Norman Foster Foundation Kharkiv Housing Challenge competition Honorable mention winner - Philippe Nathan

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the Honorable mention winner of our "Norman Foster Foundation Kharkiv Housing Challenge" competition – Philippe Nathan from Luxembourg!

 
Philippe Nathan with Team

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.

2001 is an architecture company. Founded in 2010 by Philippe Nathan and led since 2014 in association with Sergio Carvalho, the office of a dozen architects is based in EschAlzette, south Luxembourg.

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?

The abstraction of -2001-symbolizes our ambitions to operate discreetly yet determinedly and strategically in the environment practiced by society. This environment defines our fields of interests, activities and scales: Territories, buildings, spaces and ideas.

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

2001 aims at a double production: both physical and built as much as intellectual and cultural.
2001 thinks and produces an architecture reduced to the essential, responding in a rational and coherent way to the urgencies and needs of contemporary society.
2001 aims at contributing to the creation of a qualitative and sustainable living environment: through its spaces, uses and materials.
2001 is convinced that architecture can and must have a beneficial impact on man, both for his built and cultural environment.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

We believe in cultural debate and discussion. To be able to compare positions, attitudes, and possibilities, ideas need to be put on the table and evaluated. Architecture can stimulate societal perspectives and foster a vision of where we want to go as a civilization. Thus, we participate in selected competitions out of interest in the core question and the desire to contribute with specific perspectives to this discussion.

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

Architecture as a discipline is being marginalized, and the work can at times resemble a new form of proletarianization. Competitions should be chosen wisely to avoid exploitation, as work deserves both credit and compensation. Sometimes, however, participation in an open competition may also be a donation or contribution to a larger cause. This was our position for Kharkiv.