Architecture Competition The Marker Design Challenge Sustainability Award winner – Grusa Bauman

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the AApparel Sustainability Award winner of our "The Marker Design Challenge" competition – Grusa Bauman from Ireland!

Grusa Bauman from Ireland

I finished my studies at the Faculty of Architecture at Zagreb University.

I have spent most of my career in Zagreb, where I worked in several diverse companies, from a one-(wo)man office to a huge construction company with 12,500 employees, and some middle sized offices in between.

Six years ago, I moved to Ireland, and I am currently working for a small office in County Roscommon.

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?

During my career, I have worked on a very various and broad range of projects: from product design to masterplans and urban design.

As a design architect, project architect, and project manager I have worked on projects for sports, cultural and health care buildings, schools, nurseries, nursing homes, hotels, residential buildings, family houses, and interiors.

I have particularly vast experience in residential architecture – housing and social housing. I have participated in a number of architectural competitions in which I have won several prizes, including two 1st prizes: for a High School Sports Hall in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and for a Social Housing in Lepoglava, Croatia.

I also participated in the 47th Zagreb Salon Exhibition with a competition entry for an Open-air Stage in Opatija, Croatia (2nd price rewarded).

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

I can hardly think of a human activity with a bigger long-term impact than architecture, both on society and on the environment. Architecture shapes life on earth: the life of individuals, the building and preservation of communities, and the healthy sustainability of nature, of which we are all part. Every ton of bricks, every square meter of tarmac stays for a long time. We must use it well.

It is a huge responsibility and yet, nowadays it seems somehow forgotten. We are more and more considered not the experts who know but service providers to the demands of the paying client.

I believe we should change it. We should be much more vocal when it comes to politics and decision-making and much humbler and more sensitive to the environment and nature. We should bear in mind that essentially, we are always working not for the client but for the users first; and following that, for the future benefit of the wider community as well. We should all make sure that the long-lasting mark we are leaving behind us is not an ugly scar.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

For me, architecture competitions are the purest essence of our work. They are fields in which to try out our ideas, to stretch and broaden our way of thinking, to try something new, and to say something we are usually not in a position to say. Fields to explore and play. Pure joy! (If it results with a prize or realisation – even better, of course.)

Secondly, competitions are the most democratic way of acquiring work, an opportunity for small and young offices to get important jobs and recognition.

For the society, it means “handpicked” independent well- designed architecture – in an ideal case, of course. In Croatia, every public building and every private building of significance has to pass through the open competition. In Ireland, on the contrary, competitions are rare and open to just a handful of biggest offices.

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

Go for it!

Try it at least once! Experience the pure joy of creating; the brainstorming at the beginning, and the adrenalin at the end when your computers start failing and your printer stalls; the friendship and camaraderie forged in the crazy hours of the night; the despair of dead ends, and the bliss of a solution found and everything falling into the place; the joy of winning, the disappointment of losing out, and the pleasure, understanding, and learning that the result entails...

For young architects, it should be an indispensable part of education; for experienced colleagues, a reminder of why we are in this job at all.

Open architecture competitions

  • Closest Deadline first
  • Project competitions first
    Selected winning projects have the potential to be constructed
  • Ideas competitions first
    Experimental competitions with the focus on pushing the boundaries of creativity
project COMPETITION
Sansusī Forest Food Court

Design a sustainable food court structure for the heart of a classical music festival

Prize: MONETARY AWARD + CONSTRUCTION
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

Remind me
Jan 10
Feb 08
Apr 06
ideas COMPETITION
The Home of Shadows

Design a home with no artificial lighting

Prize: MONETARY AWARD
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

Remind me
Dec 05
Jan 24
Apr 18
project COMPETITION
Portugal Elderly Home

Design a comfortable and accessible home for the elderly in Portugal

Prize: MONETARY AWARD + CONSTRUCTION
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

Remind me
Dec 06
Jan 25
Apr 19
project COMPETITION
Portugal Olive Guest House

Design a guest house and olive oil tasting room located in Portugal

Prize: MONETARY AWARD + CONSTRUCTION
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

Remind me
Dec 08
Jan 27
Apr 21
project COMPETITION
Yoga House in the Bog

Design a yoga guest house located within rich bog wildlife

Prize: MONETARY AWARD + CONSTRUCTION
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

Remind me
Jan 11
Feb 08
Apr 26

Reccuring architecture competitions

ideas COMPETITION
MICROHOME
Small living, huge impact! Edition #6

Design a new concept of small-scale home

Prize: MONETARY AWARD + PUBLICATION IN MAGAZINE
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

Remind me
Feb 16
Apr 18
Jun 16
ideas COMPETITION
Silent contest
For this competition, NO DESCRIPTION TEXT is allowed. The architecture ideas must be communicated strictly with visuals.
Museum of Emotions
Edition #3

Use architecture to create different emotional states

Prize: MONETARY AWARD
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

Remind me
Mar 17
May 19
Jul 21
ideas COMPETITION
Silent contest
For this competition, NO DESCRIPTION TEXT is allowed. The architecture ideas must be communicated strictly with visuals.
Architectural Visualization Award
Edition #2

Present your best work and submit your favorite architectural visualization

Prize: MONETARY AWARD
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

Remind me
Mar 23
May 25
Jul 27
Run repeatedly
Children's Hospice
Home for the Terminally ill / Edition #2

Design a safe and supportive space for children struggling with a terminal illness

Prize: MONETARY AWARD
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

Remind me
Dec 06
Feb 08
Apr 06
Register now
Run repeatedly
Milan Affordable Housing Challenge
Affordable Housing Series #15

Design a concept for affordable housing in Milan

Prize: MONETARY AWARD
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

Remind me
Dec 07
Jan 26
Apr 20
Register now
Run repeatedly
Virtual Home
Edition #2

Shape the future of digital living environments

Prize: MONETARY AWARD
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

Remind me
May 02
Jul 04
Sep 06
Register now
Run repeatedly
Office
Office Design Challenge / Edition #2

Reimagine the workplace of the future, and design the new way of working

Prize: MONETARY AWARD
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

Remind me
Jan 03
Mar 01
May 04
Register now
Run repeatedly
Portable Reading Rooms
Edition #2

Design a portable reading room that encourages reading in any location

Prize: MONETARY AWARD + SCOLARSHIP
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

Remind me
Feb 13
Mar 23
May 15
Register now
Run repeatedly
Pavilion Of Humanity: First Contact
Edition #2

How would you represent the best that humanity has to offer through architecture?

Prize: MONETARY AWARD
Eligibility: OPEN TO ALL

registration deadlines

Remind me
Mar 27
May 25
Jul 24
Register now

Creativity gym Short term competitions for you to exercise your creativity

T-SHIRT DRAWING COMPETITION
The Architect's T-shirt
Edition #18

Design THE architect's t-shirt!

Prize: 3,000 €
Eligibility: open to all

registration deadlines

Remind me
Feb 28
Mar 31
Apr 30
Register now
ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO COMPETITION
THE BUILDNER'S ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO COMPETITION
Edition #3

Submit your online portfolio!

Prize: 5,000 €
Eligibility: open to all

registration deadlines

Remind me
Apr 30
May 31
Jun 30
Register now

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Competition results

Hong Kong 
Pixel Homes

Hong Kong Pixel Homes

Affordable Housing Series #2
MICROHOME

MICROHOME

Small living, huge impact! Edition #4

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