Architecture competition "Irish Cult Music Venue" Honorable mention - Andi Reeder and Kirk Malanchuk

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the winners of one of our Honorable mentions for the “Irish Cult Music Venue” competition - Andi Reeder and Kirk Malanchuk from United States!

Kirk Malanchuk and Andi Reeder from United States

Andi and Kirk are both designers in Seattle working at an interdisciplinary, research-based architecture and design firm. They are graduates of the University of Washington College of Built Environments and collectively have worked on projects in Canada, the United States, Japan, Italy, Norway and Germany.

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 company/ individuals have been involved?

Kirk has worked on research-driven projects on a number of different scales including a 100 square foot parking attendant booth at the Honolulu Museum of Art, a conceptual iceberg city off the coast of Norway for 50,000 people, and a scrap metals processor and junk market in Seattle.

Andi has experience in commercial office and residential high rise projects, but initially took interest in furniture design and smaller-scale projects. Her relevant conceptual work includes a temporary nightclub in Berlin’s RAW area.

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

Architects are generalists and the good ones know how to both solve problems and create new ones. Architects must have a tolerance for ambiguity, a readiness to embrace surprises and an ambition to be good collaborators. The goal is always to see a project through a non-architectural eye and think about holistic experiences.

Why do you participate in architecture vision competitions?

Competitions offer designers an opportunity to investigate design challenges with a different set of constraints. We feel that competitions allow us to think in new ways, examine our process and explore alternative means of graphic communication.

We spent a lot of time prior to entering the competition arguing about everything under the moon. The competition was a way to take our two different personalities and see what cohesive idea could come out of it. It was a great way to put arguments on paper.

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

It’s a lot of work and you must know that going in. But competitions are a place to throw all your weirdest ideas on the table – no qualifications are required for that. It’s an outlet to explore things that you normally wouldn’t.