrea Smaniotto and Barbara Sandri from Italy!
"We participate in competitions when we feel that we can submit something smart, unique, and beautiful, and when we like the competition subject."
Naro Goller, Burak Camgöz and Alexander Lehmann from Germany!
"Competitions are great platforms to test out our skills and ideas as young architects. They provide a “middle space” between academia and practice, where the unavoidably competitive nature of the profession is channelled positively into a collective intellectual output."
Yolande Wang and Zekun Qin from United Kingdom!
"By participating in architectural competitions, we learn the methods and ways of finding architectural ideas. It`s always surprising to find many different solutions for one location."
Grzegorz Mączka and Marta Mączka from Poland!
"Architecture competitions are a great way of collaborating with like-minded people on projects that reflect your values and provide an opportunity to implement them into real-world use. Having great and inspiring ideas is one thing, but competitions provide realistic boundaries, further shaping and honing whatever you have in mind. Additionally, they present a real need and purpose, and nothing is more satisfying than a realised project that may be of benefit to others."
Marcel Dawid, Anita Wiśniewska and Brian Dam from Poland!
"In our public university there is a strong tradition (75 years and running) of a housing competition, sponsored by the students every year, which has stuck and carried over with us. To us, competitions offer the challenge and opportunity to break free of academic and/or commercial restrictions which we may encounter day to day."
Maria Lucia Arce, Lucas Cardona and Gonzalo Camargo from Uruguay!
"The subject of death and life was interesting."
Hyogeun Shin, Soowon Lee and Jaehyeon Kim from South Korea!
"Participating in the competition allowed us to stay connected after moving to different cities. The competition also allowed us to direct an architecture project on our own, which benefited us greatly as recent graduates."
Cherry Yang, Yunchao Le, Benjamin Han and Reishan Mcintosh from United States!
"I participate in architecture competitions to be able to train my critical thinking and creativity. Facing different programs and topics is a way to explore the great field of architecture and creativity. It is also a way of doing architecture without the constraints of real-life buildings. Being able to create one’s own utopia through competition proposals is where creativity is challenged at its most."
Adrian Wetherell from Switzerland!
"We participate in competitions to strengthen our own opinions and ideas. We are curious to see how the methodology and our self-imposed set of rules will crystallize into a clear design. It is a great opportunity to question your design process detached from the educational context. By being free from supervision, preconceived ideas, or expectations, we feel closer to the nature of architecture. Plus. it is an opportunity to exchange ideas among friends."
Mona Thoma, Jakob Albrecht and Edda Meinertz from Germany!
"It is a good possibility to give a thought-provoking impulse with your own ideas and considerations for idea competitions that focus on certain topics."
Simpert Hafenmeier from Germany!
"I participate in architecture competitions to step outside my comfort zone. Although I am typically a practical thinker, architecture competitions allow me the freedom to remove myself from the basis of reality to create more radical designs."
"Participating in architecture competitions is the most opportune moment to push ourselves to the limit and explore our creativity. As we can escape the daily dynamics and limits of the profession and choose the people we have affinity to and debate architecture with, it’s a moment of complete freedom to think and create projects that reflect what we think about life in society."
Renata Cirati Gomes, Beatriz Carvalho and Fabiana Perazolo from Brazil!
"In our opinion, architectural competitions are the best method of selecting a project. Customers can see different approaches to a design task, and so have the opportunity to fully understand what they can get. For designers, they are an opportunity for healthy competition with other participants, strengthening teamwork and stimulating creativity. Participation in the competition is also an opportunity to approach interesting and inspiring topics."
Damian Poklewski-Koziełł, Marcin Gierbienis, Justyna Kopacz and Aleksander Kwaśniak from Poland!
"We view competitions as a means to challenge ourselves, our views, our ideas. One of the main goals is to develop trust as a team in pushing ourselves as far as possible in order to achieve our goals."
Gabriel Chivu, Laura Mazâlu, Stefan Mircea and Thomas Herrera from Romania!
"In Taiwan, the high-density population has shaped the problems of unaffordable housing prices and insufficient space, making "extension home" a unique building type. From this premise, the modular house must be constructed most economically, but also solving the problem of lacking living spaces. Therefore, we believe that this competition is an opportunity for us to respond to our growing environment and show our views on architecture."
Chi-Chia Tsao, Zhi Ray Wang, Cheng Yen Tsai and Hung Yu Chu from Taiwan!
"Architecture competitions are an opportunity to put into practice the knowledge that arises from academic research."
Federico Borges Pérez and Agustín Lagreca Herrmann from Uruguay!
"As we are at the very beginning of our architectural journey, we wanted to face a real competition task on our own. We want to provoke discussions on topics important to us in architecture and society. Thanks to competitions, we can reach a larger group of recipients."
Julia Ciężar, Matylda Wolska and Alicja Bakalarska from Poland!
"Architecture competitions allow one to share architectural designs with a broader audience while contributing to a larger discourse. The experience and process throughout empowers creative thinking and provides opportunities to learn from each other. Although it can be a challenge, it is a way to apply the knowledge we have acquired and let ourselves explore our interests. Lastly, it is always rewarding if you win a prize!"
Jessica Michelle Rithika Anand, Tiffany Chen and Angelina Zhang from United States!
"I participate in architecture competitions to exercise creativity, to have the opportunity to see my project realized, and obtain international recognition."
"Architecture competitions seek out non-traditional solutions, ‘out of the box’ ideas. These sparkling ideas won’t just pop up in the mind, they are the result of a process, researching, reading, talking, thinking, sketching, producing, and constantly questioning own thoughts. This stimulates the imagination and the creative mind. Besides that, it is a lot of fun searching for these solutions when you’re passionate with the craft."
Fabian De Vriendt, Arnout Stevens and Mathias Spiessens from Belgium!
"The competition allows us to weave new collaborative networks, in which outside the more conventional margins of the architectural profession a place of freedom is created to analyse and create various solutions in certain contexts. We believe that each competition can nurture our own concerns and expand knowledge in those research fields in which we want to deepen it."
Jessica Castellanos Espinosa and Andrés Forero Pinzón from Colombia!
"We participate in competitions because we consider them a powerful tool for the development of ideas, either conceptual or concrete stuff. We feel able to explore spatial possibilities that may be difficult to achieve in specific commissions. We are also interested in thinking globally. We find it extremely attractive to get involved with problems from other latitudes."
Joel Perez, Guido Picasso, Ignacio Cuenca and Manuel Bianchi from Argentina!
"I enjoy the creative freedom that competitions give, as well as the diverse range of settings and scenarios that competitions can expose me to."
"It was our first collective participation in an architecture competition and, to be honest, we were only looking for a reason to work together on a project."
Anna Morawek, Jannis Block and Laura Kettler from Germany!
"Participating in architectural competitions is an opportunity to look back at our practice and philosophy. It showcases our work and the way we think. As students, we can escape from scholar or corporate projects. It gives us the freedom to venture into our very own obsessions. "
Tevi Allan Mensah and Eugenie Palau from France!
"Actively participating in competitions helps to broaden the mind and understand architecture from different perspectives. As students, it is particularly important because we easily stick to thinking in one way which is taught at school."
Zhifei Liang, Hantao Li and Yingqi Li from United Kingdom!
"Architecture competitions are opportunities that allow free expression that leads you to resolve a specific and usually uncommon conflict. They are the perfect medium to experiment and explore new limits, that is, to innovate and open your mind towards the architecture of which you would be really proud. For this reason, we participate in competitions in which we value our way of understanding architecture."
Alberto Pabón Medina and Marina Sánchez Guzmán from Spain!
"Architecture competitions are good opportunities to test ourselves and push our limits. Not only working as a group, but also time management skills – these are crucial achievements that architecture competitions contribute to a team."
Berkay Öztürk, Merve Taşdelen and Ayça Metin from Turkey!
"We decided to enroll to this competition being fascinated with the idea behind the Spirala community. We felt connected to their values and wanted to show our support and help translate their ideas into architecture."
Ani Zakaryan and Aigerim Syzdykova from Denmark!
"For us, it is a learning process. We think the best way to know something is by doing it. And we think that participating in architecture competitions is a good starting point for us."
Ji Zhang and Wenjun Deng from Belgium!
"Considering various historical and geographical factors and their relationships with architecture and cities; we are practicing design and research with the objective of clarifying the fundamental mechanisms of an excellent building environment."
Ryo Murata, Mizuho Ueyama, Tomohiro Koizumi and Renata Baksai from Japan!
"We see time spent on competitions as freedom where our creativity can express itself with no limitations. At the same time, it is an opportunity to break the daily routine and think about new architectural concepts and strategies."
Leonardo Raviola, Joao Carriço and Ruben Guerreiro from Portugal!
"Architecture competitions are a public space to discuss ideas and communicate creative architectural processes to society. For my office, it’s the way our work becomes part of a global community."
Manuel Collado Arpia, Dustin Hernandez Jover and Berta Calle Martos from Spain!
"Architectural competitions are great opportunities for architects to experience being able to go beyond the limits of their routine life. Competitions are ideal for testing their design abilities on universal, international design platforms and providing an environment for independent design claims."
Ekin Turgay and Serkan Sonar from Turkey!
"It’s a lot of fun."
"Architecture competitions are a place to iterate, collaborate, and produce with a self-driven rigor not often found outside of school. Competing keeps us on our toes."
Oonagh Davis and Elias Bennett from United States!
"Escaping. We seek out architecture competitions because sometimes we are so bored of our jobs. Escaping for us means to find the other way, our way, to express our inner thirst for honest work in this field, to take another attempt to design for certain problems and topics."
Iqbal Ziaul Haq, Nur Saddia Maulinda, Bahrumsyah Bila Sahil and Rahman Akbar Sayekti from Indonesia!
"Participating in a competition allows me to question myself again and again, and to not forget that architecture cannot have the same answer everywhere to the same questions. It allows me to re-think my positions, to connect with different contexts and learn about them. Architectural competitions are a way to keep learning about our world, and about architecture."
Gabriel Foulquier-Gazagnes from France!
"Architecture competitions have various themes and limited preferences. The design that I create through the storytelling and penetrating concepts awaken potential creativity. Projects that emerge through many concerns and discussions help the further growth of participants and demonstrate their potential for development."
"We want to practice beyond our limits, have fun, and tell stories by using architecture and design. Competitions open the door to new unconventional projects and possibilities."
Lukáš Valenčin and Zuzana Capková from Slovakia!
"Competitions, like school, allow for the freedom to “play”, test ideas, take risks, to be unusual. Besides the benefit of exploring ideas and representational methods beyond the sometimes-banal day-to-day tasks of the profession, competitions allow me the opportunity to demonstrate who I am as an architectural designer, from the selection of competition briefs and sites to the choice of materials and organizational strategies, to the final panel layouts."
"It is an opportunity to challenge yourself and to stimulate creativity, especially because you can explore different concepts and scenarios. It is a passion project that fills you up with energy even if you're already overworked. There is a presence of the unknown, and the only thing guiding you is your sense. And there is that sweet beginning of a new project and all the possibilities it brings."
Lucia Kalogjera and Maja Genc Kalogjera from Croatia!
"I believe competitions are about finding one’s voice and place within the discipline. I participate in competitions to continue to develop my own way of thinking and practicing architecture."
Pedro Henrique Figueiredo Magalhaes from Netherlands!
"An architectural competition is an extraordinary opportunity to take a step back and challenge our capacities to deliver a new project. Even though some ideas are deeply anchored in our conceptual reflex, we have to go beyond and reshuffle the dice. It is an exciting time to open ourselves to new subjects, new landscapes, and new practices. What we particularly enjoy is debating our ideas to turn them into a vision which would eventually become a built project."
Gabriela Rolka, Jonathan Bourhis and François Barcelo Chatellier from France!
"The three of us are very passionate about our job and love discussing architecture, creating concepts and spaces, and communicating our ideas trough drawings and illustrations. So, participating in competitions also means simply having a good time with colleagues and friends. Second of all, we aim to take part in a wider, maybe even international, discussion about what architecture can give to spaces and people. Competitions offer a great chance for young academics or small firms to show their work."
Lukas Mühle, Victoria Konuk and Timm Traxler from Germany!
"We participate in architecture competitions because we believe that, in this way, we can deepen different topics that can allow us to learn and grow professionally so that one day we can start an architectural firm together."
Ugo Felici Giunchi, Nathalie Esposito and Assia Cirillo from Germany!
"We participate in architecture competitions because it is an opportunity to learn and experiment with new ideas. We enjoy how architecture’s creative process combines research and design to familiarize oneself with a different environment and culture. Since this competition took place during a time when travel was limited, this competition allowed our group to direct our creative energy into an expression that allowed for exploration of a new place, which further expanded our knowledge of the world."
Yanja Tumurbaatar, Sara Lolarga and Mini Cheon from Canada!
"Transitioning from school to the real industry is challenging in that execution takes over the projects. While we are deeply immersed in the practical, we wish to maintain our keenness and acuity on conceptual design and design theories through participation in architecture competitions."
Xinwei Chen and Maple Lin from United States!
"Architecture competitions can help to develop new ways of thinking and compare your work with other professionals. They also provide useful insights for the creative presentation of your project."
Evgenii Varlygin and Anastasiia Soshnikova from Russian Federation!
"Architecture competitions are an opportunity to test and explore ideas that would otherwise likely remain in a drawer, never to be formed into something potentially useful. This way, competitions invite innovation."
Marco Moretto and Maciej Abramczyk from Netherlands!
"They help us grow and see the wider world."
Dayang Wang, Jiwei Lang and Yue Sun from China!
"Architecture competitions offer a platform for us to ask the question 'what if'. It allows us to test out possibilities that are often constrained in professional practice."
Yuezhi Cai, Haoxuan Liang, Jianan Zhuang and Xiaoxiao Li from Australia!
"Architecture can exist in many different contexts, and while the predominant one that we have worked in has mostly been academic, with some industry experience, it is always beneficial to push in new directions. Competitions such as SKYHIVE provide us with an opportunity to work outside traditional requirements, while also with constraints that challenge us to be innovative in creating solutions."
Katherine Lo, Jeralyn Tseng, Loc H Nguyen and Ho Ming Chau from United States!
"Architecture competitions give me the opportunity to be my own client."
Phil Stien from United States!
"Competitions can help improve my computer drawing ability and creativity at the fastest speed, and teamwork allows me to learn a lot from my teammates."
Wang Rujin and Zhang Yu from Hungary!
"Architectural competitions allow me to challenge myself. They offer unusual tasks and uncommon contexts, which I have to solve and propose the proper solution for in my projects. Therefore, it develops me as a flexible architect able to cope with different tasks and issues. Another thing is that international competitions give the best opportunities to declare myself and promote my ideas and philosophy among the worldwide architectural community."
Vladislav Dudyrev from Russian Federation!
"Architecture competitions are great platforms that allow everyone to challenge their ideologies and thoughts on architecture and what architecture can do without the academic or practical constraints can sometimes greatly influence the design."
Ahmed Helal from United States!
"Participating in architecture competitions gives us the chance to explore our creativity, think outside the box, and develop different design approaches and project methodologies."
Adriane Pacheco, Letícia Armond, Sara Vasconcellos and Mauro Franco from Brazil!
"I usually do not participate in architectural competitions, but when I saw the call for entry on the website of The Last Nuclear Bomb Memorial, I was really impressed. The assignment offered a work approach on the edge between the field of art installation and architecture, which fits the type of work that excites me."
Josef Lepša from Czech Republic!
"As junior architects in the beginning of our careers, we are starting to understand the bureaucratic world around architecture. As such, the creative and conceptual line that defines this type of competition is the motivation we need to keep investing in the quality of the architecture we produce daily."
Jessica Martins, Catarina Pereira and Inês Lopes from Portugal!
"Architecture competitions of this nature allow anyone to challenge and provide a fresh approach to existing design dogmas. It is an incredible chance to step away from the conventional means of execution and present a different perspective to a broader audience. It helps to facilitate change in the profession through exposure and discussion, as well as one’s own professional growth. Competitions are a great venue for experimentation, and a laboratory to unpack and test design philosophies."
Chang Yuan Max Hsu from United States!
"Competitions fine-tune your design skills and help constantly question current interests. Also, they challenge you to solve problems that on any other occasion would be difficult to solve."
"As recently graduated architects, participating in architecture competitions is important because it allows us to keep imagining possibilities and stretching the limits of architecture, without barriers and restrictions; something that can be limited in the professional field once there are budgets and clients involved. We believe it is important for our creative development to continue exploring ideas that challenge us and promote a strong dialogue."
Patxi Jauregui, Ana Elizalde, Mónica Muñoz and Yael González from Mexico!
"I love all aspects of architecture competitions and the design process; research, discovery, the a-ha moments, iterations, editing, and presentation. Hopefully, the result is innovative, I have learned something from the experience, I can share what I learned, and continue to evolve in this ever-changing world."
Domenico Francesco Lio from United States!
"It’s important for us to participate in design competitions because they provide us with a creative outlet outside of the studio, where we can take part in tackling real-world problems in ways not limited to the confines of traditional rules and boundaries."
Kaili Sun and Carmen Kam from Canada!
"It is a good chance to train critical thinking and creativity. It’s also a way, besides real practice, to explore and deepen topics that interest us. It helps us to develop a system of thinking and methodology. Working in teams, it is also important to sharpen our ideas via debating and implement them in design. Finally, to present the project is another practice of communication. The whole process gives us a nice opportunity to formulate our argument in answering an architectural question."
Yunshih Canazzi-Chen and Antoine Canazzi-Chen from Netherlands!
"Because it’s fun. And because it reminds me of being in architecture school, a time I will always cherish. Idea competitions such as this one also provide venues for the unfettered exploration of ideas, and allow architects an idealized opportunity to imagine the way the world ought to be, instead of how it is."
Jerry Hacker from Canada!
"Besides having a deep respect for the tradition of competitions in the field of architecture, we believe this kind of experience provides a perfect venue for showcasing ideas that can be heard by a large audience, having the potential to impact the architectural culture as a whole. We also firmly believe that each competition we have participated in represents a step towards a learning curve, affecting our practice and teaching deeply."
Ana Luisa Rolim, Isabella Trindade, Beatriz Bueno and Larissa Falavigna from Brazil!
"Competitions are invaluable opportunities to research and test ideas that may not be possible to investigate within the confines of a project brief developed in an office or educational environment. Entering a competition deepens the knowledge of place, typology, and tectonic of architecture. Designers are asked to communicate an idea visually in a concise and compelling fashion. Through failures and successes, competitions are skill builders and thought-provoking bombs for those who participate."
Giovanni Fruttaldo, Kimberly Carlisle and Noah Lemus from United States!
"We seek out very specific opportunities that allow us to test our latest thoughts and push our theoretical propositions forward. This competition was in line with our current research and spoke to topics that we feel are important for architects to explore. As this one was right in our backyard, we used it to test some new ideas we've been developing."
Tristan Van Leur and Samantha Eby from Canada!
"The reason why we join competitions is that they provide us with a platform to spark our passion and create works freely. Due to various reasons, architects are often facing multiple restrictions in routine work. However, in this competition we can think more about current social issues and problems and pay more attention to the context of our designs. Through improving the design philosophy and updating the traditional design style, we strive to pursue optimum solutions."
Dian Luo, Xiang Liu and Guisong Zhang from China!
"We participate in architecture competitions in order to build up and diversify our design portfolio, challenge ourselves, and obtain new skills."
Doruk Alpsar and Amina Meslem from United Arab Emirates!
"Architecture competitions have a key role in the development of young architects. They stimulate creativity among individuals or teams regardless of their professional experience and background. One the one hand competitions offer fascinating and complex projects to work on. On the other, they allow more freedom in the design process than in real-life projects."
Vassil Vandov and Gergana Georgieva from Bulgaria!
"Architecture competitions gave us the opportunity to gain experience and grow up professionally. We think that besides the practice that we gain from these competitions, participating in them is a good way of observing how others perceive a task and respond to the same challenge. We are always looking for different types of competitions on various subjects to gain the upper mentioned experience and get out of our comfort zone."
Claudiu Zidarescu, Irena Dunda, Teodora Maria Escu and Delia Teodora Răpsigan from Romania!
"For fun and for the experience of crossing borders – literally and mentally."
Eliska Turanska, Jana Stofan Stykova and Katarina Stachonova from Slovakia!
"This was the first competition I participated in. I entered so that I could regain some autonomy over the type of design practice I wish to engage in. I was able to apply a system of thinking that (compared to other work I’ve done in school or practice) originated from a higher level of personal interest and thus, I hope, generated a compelling result."
Carley Chastain from United States!
"Having the need to evolve in design and to develop our way of thinking, we are constantly looking for new “equations” to solve. This is the reason we take part in architectural competitions: to constantly reframe the field of interest, to travel mentally to new places where the restrictions and freedoms we have may be different."
Minas Kosmidis Architects from Greece!
"We see architecture competitions as an opportunity to explore the role of architecture beyond our otherwise very limited social circle and context, having to learn about other cultures and contextual characteristics while responding to them. We take each competition as a learning opportunity and build an archive of knowledge out of it to be more holistic designers."
Haipng (Heffrence) Teow and Lapzhen Wong from Malaysia!
"Like many during the pandemic, our graduate prospects were disrupted, and we used competitions to continue our development as designers. As designers early in our architectural careers, competitions allow us the opportunity to not only lead projects but refine our ethos and experiment with its application."
Wilber Ilett and Tim Hatch from United Kingdom!
"We participate in architectural competitions because we want to act together to realize a common vision on an architecture that respects and links its local surrounding, environment and people."
Fiorentino De Martino and Laura Kranich from Germany!
"Architecture competitions are a great way to challenge my creative skills. It is also an opportunity for me to design a broad variety of programs. What excites me the most is being able to design different buildings, scales, programs, etc."
"We think architecture competitions are the purest way for us to reflect upon our work without our self-biased eyes, because we need more than a pair of eyes to value how the architecture works. Architecture competitions also allow us to express our sense of creativity and explore different ways to create an architectural design."
Salmahira Lazuardi, Abdul Aziz and Alief Brahmarizky Roseno from Indonesia!
"This is the first time we participate in an international architecture competition. We got really attracted to this particular project, because we saw it as an opportunity to work in a project that required the kind of knowledge we’ve acquired during our career as architects, which we usually don’t get a chance to use working as freelancers. Also, we saw it as a way to show our work to a bigger audience and make our little contribution to the world."
Kevin Sánchez, Andrea Márquez, Mairim Aguilar and Jesús Curiel from Venezuela!
"Competitions are a great opportunity to exercise creative freedom and regain a sense of autonomy and ownership over our work. As working professionals, diverse competition projects are a great luxury. They allows us to try our hands in projects with unique challenges and social missions that we don’t normally get to experience. Lastly, if we win, it is a great way to get our name “out there” and potentially have our project built."
Lea Stagno and Toru Okada from United States!
"This competition led our team through an exciting and rigorous design exercise. Architecture competitions are conducive to remote learning and helped us remain engaged during the Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, we explored design problems outside of the traditional architectural setting and within a unique cultural context."
Josephine Simon and Anne Whitsel from United States!
"We are both working and attending school which can get overwhelming and limiting at times. Choosing our competitions allows us to escape our pragmatic daily routine, is a way to exercise our minds, and acts as a platform to test our ideas. Competitions are also challenges that give us the opportunity to work on different scales and discover diverse locations."
Bachir Benkirane and Megi Davitidze from Morocco!
"Through competitions you are able to express yourself in a very raw and creative way – straight from your soul. An idea is growing without all the noise of daily (work-)life. Viewed upside down, it’s also a way of finding yourself by researching topics you identify with."
Martynas Degutis, Michael Samson and Justus Würtenberger from Germany!
"Competitions provide an avenue for the exploration of ideas, often beyond the constraints of conventional project commissions. To grow as a designer, we believe, this exploration is critical. The competition process also enables our studio to explore new project opportunities which otherwise we would not have access to."
Jad Silvester, Penny Fuller, Bruce Feng and Alexandra Hopkins from Australia!
"We think that competitions are a stimulating exercise for creativity, a way of responding to the needs of people and the environment in total freedom. To measure oneself with uncommon themes, in different environmental contexts where one can express one's own art."
Giacomo Cozzi and Andrea Maltinti from Italy!
"Competitions represent the means to be able to intervene directly in the public sphere through projects capable of dealing with architecture as a tool for the community. They remain the main means of being able to condition the image of the landscape without private superstructures, following a common vision of architecture."
Antonio Salvi, Francesco Polci, Filippo Pecorai and Antonello Boschi from Italy!
"Architecture competitions give me the opportunity to test ideas/concepts and allow for a creative and playful design."
Barbara Drud Henningsen from Denmark!
"When you are young, a competition helps you find a narrative, present an idea, and get familiar with silly deadlines. As you get older, a competition is a good way to break routine. Competitions offer a rare opportunity to showcase and experiment with ideas and architectural expression without restrictions. You challenge your skills and learn new things."
Vaia Vakouli and Orestis Gkouvas from United Kingdom!
"For us, taking part in architectural vision competition is a big chance for experimentation with space and structure, an opportunity to celebrate the design process and to face unusual topics. It develops us as professionals and motivates us to search for new ways of thinking about architecture."
Kamila Szatanowska and Paulina Rogalska from Poland!
"We think that taking part in competitions is a very interesting experience that broadens our horizons. It provides us with an opportunity to work in a group setting and prepares us for our future careers. Participation in competitions enables us to present our design vision to a larger audience and compare it with the ideas of other participants."
Aleksandra Bieszka , Aleksandra Mucha and Maria Pielach from Poland!
"Competitions help to engage and think about projects with less constraints, which allows to create new fundamental concepts and values."
Gaspar Cánepa and Mareike Schlatow from Denmark!
"Competitions are a chance to interpret new problems, programs, habitats, and people, broadening your horizons and enabling personal growth both as an architect and as a person."
"We see the competition as a challenge, forcing us to get out of our comfort zone. It’s an interesting exercise where we have to experiment and materialize ambitious ideas, thus pushing our boundaries of creativity and freedom. Furthermore, it is a great opportunity to experiment with new graphic representation techniques to communicate about architecture."
Amos Bok, Raphaël Luchs and Florian Mahieu from Belgium!
"Architectural competitions undoubtedly are the ultimate testing ground for our creative competence and problem-solving skills. As vital as they are for the architectural field in general, they represent a form of intellectual playground for developing our innovative thinking. Beyond the individual benefits of personal and professional growth and work fulfilment, architectural competitions facilitate the most democratic system for designing our environment."
Monika Angelevska, Zoran Petrovski and Kostantin Trpenoski from Macedonia!
"The greater dynamism of the competition platforms has been contributing, in a very positive way, to publicize new teams, approaches, and different work processes that end up contributing to the plurality of contemporary architecture practice all over the world. For all these reasons, participation in architecture contests proves to be very challenging, as it makes it possible to materialize ideas freely and spontaneously, which often does not happen in the professional context."
Ana Isabel Santos, João Varela and Paulo Dias from Portugal!
"It is the opportunity to try new ideas and to set ourselves design challenges that we are not used to on a daily basis. Contests are the means of expressing our creativity, finding tools and knowledge that we can later apply in our professional practice."
Rafael Cruz, Gabriel Molina, Sebastián García and Sebastián Moreno from Colombia!
"In our particular case, architecture competitions allow us to reflect and explore our theoretical concepts about design, as well as to understand and perfect our creative process."
Bernardo Aguilar León, Eder Eulogio Lescano and Lorenzo Barghini from Peru!
"This competition allowed me to apply the skills I acquired during my studies and the knowledge I gained from personal research to a real building task. It was highly instructive to design a building in the framework of structural, practical, and environmental boundaries."
Jan Nicolas Zimmermann from Switzerland!
"The participation in architecture competitions gives us the opportunity to share our voice in architecture through drawings and design, hoping to resonate with a certain audience. It is also an engaging way to maintain the excitement, creative freedom, and professional motivation for the development of individual extracurricular design projects and collaborations."
Amanda Dolgā and Cheung Lun Jeremy Son from United Kingdom!
"Unlike in school, the process of an architecture project is long. It can take up to a year or even a decade to complete a single project. And it takes more time to solve practical problems than to actually do the plan. The competition allows us to think of new ideas and test them out in various projects in different countries that are not usually encountered. Competitions give you the opportunity to think of new things and it will motivate you to work on them."
Heen Sae Noh and Jin Woo Kim from South Korea!
"To explore possibilities and apply my thoughts of architecture through different competition themes. Taking part in competitions allows me to step away from reality; it is a chance to explore your creativity and exhibit the most interesting works."
Ziyu Zhao and Yongyi Liang from Sweden!
"Our work within the agency also flourishes in a theoretical and prospective reflection of architecture and the project process. Participation in competitions offers a privileged time to refocus and provoke reflection on subjects that interest us through conceptual and immediate responses. We integrate this time into an internal research process, more global and transversal than the usual pragmatic practice of an agency."
Claire Roy and Adélie Collard from France!
"Outside our academic and professional lives, we are constantly debating various architectural ideas. Sitting in a bar with a couple of beers, smoking cigarettes, and sketching on paper napkins – it is usually the moment when the best ideas come to the table, and we look for the right competitions to showcase them."
Diogo André Gonçalves Ferreira, Juan Manuel Jaramillo Londoño and Sanad Wir from Italy!
"We really enjoy the freedom inscribed in architecture competitions. We try to always challenge ourselves to go further than the most obvious answer to the questions asked. For us, it is an opportunity to test the congruency in the process of elaboration of our ideas, hence testing the integrity of our work."
Alexa Burkle and Santiago Esquivel from Mexico!
"We are particularly attentive and sensitive to issues of architectural design, urban regeneration, and social innovation. In participating in architecture competitions, we see an important opportunity for growth and greater acquisition of professional skills through an experiential process that stimulates creativity and innovation in a competitive environment."
Marco Rosati and Lorenzo Rinaldi Ngiam from Italy!
"We both think that architecture competitions are a good way to exercise flexibility in design after years of working on commercial projects away from school. Commercial projects tend to be driven by stakeholder interests, and that draws away from a very pure and even wild form of design. Architecture competitions stretch the imagination, allowing for us to do stuff that we are unable to do in everyday projects."
Karlotte Kang and Kia Hong Ngiam from Singapore!
"We believe competitions are a platform for us to express our thoughts on social issues with architecture. It is a great way to explore and refine our architecture ethos through different architecture competitions."
Ryan Wai Yin Tung, Jacky Ho Yin Cheung and Long Kwan from Hong Kong!
"After graduating, opportunities to express and develop personal philosophies and ideas without constraints are rare for a young designer. Entering competitions has allowed me to do exactly this."
Thiam Yi Donovan Ong from Australia!
"Participating in competitions is not an easy task, whether you are a professional or a student. It takes time to prepare a good project for any competition, and, quite frankly, it is not easy to win them. So, surely, they could start to feel like a wasted effort and a drain of intelligence, as Rem has put it. But at the same time, architectural competitions provide a platform for both the student and the professional to deliberate on a dissimilar typology, which can be beneficial in a number of different ways."
Shahram Arashzad and Fatemeh Kazemi from United States!
"Architecture competitions are adventures in which we can present our ideas to a worldwide platform. It is indeed a stimulating environment that challenges our mentality and point of view and pushes the boundaries of design."
Aiste Rakauskaite, Kiana Mousavi and Savanne Van Harrewijen from Netherlands!
"We participate in architecture competitions in hopes of pushing the boundaries of design. These competitions are a canvas for new opportunities. In these briefs, there are no right or wrong answers."
Tommy Nam and Eujean Cheong from United States!
"I like to challenge myself, and during every competition I learn something new. It is a very intense process, but I wouldn’t change it for anything else. At the end of the competition, I love to go through my sketches and steps to see the path that I have taken and what I can improve in the future."
Zuzanna Słabik from Poland!
"Competitions provide a framework to explore how we see the world. A brief is the key that opens up and constrains our imagination."
Ibrahim Muasher, Gergana Popova and Simon Taylor from United Kingdom!
"Architecture competitions provide me with the rare opportunity for complete freedom of design, the chance to do what I feel is right without limitations."
Ben Mc Quaid from Ireland!
"This is the second time I participate in a worldwide contest, and the reason why I do it is because I can explore different lines of design, constructive methods, users, materials, and everything outside of the conventional."
Mauricio Bastidas Azotla from Mexico!
"We participate in architecture vision competitions because, as young architects, we can develop our skills on an international stage. It is an excellent opportunity to discipline ourselves and push forward our design limits."
Ali Bugra Cebeci and Oguz Kemal Basar from Italy!
"We love to challenge ourselves and to test our ideas in the global context."
Jinlong Li, Sen Yan, Xibao Ren and Huichao Luo from Australia!
"We participate in competitions to seek more opportunities to learn about the world of architecture. We see it as a chance to refine and practice the skills we have and through this find our purpose and identity in the way we think and design."
Andrew Kurniawan, Georgia Huang and Leonardo Vincent from Australia!
"Because it represents an occasion to explore extreme contexts and unique scenarios."
Giovanni Cavaglion, Emanuele Cavaglion, Xiaoxu Liang and Pu Wang from Italy!
"For us, participating in architecture competitions represents a promise of being able to explore architectural ideas in their pure sense. We can work through ideas without being distracted by the conservative restraints and limitations that our projects typically encounter."
Luc Harel, Manos Mavridis and Phil Snowdon from Australia!
"Our main reason of participation is that it offers a thinking breakthrough for the way we perceive day-to-day architecture. Another reason is to also convey our design intention and content through an open architecture medium."
Lap Zhen Wong and Erik Ung Hieng Yek from Malaysia!
"Architectural competitions are a breeding ground for new ideas and new talent; they smash preconceptions, break down barriers, and produce award-winning designs. I participate in architectural competitions to immerse into a creative process, guided by a set of difficult challenges, and to bring to life a solution and response that did not exist before."
Tarek Abou Dib from Australia!
"We participate in architecture competitions to test our ideas and skillsets and challenge our preconceived concepts of what has been done and how we can do it differently – it gives us the perfect platform to test daring/radical ideas."
Mond Qu, Sonny Do and Yeqian Shi from Australia!
"I love how there can be a huge variety of unique designs in response to the same issue. I also love the idea of tackling a real-world issue whilst remaining free to explore conceptual ideas."
Alex Stein from Australia!
"Architecture competitions are the right medium to challenge our preconceptions of what is around us and push us to imagine the future we want to live in. Competitions are a great way to develop our thinking and ideas, creating a starting point to make these visions become a reality."
Matthieu Bégoghina from Australia!
"We would like to be exposed to more designs and opportunities which we rarely encounter in our daily work. Our work is more about high-rise buildings, so thinking about a socially related project would exercise our way of thinking in more complex things. Also, acting as not just a designer in a team helped us develop a deeper understanding about the operation of a project. We recapped after we submitted the competition board and summarized which aspects we can improve in and how we will plan the next one."
Tingting Peng and Sijia Liu from United States!
"An architecture competition allows us to think outside of the box and test different solutions to respond to current challenges, such as fast-growing cities and increasing housing demands."
Maria Gabriela Vaca Sanchez and Sandra Maria Estrada Rosas from Netherlands!
"The development of real architectural projects comes with a myriad of restrictions. I choose to participate in architectural competitions as a means of eliminating some of these limitations and opening the door to new paradigms and possibilities within my designs. This allows me to push my interests far beyond their typical barriers and produce topical projects that can inspire real world works."
Evan Langendorfer from Australia!
"Competitions allow me to explore broader architectural concepts beyond the limitations of the office routine. They help to rekindle the inspiration necessary to maintain healthy creativity."
Nicholas Brown from the United States!
"By participating in architectural competitions, we allow ourselves to investigate an interest that may include a specific program, scale, or construction that is not commonly explored in academia. Additionally, it is a medium that enables us to render ideas with a potential physical outcome – spaces that people will be able to inhabit and experience."
Alejandro Saldarriaga and Isaac Tejeira from Colombia!
"In practice, I have to fight the laws and regulations of the community, face a limited budget, and suffer emotional sentiment by the owner. I left the real world for a moment and participated in the competition to ask myself questions. This is like participating in an F1 match. I wanted to get out of the city streets where I had to commute, and run the autobahn at unlimited speed."
Ju Seok Park from Korea!
"In this kind of environment, there is much more freedom and creativity involved, and it is overall a good exercise. On the other hand, one could always decide to base the design on more pragmatic decisions, as we intended to do in the proposal submitted. This duality makes vision competitions unique."
Barbara Mazza and Claudio Cortese from Belgium!
"We see competitions as challenges that can put our team work, our knowledge and our commitment to an idea up to the task. This kind of competitions can test our passion and love for architecture and brings a reality check due to the client’s specifications."
Belén Moreno Pedrejón, Oriana Álvarez Braiz and Luis Miguel De Jesús Dos Ramos from Spain!
"I like to think of myself as a creative person and I need to create things. Participating in architecture vision competitions allows me to explore the productive side of my personality. It’s inspiring and stimulating."
"Being that both of us are recent graduates who are starting our professional careers, we both struggle at times to gain the level of authority desired in design projects at work. We see architecture vision competitions as frameworks for us to structure and explore ideas, while simultaneously creating a platform for us to advance our skill sets and hone our design sensibilities."
Frank Gibase and Grey Peterson from the United States!
"The most important reason why I participate in architecture competitions is to keep being creative. I can experiment