Architecture Competition Iceland Volcano Museum Honorable mention - SILESIAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the winners of the Honorable mention of our “Iceland Volcano Museum” competition - Natalia Kędziorek, Bartosz Karasiński and Dawid Krzeszowiec from Poland!

Natalia Kędziorek, Bartosz Karasiński and Dawid Krzeszowiec from Poland

We are a group of three students. We met during studies at Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice (Poland) , in the department of architecture. We present nearly the same view of today's architecture. But if we all tried to see things from more than our own viewpoint, the world would be a better and more interesting place to live.

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?

Our main goal was to keep the respect for nature and the surroundings, and not to dominate it with huge buildings. I believe we should first deal with the situation in our immediate vicinity, then try to create development in some district. We try to focus on small scale architecture because we believe that small details create the whole structure of a building. This is our first mutual project, but we hope that it is not the last.

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

In our opinion, the significance of architecture in people’s lives is very important. Architecture is about making the best conditions for users, thinking at the same time about nature, sustainability, cost effectiveness, aesthetics related to the context and many more factors. We feel that nowadays, the role of architecture is going to be less significant. People have no respect for architecture style and spatial order. It is because of the fact that clients have money but do not have the sense of architecture style.

Why do you participate in architecture vision competitions?

It is a lot of fun solving vision competitions and it is a huge challenge for us. As students we do not have enough time to gain experience during our studies apart from during one semester when we have to do at mandatory 6-month internship. Therefore, we do try to participate in international architecture competitions to gain more practice.

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

Our philosophy is that each time we try to solve some architectural problem, or a problem related to architecture, it is a unique, priceless experience for us which can be used in the future. It is important to have valuable experience, because it helps students to get a great internship.