Architecture Competition Milan Navigli Canal Challenge Honorable mention – Matteo Fraticelli and Martin Lee

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to one of our Honorable mention winner for our "Milan Navigli Canal Challenge" competition – Matteo Fraticelli and Martin Lee from United States!

Honorable mention winners from United States

We are a group of architects and designers with wide-ranging experiences on international projects. The founding partners have collaborated on projects including residential, commercial fit-outs and tall buildings in New York City and abroad for over 15 years.

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?

F R O M has worked on various design typologies and scales, including residential and commercial projects located in both the United States and Europe. Our design approach starts with a thorough investigation of the given project’s site and surrounding historical context, influencing a thoughtful selection of materials, and building techniques. This culminates in a well-balanced combination of unique forms, details, and materials. In doing so, our goal consistently remains to apply this method in such a way that is thoughtful to both architecture as a cultural medium, and the surrounding context in which it is located.

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

We consider architecture as a discipline capable of combining various fields of technical expertise with thoughtful, artistic forms – with the end goal to create a more stimulating built environment. Architecture’s inevitable junction at various social and public realms gives itself a broad, yet distinct responsibility to society. By studying and analyzing historical precedents, while also having an acute understanding of current construction techniques and materials, we believe it is possible to create new environments that better serve society for the future while also being harmoniously existent in the present.

Through such actions, an architect needs to be sensible in interpreting and listening to their contexts and users’ needs. They must create design solutions that simultaneously optimize both the given program and occupants’ experience, while efficiently using project resources. Thus, creating a subtly distinct form of architecture that tailors to both the surrounding contexts and its users through both form and function.

Why do we participate in architecture competitions?

We participate in architecture competitions as they provide a positive environment to further develop architectural research while stimulating creativity to produce experimental, yet adequate design solutions.

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

The advice to competition participants Challenge the obvious, be creative and push the boundaries…and in the end, have fun with it!