Buildner's Unbuilt Award 2024 competition Honorable mention winners in the Small Scale category - Vittorio Falaschi, Maddalena Nanni, Uberto Carignani and Emmanuele Bortone

We’d like to take this opportunity to introduce the Honorable Mention winners in the Small Scale category of our "Buildner's Unbuilt Award 2024" competition – Vittorio Falaschi, Maddalena Nanni, Uberto Carignani and Emmanuele Bortone from Germany!

Honorable mention from Germany

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.

We are friends with a strong and shared passion in architecture and for all those themes that interact with architectural project. We met in Florence, the city where we studied and where there are our own origins. Here, we listened to our passions. After earning her bachelor’s degree, Maddalena decides to enter the world of architectural visualization. Vittorio graduated in Sustainable Architecture in Turin and soon after moved to South Tyrol where he still works with a local studio working on large-scale projects, while Emmanuele, after various experiences in major architectural firms, decided to become a freelancer, concentrating on small to medium-scale projects and competitions. Finally, Uberto has been living in Berlin for about three years, where he has had the opportunity to work in large international studios. Thanks to the different education, we manage to collaborate by combining various interests within the project, always trying to reach proposals that enclose the contributions of each one in a simple and unified synthesis.

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?

Projects that most represent us are those small and medium scale, because they allow us to inspect the relationships between people, architecture and its context. This dimension allows us to experience the potential of space, combined with the expressiveness of materials and the elegance of details.

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

Architecture presents itself every time that man has an interaction with the built environment in which he finds himself. This is why it should aim to create quality spaces through the right balance of light, geometries and materials. The role of the architect is to be able to act as a director between the necessities and needs that arise in the realities of the different social fabrics. It is an arduous task and the achievement of such an objective occurs only with the knowledge of the profession, then the constant and varied practice.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

The main reason we choose to participate in competitions stems from the need for expression and artistic freedom, which is often limited in everyday work. The opportunity to select from a vast range of subjects, locations, and cultures stimulates our creativity while allowing us to explore and experiment with new tools and architectural concepts. It also offers a valuable opportunity for discussion, not only through exposure to the visions of other participants’ projects but also through the creation of debates and critical reflections within the working group, which are fundamental for both professional and personal growth. For us, the ability to fully interpret the project from a communicative perspective is equally important. Through images, we can engage in storytelling, break away from stylistic conventions, and explore more or less academic compositional languages.

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

From a formative or professional perspective, competitions are an exceptional opportunity to learn and make meaningful contributions. They provide the chance to gain recognition from other professionals and potential future clients, as well as to enrich one's portfolio. Regardless of the outcome, we highly recommend participating in competitions as a way to foster creativity and engage with a diverse range of themes.