MICROHOME Kingspan competition Honorable mention winners - Moritz Felix Maier and Ruonan Wang

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the Honorable mention winners of our "MICROHOME competition" – Moritz Felix Maier and Ruonan Wang from Germany!

Moritz Felix Maier and Ruonan Wang

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.

Both of us studied architecture in Singapore before we decided to move to Germany. Currently we work in architectural offices, our own company is still under development and we hope to use this competition as a starting point.

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?

Personally, we have worked on hospitality projects, affordable housing and architecture frameworks for communal participation. In our career, the majority of projects that we took part in have been from the education and healthcare sectors.

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

Architecture is the physical manifestation of everything in our society, intertwined with the social, economic, aesthetic and political trends at the moment of its creation. However, on top of being a reflection of its environment, architecture can have a positive impact, create a safe space, foster a community or simply make people happy in a comfortable environment through our work as architects.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

We participate in competitions to present our concepts on important topics within architectural discourse. Hopefully, through this, some of our ideas can be realized in the future. Additionally, it provides valuable exposure for our small office.

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

If you have a good idea for a project, a competition can be a great opportunity to test it out and present it to a large audience. Start simple and take one small step after another. Once your proposal becomes more tangible, the excitement for your concept will help you to get through the more difficult parts of completing a competition.