Architecture competition "Sydney Affordable Housing Challenge" 2nd prize and Student award winners - SHANGHAI INSTITUTE OF VISUAL ARTS

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the winners of the 2nd prize and Student award of our “Sydney Affordable Housing Challenge” competition - Xu Jiatong, Gao Yinyuan and Shi Ying from China!

 Xu Jiatong, Gao Yinyuan and Shi Ying from China

We have been studying architecture at Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts since 2015.

We focused on the design of Eco-residential building. We hope to reduce the pressure on the urban environment caused by the most routine residential buildings. This pressure not only refers to the pressure of the ecological environment but also includes the pressure of human life. We are trying to repair the ecological environment impact in small-scale residential buildings. We also do larger-scale eco-neighborhood designs to repair urban relations. We are trying to improve the balance of society in many aspects through design.

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

In my opinion, architecture has a kind of "paradigm" concept. This "paradigm" is divided into two parts, one is the "paradigm" in the context of the user as the object, a paradigm based on "typology", and we can read the characteristics from the expression of the building ,"noble" or "poor", "public" or "private" can be intuitively recognized. The other "paradigm" is based on the operation of "architecture", we are constantly craving for innovation in the creation, and all kinds of innovation depend on the creation of the basic standard "paradigm". The standard "paradigm" is one of the most important foundations for the achievement and inheritance of architecture, in which Le Corbusier described in "Modular" how he could easily operate a complex "Unité d'Habitation" after getting the "Modular System". The "paradigm" also creates the possibility of flexibility and uniqueness. Therefore, architecture is a process of "paradigm" excavation, criticism and reorganization to me.

As an architect in China, we are always looking forward to innovation. This self-regulation of innovative comes not only from ourselves but also from the market. Architects have become a means of expressing desire, expressing their own demands as well as expressing the interests of developers, and to make every effort to meet the user's awareness. All of these desires are from people's most basic desire "selfishness", but it is this "selfishness" unceasingly promote the reform of design and the balance of social relations and to improve the world we live in.

Why do you participate in architecture vision competitions?

We sincerely hope that through the power of architecture, we can eliminate the imbalances and inequalities among the urban classes and find a dignified way of living for the low-income groups.

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 think that we should seriously understand the social value that the competition hopes to achieve, not just the cool way of design. We think that the composition of a concept or the primary responsibility of being an architect is how to use more respect for human emotion and ways to improve existing social problems, in a socially responsible attitude to face the design is the significant point.