Architecture Competition Monte D'Oiro Wine Tasting Room Honorable mention – Barbara Mazza and Claudio Cortese

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to one of our Honorable mention winners for our “Monte D'Oiro Wine Tasting Room” competition – Barbara Mazza and Claudio Cortese from Belgium!

Barbara Mazza and Claudio Cortese from Belgium

We officially founded cortese/mazza at the beginning of the 2020, but we have shared our interests and ambitions for a long time – across Italy (where we were born), Switzerland (where we studied) and Belgium (where we are based right now).

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?

We are not firmly focused on a specific scale or typology. We are at the starting point of our careers and we are trying to get involved in as many projects as we can. We work from the design of a table to the one of a public building with the same enthusiasm.

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

We are always fascinated by the complexity of our profession. The different nuances which we discover daily through our work makes the architect a very polyhedric and versatile figure.

Why do you participate in architecture vision competitions?

In this kind of environment, there is much more freedom and creativity involved, and it is overall a good exercise. On the other hand, one could always decide to base the design on more pragmatic decisions, as we intended to do in the proposal submitted. This duality makes vision competitions unique.

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

It is a win-win situation. You can both explore and define your interests and skills on a deeper level and, in the best case scenarios, even get some recognition and prizes.