Architecture Competition The Marker Design Challenge Student Award winner – Cristina Bao Ye and Ignacio Urbistondo Alonso

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the Student Award winners of our "The Marker Design Challenge" competition – Cristina Bao Ye and Ignacio Urbistondo Alonso from Spain!

Student Award winners from Spain

We’re master’s students who have freshly graduated from Barcelona Architecture school, preparing to apply for a PhD. Cristina spent an exchange year in Japan, and Ignacio spent the same year in Finland. This helped us gain a wider vision of architecture and international work experience. While Cristina is learning Energy and Technology in order to apply that to the architectural practice, Ignacio is focused on further developing his Architecture History and Theory dissertation.

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

Architecture is of paramount importance to society. The decisions that are made in the materialization of spaces that we share as a community, be it our flat, our block of flats, the street, the park, or the square that we frequent, must be thought through for all possible users. Our needs as people are diverse and different, and we must all feel included in the built space.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

We consider the format of architecture competitions to be a really good creative muscle workout. The time span is short, and the productivity is high, plus we get to work on unusual projects; it’s a win-win.

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

When working on architecture competitions, one should not focus on the ranking results, but only on the creative process. Competitions can be very fun since they can immerse you in a totally imaginary situation, it’s always a breath of fresh air.