Architecture Competition Timber Skyscraper Challenge Honorable mention winner - Academie van Bouwkunst Amsterdam

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to one of our Honorable mention winner for our "Timber Skyscraper Challenge" competition – Lucas Reymund from Netherlands!

Lucas Reymund from Netherlands

I am currently studying for a Master's degree at the Academie van Bouwkunst in Amsterdam after having completed a Bachelor's degree in spatial design and a year of applied arts. I consider myself to be in the process of building and discovering myself through learning architecture, but also a lot through research or side work such as competitions, researching form and materiality through personal projects. Using my environment and experiences as a source of development.

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 ?

I don't really have a favourite scale of work, the context of the project is the part that attracts me most. Trying to answer a problem with simplistic and precise solutions. I have a slight preference for projects on a human scale in order to respond to needs through an ethical and poetic approach.

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

Appropriately spoken, it is the art, science and technique of building; beyond that, it is a question of responding to the needs of a household, of a population through a philosophy that will be reflected in its users. From the hut to the skyscraper and the cultural centres, there is an imprint on the environment that is translated by a social and historical context that can be read through the materials, the forms and the reflection around the building in question. I think that today these are the different roles that we expect from an architect, to respond to simple and complex needs in a lucid and ethical way.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

Participating in the various competitions that are now on offer allows me as a student to work on different phases/subjects that I have not yet explored. Moreover, it is a way to challenge myself individually. It is almost a way to reinterpret contemporary architecture to one's own perception, to push the ordinary to the extraordinary due to a certain form of freedom.

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

Participating in competitions obviously helps to develop skills and, above all, to develop skills. Some fictional projects can be very complex and require a less conventional form of thinking. This leads to a totally different kind of retrospection which allows another approach to more concrete projects.