Architecture Competition RE-Stock London Housing Honorable mention – Michalina Dębska, Kaja Kirilenko, Jakub Biernacki and Weronika Dardzińska

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to one of our Honorable mention winners for our “RE-Stock London Housing” competition – Michalina Dębska, Kaja Kirilenko, Jakub Biernacki and Weronika Dardzińska from Poland!

Michalina Dębska, Kaja Kirilenko, Jakub Biernacki and Weronika Dardzińska from Poland

We are a group of students and graduates from the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, but primarily we are good friends. All of us are make our first baby steps in the professional architectural world. As every beginner, we spend most of our time in the studio developing unexciting technical documentation and learning about the profession, but we like to use our spare time to work on truly challenging concepts, like this contest. These last few months for all of us was a time we spent gaining knowledge by going on student exchanges, getting new jobs and going to new places, and all of that resulted in many discussions where we shared new thoughts, experiences, and ideas. That’s where our project was born and this academic discussion was something that we wished to keep for all the designing stages

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?

This is the first project we have done together as a team, so we treated it as an experiment. We share similar views on architecture, we tend to focus on the human scale and share interest in urban relations. All of our projects consist of well-developed functional schemes and sustainable thinking. As individuals, we had succeeded in some architectural contests, national and international workshops. The fact that our previous personal experience had diverse roots has given an interesting result based on different points of view.

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

We imagine nowadays architects must understand that we have done too much already and as designers we need to become the foremen of new ways of living, perhaps without so many comforts. In our process we focus on designing from the very grounds up. We strive to think through ruling systems and work on them. According to the school of prominent modern Polish designers, architecture stands as a cycle of various problems to be solved. Therefore, we believe in returning to the old and simple methods.

Why do you participate in architecture vision competitions?

Architecture vision competitions are an opportunity to start a discussion about theories and ideas that we have encountered lately and inspirations we use. There is always new knowledge to share. It’s a moment to learn, to explore and to grow as a designer. For us, being at the beginning of our careers and deciding on the directions we want to take, it’s a good way to learn about ourselves, our priorities, and to develop designing methods. It is also a good way to expand our portfolios. The time spent with the team bonds us together and can be really enjoyable. For us, our weekly calls and meetings were definitely 80% laughing and 20% working and learning. Although it was undeniably hard work, all of that turned it into an amazingly rewarding experience.

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

Architecture vision competitions are the appropriate moment to broaden your mind and try out conceptual thinking rather than strict theoretical design. At once, the portfolio becomes more attractive for employers or further architectural education. The advice is to be aware of your idea and always check if you are able to introduce it clearly in a few sentences. Don’t be afraid to present controversial proposals. Be brave and have fun.