Architecture Competition Portugal Elderly Home Honorable mention winner – Tianyu Zhang, Huilian Tang and Zhiwei Liu

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to one of our Honorable mention winners for our "Portugal Elderly Home" competition – Tianyu Zhang, Huilian Tang and Zhiwei Liu from Germany!

Honorable mention from Germany

We are college mates during the master semesters and had thesis together, during which we formed good friendship and appreciation of each other. After thesis we thought, maybe we can do some design together.

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?

When we choose projects, we prefer something mid-size, which is not too big to control all the details and still retain its complexity. We are especially interested in this topic, elderly house, which we always want to dive a bit deep into for the fact that our parents ‘generation is getting old and there’s rarely some nice facility available. We care about our families, the old generation, and ourselves 30 years later.

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

For us, architecture is something personal. It is a way for us to perceive the world and at the same time our way of self-expression. Like art pieces for artists, novels for writers, we use architecture to express our views and ideals. We personally think architects are coordinators of the society. We help to build the living environment of everyone, and we want to help them live happier. For this reason, we should be modest, patient and knowledgeable, to fight for the benefits for more people.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

As mentioned before, we have a strong interest in exploring the field of architecture for elderly people, which is the main reason for our participation in this topic. Additionally, competitions provide a valuable platform for young architects to express their opinions, which may be perceived as naive but are worthy of being heard.

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

We would suggest everyone who struggles to decide to just do it without overthinking. No matter if you win or not, it’s the experience, which you spend time with your friends, brainstorming with them, encouraging each other and learning from the mistakes, that you will appreciate and benefit from.