Architecture competition Pavilosta Poet Huts 3rd prize winners - Technische Universität Berlin

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the winners of the 3rd prize of our “Pavilosta Poet Huts ” competition - Katharina Kocol and Olga Bialczak from Germany!

Katharina Kocol and Olga Bialczak from Germany

We both come from Poland and met right at the beginning of our Bachelor’s Studies at Technical University Berlin.

Katharina is pursuing her Master's Thesis and working as a student assistant at the chair for sustainable planning and urban design CHORA Conscious City.

Olga graduated from Technical University Berlin with a Bachelor’s Degree and took part in an exchange programme with Tongji University in Shanghai. We also completed internships and gained professional experience working at architecture offices.

During our time at university, we were mainly challenged to work on bigger scale projects, including residential and mixed-use architecture. In comparison, in our professional work we were both involved in smaller scale realisations. We found this competition to be a good chance to exercise our creativity and skills to develop an idea in this scale from the very beginning.

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

For us, architecture is an everyday life companion. When we are at home, at work, visiting friends, spending our free time outside, we are interacting with architecture. We aim to design spaces, atmospheres and feelings. Sometimes, just a minor intervention is enough to affect social experience.

Why do you participate in architecture vision competitions?

We were longing to do a smaller scale project on our own, test our creativity and take advantage of knowledge gained in the past years. Taking part in this competition was a great opportunity for us to explore a new typology, context and approach.

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

We would say, if you feel like it might be a subject for you, don’t overthink it, just go with the flow. It is a new experience, a chance to exercise your creativity and a great possibility to enhance skills and enrich your portfolio.