Architecture Competition Office 2021 Design Challenge 3rd prize winners – Julia Stopasolla Copat, Rafael Magno De Moraes, João Carlos Bernardino Júnior and Débora Mendes Nunes Jank

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the 3rd prize winners of our "Office 2021 Design Challenge" competition –Julia Stopasolla Copat, Rafael Magno De Moraes, João Carlos Bernardino Júnior and Débora Mendes Nunes Jank from Brazil!

3rd prize winners from Brazil

We are a group of four colleagues who studied Architecture and Urbanism at the same time at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, in Brazil. During college, in addition to studying architecture itself, we had in-depth studies on the socioeconomic aspects of the project and also a great front of urbanism. In the professional jobs, the group shared projects focused on commercial architecture and in other contests.

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?

In our work as architects, the members of the group had a diversity of experiences with different scales of architecture, from interior design to urban projects. Therefore, we always seek to bring to projects a lot of reflection on how to put this transition of scales into practice in a cohesive way, producing a project that has unity.

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

We believe that architects and urbanists have the role of designing spaces that understand the different realities and needs of the people who inhabit them, through technologies and constructive solutions that respect the legislation and the economic limits of each reality. In this sense, architecture is, for us, a tool for constructing cities that enhance and improve the human experience.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

Architecture competitions provide an experience outside your comfort zone, which makes you understand and improve your creative and technical ability to develop projects. In addition, it exercises creation processes and ways of communicating architecture that are beyond the professional routine.

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

Despite being a big task, it is important to step out of our comfort zone to challenge our ability to design. It is also an opportunity to see and understand realities that are different from ours from different angles, especially when working as a team.