Architecture Competition RE-Stock London Housing 2nd prize winners – SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTURE

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the 2nd prize winners of our “RE-Stock London Housing” competition – Melody Chu and Deedee Chung from the United States!

Melody Chu and Deedee Chung

Melody and Deedee are both from Hong Kong, they are currently pursuing their master’s degree at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in Los Angeles. They both hold a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL.

After graduation from her bachelor’s studies, Melody has worked at Crab Studio under Sir Peter Cook in London, as well as Morphosis Architects under Thom Mayne in New York, where she has worked on various small to large-scale projects, including educational, residential, stadium and master planning projects.

Deedee practiced at Leigh & Orange and VPANG Architects and worked at the Hong Kong-based architecture firm SKY YUTAKA during her placement year, where she handled projects from schematic design through to overseeing construction on a range of scales.

We are still on the journey of discovering our different potentials in the creative field, as well as growing as designers that have wide exposures to various architectural aesthetics and approaches, including advanced graphic representation, cinematography, physical model fabrication and so on.

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?

At the beginning of this project, we focused on studying various iconic affordable housing projects in London – their architectural approaches and their spatial arrangement – to better understand the various needs of the community. The Alexandra Road Estate is a project that we mainly studied because, besides its intriguing form, we also like the idea that it has provided extensive outdoor and communal space for the local residents, which we see is something that other existing affordable housings are lacking. We modified the design concept of a traditional terrace house in London and have then invited different spatial and formal qualities of the Alexandra Road Estate to our design, and eventually, we have proposed a design that is adaptable to accommodate different people and their needs.

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

We think that architecture is a combination of art and practice, and we think that architects share the role of foreseeing and creating an ideal future for our society.

Why do you participate in architecture vision competitions?

We are interested in experimenting with different architectural approaches and aestheticism throughout the design process of our projects, and we think we would grow as designers that have wider exposure in this creative field.

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

As an architectural designer, you build up your skills and visions through different academic and professional experience, and participating in architecture vision competitions is one of the ways that you can improve yourself and discover your hidden potentials.