Architecture Competition Portable Reading Rooms / Edition #2 Honorable mention winners – Julia Fraolini and Felix Steinbacher

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to one of our Honorable mention winner for our "Portable Reading Rooms / Edition #2" competition – Julia Fraolini and Felix Steinbacher from Austria!

Honorable mention winners from Austria

Julia Fraolini

I started my architecture studies in Montpellier (FR) at the ENSAM. After two years, I transferred to the University of Architecture of Innsbruck (AT), where students can study and learn architecture through various institutes and diverse approaches to architecture. I graduated in October 2021 with a master's degree from the University of Innsbruck at the Institute of Experimental Architecture under the supervision of Professor Kathrin Aste. During my studies, I did internships in Paris at the Computational Monkeys and AAn+1 (FR), and later, I returned to work for their joint agency, AREA. The work included research, architectural projects, and the curation of innovative architecture in Gallery AAn+1. After my master's degree, I gained further experience as a freelancer for two offices in Innsbruck (AT).

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? 

Lately I have been focusing on small-scale projects where I can explore the potential of architecture and how it affects the users through designing space, objects and events. I like to follow personal fascinations and apply them to architectural investigations mixing personal experiences, case studies, theoretical research, and analyses. My latest personal project was a 1/1 phygital installation, for which I reinterpreted Freud's study room, questioning the relationship between space and mental states.

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

Architecture is a great field to experiment and play around with how we use and inhabit space. Architecture has the potential to shape us; architects can influence the way society evolves by remaining open-minded, explorative, inventive and involved towards contemporary issues. By facing these bravely with innovation and sensibility, they can challenge the status quo.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

I participated in this architecture competition to stimulate my architectural thoughts, for fun and because I liked the competition's brief.

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

Architecture is an ever-learning field; each project you develop is a chance to bring new thoughts and refine ideas, concepts and knowledge. So you learn by doing projects and experimenting with them. To this end, architecture competitions can only be beneficial.