Architecture Competition Gaudi La Coma Artists’ Residences Buildner Student prize winners – GSAPP, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the Buildner Student prize winners of our "Gaudi La Coma Artists’ Residences" competition – Seonggeun Hur and Myungju Ko from United States!

Student prize winners from United States

We have met at Columbia University GSAPP 3 years ago after several years of work experience as architects from South Korea and United States, and being together as two young designers/architect since then. We both shares the similar design perspective toward the world and help each other to progress from where we have been by learning from each other’s strength.

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?

We majorly collaborated our work through out open international architecture competitions, and architectural research.

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

We believe that architecture is a continuous argument to express your prospective views and aesthetic impact to your society.  Even if our architectural idea that we believe is the key to solve spontaneous social problems, it will hardly accepted by the public at once. To change our society better as an architect is not just about come up with an amazing idea at once, but more about slow self-proving process with tenacity.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

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. Exposing our work throughout renowned medium can give us opportunity to develop ourselves as young architects.

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

We all know that life as an architect is continuation of the deadline, and we do not want to add additional deadline in between. But unlike other projects that you are confronting with, architectural competition can actually give us a room to refresh our design aspects and widen our perspective toward many more things. Do not hesitate to join the competition!