Buildner's Unbuilt Award 2024 competition Honorable mention winner in the Large Scale category - Rosannah Beth Harding

We’d like to take this opportunity to introduce the Honorable Mention winner in the Large Scale category of our "Buildner's Unbuilt Award 2024" competition – Rosannah Beth Harding from United States!

Rosannah Beth Harding

Please tell us about your company (when it was founded, where it is based, how many employees, etc) Alternatively, if you do not have a company, please give us some insights on your own professional/academia background.

OstrowHarding is an award-winning architecture practice based in Brooklyn, New York with roots in cultural and public projects, hospitality, and multi-family to high end residential. Partners Rosannah Harding and Matt Ostrow bring a foundation of conceptually driven design and experience in complex urban and cultural buildings into a new progressive practice. Founded in 2019, our studio works with ambitious clients on small to large scale projects. With a seasoned focus on fabrication and advanced design and construction technologies, our projects reflect our passion for unique experiences and desire to create thoughtfully crafted spaces.

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?

While working on a flexible performing arts facility, The Shed, Matt as a lead designer and Rosannah as a project architect, we developed what would become a lifelong partnership in creative and technical problem solving. Other award-winning conceptual projects under the OstrowHarding banner are Footbridge, an elevated pedestrian bridge in Manhattan and Portaledge, an adaptive re-use of a commercial office tower into multifamily residential. We have a passion for housing and the progression of vertical living spaces in the city. Our collaborations explore habitation and mobility in urban conditions.

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

As graduates of The Cooper Union, we take pride in authorship of the products of architecture; the models and drawings that we generate to express the design. We have a strong belief that it is our responsibility as the architect to be experts in our tools and deeply know every corner of the project, crafting the model with great care and control. Our early experiences in the profession have instilled the value of speed and technical mastery. Since those early apprenticeships and working on high-profile and award-winning projects, we have a deep breadth of knowledge in executing cutting-edge design and conceptually driven work. We have come together, bringing our complimentary skill sets to branch out on our own and create a practice where we leverage this depth of experience for the next generation of projects.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

We like to solve problems and tackle complexity. Our creative approach to problem solving is bolstered by a keen eye for constructability and practicality. We believe that buildings should harmoniously perform structurally, acoustically, aesthetically, and be comfortable and accessible to all ages. Design competitions provide an outlet for research and experimentation, we are guided by a search for elegance balanced with utility.

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

Competitions offer a direct path to test experimental approaches to known problems without the sidelines of client driven agendas. The modern architectural profession is exceptionally competitive and we use the platform of competitions to both recharge our creative batteries, and also to regress a bit, and become indulgent to a whim.