Architecture Competition Hospice - Home For Terminally Ill Honorable mention – Mona Thoma, Jakob Albrecht and Edda Meinertz

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to one of our Honorable mention winners for our "Hospice - Home For Terminally Ill" competition – Mona Thoma, Jakob Albrecht and Edda Meinertz from Germany!

Honorable mention from Germany

The three of us started our bachelor's studies in architecture at the Technical University in Berlin in 2016. After graduating, we worked in different offices in Berlin, each of us focusing on different aspects of architecture. We gained knowledge in designing, planning, and executing an idea, and realized the inherent social responsibilities within this process. Having the same educational background, we share an artistic and architectural language that helps us to work together even over distance. Currently, we are spread across Germany doing our master's program in architecture and arts at different institutions (Akademie der Bildenden Künste München & Bauhaus – Universität Weimar).

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?

Regardless of the scale, the typology, or the program, we generally start with graphic drawings that can be translated into a concept, a hierarchical structure. We aim to combine all drawings into one abstract figure and use it as a constant point of reference to our idea. The result can then stand on its own as a work of art or represent an architectural idea.

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

We believe that architectural interventions should connect people to places and provide them with meaningful experiences. The material itself serves as a sensual mediator. The atmosphere is produced by arranging these building blocks, and so creates a sensitivity within the building that can be felt outside this referential system. The goal is a synthesis between form and function that impacts the context (culture, nature) in a positive manner.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

We participate in competitions to strengthen our own opinions and ideas. We are curious to see how the methodology and our self-imposed set of rules will crystallize into a clear design. It is a great opportunity to question your design process detached from the educational context. By being free from supervision, preconceived ideas, or expectations, we feel closer to the nature of architecture. Plus. it is an opportunity to exchange ideas among friends.

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

So far it has been a positive experience to join competitions. It is important to see what you can do and achieve even with little guidelines and instructions. To us, it has been a good opportunity to motivate us and make us more independent. Besides, you can't do anything wrong since you're only doing it for yourself.