Architecture Competition Iceland Volcano Museum 3rd prize winners - Artur Chyra and Malwina Wojcik

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the 3rd prize winners of our “Iceland Volcano Museum” competition - Artur Chyra and Malwina Wojcik from Poland!

Artur Chyra and Malwina Wojcik from Poland

We are two polish architects who completed our Masters of Architecture at The University of Science and Technology in Wroclaw, Poland in 2014. Having gained 3 years of initial professional experience working on residential, retail and commercial projects in Poland, we moved to Australia, where we currently live and work. Artur works as an urban and architectural designer at RobertsDay, where he’s responsible for a range of large to medium scale master planning projects. Malwina works at MHN Design Union, where she specialises in designing small and medium scale residential architecture. As a team, we believe that architecture should endeavor to complement the wider sense of place, culture and context. We are inspired by architecture that is expressive through materiality and draws upon natural and local resources to create a binding relationship with a site, landscape, region and country in which it sits.

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

We believe that the role of architecture is to find new ways to think about spaces we inhabit and use. As a discipline, architecture has an ability to synthesize and answer spatial problems our cities, towns, streets and buildings are facing. At the same time it’s a language which, through use of materials and principles of esthetics, can shape spatial identities that become undetachable elements of places, communities and cultures.

Why do you participate in architecture vision competitions?

Participating in architectural competitions gives you a unique chance to express your ideas and challenge yourself against an exciting brief. In addition, it also provides an opportunity to learn how to create and present a coherent narrative around your idea.

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

Competitions are a great medium for broadcasting your ideas and learning from other designers, but they are also an opportunity to assess your growth and skills in order to achieve better outcomes in the future.