Architecture Competition Archhive Books' Portable Reading Rooms Honorable mention - Sixtine Bodard and Antoine Bouffard-Hanss

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the winners of the Honorable mention of our “Archhive Books' Portable Reading Rooms” competition - Sixtine Bodard and Antoine Bouffard-Hanss from France.

Sixtine Bodard and Antoine Bouffard-Hanss from France

We are two young architects who graduated in 2018 from the University Catholic de Louvain in Brussel, Belgium. We have been working in Paris for a year in an architecture agency.

We work in agencies located in Paris that practice architecture in a conventional way where the culture of the least profitable square meter reigns. However, during our years of study in Brussels, we focused on projects that included social, economic, ecological, energy and cultural issues. It is these issues, current and concerning society as a whole that we particularly like to work. Because architecture is not only a question of scale, profitability and program, but concerns a multitude of varied questions that all deserve to be deepened.

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

Today, in our ultra-connected societies, humans do not bother to pay attention to their environment. It is our duty to bring them back to reconnect with the world around them. Architecture is for us a way to achieve this essential reconnection. Architecture allows a new look at the world but also to dream, to escape, to explore various techniques and materials, to express oneself, to free oneself from diktats. For us, architecture must offer in this ever changing world, more passion, more attitude, more responsibility, more joy, more questions, more wonder, more thought... Architecture must be more in every sense of the word.

Why do you participate in architecture vision competitions?

We participate in competitions to confront our work, our vision and to propose answers that we hope to be relevant to current issues. In addition, participating in competitions allows us to express ourselves freely, without any judgement and with an experienced jury.

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

Never hesitate to embark on a competition and especially to give free rein to your imagination.