Architecture Competition SKYHIVE 2020 Skyscraper Challenge Green award winner - The University of British Columbia

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the Green award winners of our “SKYHIVE 2020 Skyscraper Challenge” competition - Yiguan Liu, Julie Yang, Willy Zhou and Grace Qian from Canada!

Yiguan Liu, Julie Yang, Willy Zhou and Grace Qian from Canada

We are a group of creative architecture students from the Environmental Design Program at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Two of us, Yiguan and Grace, just graduated; Yiguan is pursuing his master of architectural design at UCL Bartlett School of Architecture, while Grace is now an urban designer at a firm in Suzhou, China. Julie and Willy are in their last year of studies in the Environmental Design Program.

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 company/ individuals have been involved?

We've been involved in the studio project “House with a Friend” led by professor Travis Hanks, who is from MIT and teaches at UBC SALA. The house was designed as a journey of friendship, which established a bridge for the occupants to draw a collective attachment to a single house. We were challenged to meet our client’s (friend’s) needs while compromising our own preferences to ultimately achieve co-living.

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

Being international students from different parts of China who are studying architecture in Canada, we are fortunate to have the opportunity to experience two drastic types of architectural culture and urban environment. As architectural students, we are all especially passionate about bringing our valuable traditional culture to the new urbanism. We believe that architects should ask questions from multiple points of view and jump out of the box, always being curious and critical about the world to solve challenging problems creatively.

Why do you participate in architecture vision competitions?

Participating in an architecture vision competition provides us with the chance to collaborate with peer students. We are more motivated by working as a team instead of working alone. This type of competition also evaluates our knowledge and practical skills in the field of design and architecture and broadens our vision by competing with talented people around the world.

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

The architecture vision competition is a platform to freely express your thoughts and represent yourself as a designer. The competition itself should not be a stressful task but a way to engage with an intriguing topic and produce a set of drawings to be proud of.