Architecture Competition Berlin Techno Booth 2nd prize winners – Ecole Nationale d'Architecture de Lyon

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the 2nd prize winners of our “Berlin Techno Booth” competition – Tevi Allan Mensah and Eugenie Palau from France! 

Tevi Allan Mensah and Eugenie Palau from France 

We met at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Lyon (ENSAL) in 2016.

After internships in Lyon architecture offices and a year abroad in I. Politecnico UFV Madrid, Allan worked for the Parisian atelier Ciguë for one year.


His practice is divided between several projects and in and outside the context of architecture competitions. He tends to melt together his research and imagination in different mediums, from furniture to territory scale, between constructed and research projects. Also working as a graphic designer, this year, Allan has designed the graphic identity of a farm in Cantabria, Spain.

Eugénie studied at ENSAL and at the Politecnico di Milano.


After one year of experience in Parisian architecture offices, she is now working on her diploma. She has always been fascinated by night aesthetics and nocturnal architecture. A theme that she often explores through the prism of theoretical research, photography and scenography. Thus, it became an inherent subject of her practice.

Brief information about the projects that you/your company have been involved with. For instance, what scale have you focused on/preferred, any significant projects where the company/ individuals have been involved?

Our projects range from furniture to urban projects, editorial to photography.
We are doing as much as we can to avoid restraining ourselves in a specific field.


Our application for Buildner marks our first collaboration and was an opportunity to crystallize common aspirations.

What does architecture mean to you and what is the role of an architect in your society?

More than a profession to which we dedicate ourselves, we see it as an opportunity to fix our ideals on physical objects. We like to believe in architecture as a constructed expression of a culture. As architects, our role is to set the decor for everyday life. At the same time, we see our discipline as an open field to play with an optimistic point of view.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

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.


It sharpens the way we draw by testing alternative ways of representing architecture.


Participating in architectural competitions is also constantly questioning urban and social problematics while seeking for the simplest answer. It is the chance for radical ideas.

What advice would you give to individuals who struggle to decide whether it would be beneficial for them to participate in architecture competitions?

Just go for it, you really have got nothing to lose. Simply do something you believe in and have fun!