Architecture competition "SKYHIVE Skyscraper Challenge" Honorable mention - Università Iuav di Venezia

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the winner of one of our Honorable mentions for the “SKYHIVE Skyscraper Challenge” competition - Francesco Maria Fratini and Marco Padovani from Italy!

Francesco Maria Fratini and Marco Padovani from Italy

Altera was born in 2015 by the meeting, at the Faculty of Architecture of Venice (IUAV), of Francesco Maria Fratini and Marco Padovani. Their aim was to put into practice, outside the normal context of Universities (with competitions and little collaborations), what is usually discussed by the academics. Despite the different points of view in architecture, they share and cultivate an interest for the critique and the research. These elements allowed a comparison of theoretic architectural and composition courses, developing a methodology of project which focuses on the shape and the space, rather than the function and the structure.

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?

Outside of University they developed a book cover for an italian publishing company (2017), logo and identity of a Trento-based start-up, and logotype of a London app (2016). Their fields of interest vary between all the forms of art itself, always placing the project at the center of research.

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

We strongly believe in the active role of the art of architecture as part of society itself, despite the fact that this aspect has been trivialized in recent years by a technical-scientific society. The value of this vision becomes fundamental, when the dimensions to transform into tangible do not belong to the sphere of the real. The space of a project becomes the space of comparison, both material and ideas.

Why do you participate in architecture vision competitions?

To participate in a competition of ideas, it means to elude the function and the structure to favour a language closer to the architectonic dogma. With utopia as a connecting line, it allows us to develop a discourse which is not dependent on time, allowing us to discuss pure shapes and spaces.

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

Don’t think about. Just do it.