Architecture Competition Greening the Industrial City 3rd prize winners – Yoona Ahn and Peter Salim

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the 3rd prize winners of our "Greening the Industrial City" competition – Yoona Ahn and  Peter Salim from United States!

3rd prize winners from United States

We are a husband and wife team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We have been working together on a few projects and competitions in the past 5 years. Peter has a Bachelor’s of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University. Yoona has a Bachelor’s of Architecture from Illinois Institute of Technology and Masters of City Planning from University of Pennsylvania.

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?

As a team, we have designed a few installations. From our respective professional jobs, Peter has designed buildings at various scales including campus buildings, government facilities, and houses. Yoona has been a part of many city-wide plans, neighborhood plans/projects, and small scale installations.

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

Architecture is the synthesis of site, program, people, and materials to define the spaces that we live in. An architect has the agency to shape the built environment to improve the well being of the people it serves.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

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.

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

Just do it and try it out! Give yourself small achievable deadlines along the way.