Norman Foster Foundation Kharkiv Housing Challenge competition participant - Christopher Andrew Williamson

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the participant of our "Norman Foster Foundation Kharkiv Housing Challenge" competition – Christopher Andrew Williamson from United Kingdom!

Christopher Andrew Williamson

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.

I co-founded Weston Williamson in 1985 when Andrew and I met at Leicester School of Architecture. We both won architectural competitions as students. Andrew has since retired but I wanted to enter this particular competition as I have a huge admiration for the Norman Foster Foundation and wanted to contribute ideas to rebuild Ukraine . I have assembled a small team of enthusiastic and talented students and young architects including Anastasia from Kiev now a refugee in North London. We have been working with world experts in pretensioned stone technology to devise a system to rebuild the housing and the infrastructure of Ukraine in a sustainable way whilst also repairing the country’s economy. I recently received an Honorary Doctorate from The University of East London and mention this competition in my acceptance speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vChLt0jS5k

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?

I have had an amazing career in architecture at https://wwparchitects.com/people/chris-williamson/ mainly specialising in city shaping urban transport projects in many cities around the world. Recently I bought a derelict church in my home town in the East Midlands https://ilkonarts.com/ to satisfy a more artistic side of my interests. This Kharkiv Housing Challenge competition represents for me the sort of projects architects need to be involved in and it has been a joy to work on.

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

I have recently been elected as President of the RIBA and my manifesto is available at https://www.chriswilliamsonriba.com/presidential-statement. I love the profession and believe Architecture has the capacity to improve lives, health and wellbeing and help solve the climate emergency to build a better world.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

I know many architects are unenthusiastic about competitions because they think they are encouraged to give away ideas cheaply. I have never seen it that way and think that properly run architectural competitions can be a great way of proposing solutions for projects that you might not otherwise have a chance to work on. I agree some competitions are too demanding in time and resources - the emphasis should be on finding a team to work with. I have been a judge on maybe 20 competitions and appreciate how much effort goes into them but it is usually the best ideas not the amount of work which captivates the judges.

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

Don’t think that you are giving away unique ideas. There aren’t many. There are great ideas appropriate to particular circumstances. As always you need to be in the right place at the right time. Architectural competitions are a great way of testing out ideas. I have always enjoyed competitions. The adrenaline rush of uploading ideas before a fixed deadline and being 100% certain in the quality of the ideas. Don’t be afraid of losing. Losing is not trying. Concentrate on the idea and present it simply. I mentioned the Competition recently when I accepted my Honourary Doctorate at University of East London https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vChLt0jS5k