MICROHOME Kingspan edition 2024/25 Honorable mention winners - Bruno Ernani De Mendonca Campos, Silvio De Melo Todeschi and Marcelo Pinto Coelho Fontes

 We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the Honorable mention winners of our "MICROHOME Kingspan edition 2024/25" competition – Bruno Ernani De Mendonca Campos, Silvio De Melo Todeschi and Marcelo Pinto Coelho Fontes from Brazil!

Bruno Campos, Marcelo Fontes and Silvio Todeschi

Please tell us about your company (when it was founded, where it is based, how many employees, etc) Alternatively, if you do not have a company, please give us some insights on your own professional/academia background.

BCMF Arquitetos is an architecture office founded in 2001 by partners Bruno Campos, Marcelo Fontes, and Silvio Todeschi. 

Bruno Campos (born 1970) graduated in Architecture from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, in 1994, and earned a Master’s degree in Housing and Urbanism from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London in 1998. He has collaborated with various architecture firms in Brazil and in New York (Weiss/Manfredi Architects) before establishing BCMF Arquitetos in 2001. 

Marcelo Fontes (born 1971) graduated in Architecture from UFMG in 1995. He worked as a collaborator at the offices of José E. Ferolla and Carlos Alexandre Dumont. In 1997, he was a professor of Architectural Details at Izabela Hendrix College in Belo Horizonte, before joining BCMF Arquitetos in 2001. 

Silvio Todeschi (born 1968) graduated in Architecture from UFMG in 1992 and specialized in the architecture of metallic structures at Izabela Hendrix College in Belo Horizonte. He has designed numerous architectural and interior projects and also works in furniture and product design. He began collaborating with BCMF Arquitetos in 2005 and became a partner in 2009. 

Since then, they have been designing a vast array of projects, varying both in typology and scale, especially large-scale public projects. The practice’s work has been widely exhibited and published in Brazil and abroad.

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?

Among the main projects of the practice, the multi-purpose Deodoro Sports Complex (National Shooting, Equestrian, Field Hockey and Modern Pentathlon venues), built for the Rio de Janeiro 2007 Pan American Games and for the 2016 Olympic Games, has received high international recognition (Gold Medal at the 2010 IAKS Latin and Caribbean Awards and Special Prize at the IOC/IAKS 2011 Award in Cologne, Germany).

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

Architecture is the art and science of setting the stage of our lives. The best way to contribute to society, through our work as architects, should be by ensuring quality and thought-through projects, creating awareness about the issues in our built environment. If we do this effectively at any job, regardless of scale and budget, we have made a difference.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

We participate to explore pressing issues that interest us at the moment, or to work on typologies we rarely get the chance to design in our daily office routines.

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

Chose a topic that interests you and just do it! The worst thing that can happen is that you did learn something, collaborated with other people and now have something great on your portfolio.