Architecture competition "The Big Tiny Coffee House Challenge" 2nd prize winners - OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the winners of the 2nd prize of our “The Big Tiny Coffee House Challenge” competition - Ali Parva and Reza Khosravi from United States!

Ali Parva and Reza Khosravi from United States

Ali Parva: My official architecture studies began when I got admitted to the Bachelor of architecture program of Shiraz University; Then, I got my Master’s degree in Architectural Engineering at Shahid Beheshti University. During my studies I worked with professional design companies and I started teaching Interior Design. Now I am a civil structural design Ph.D. student in the US where I am also teaching a material testing laboratory while continuing my design work as an architect.

Reza Khosravi: Born in Shiraz (Iran) in 1989. I studied for a Bachelor’s in Architecture in Azad University of Iran and Master’s in architecture in the Azad University of Shiraz. I worked at Afraz Setavand Architecture Company as an architect from 2007 to 2013, specializing in classic interior architectural design from 2013 to 2017 and I worked at the Iranian school Renovation Organization from 2017 to 2018.

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?

Working with 3 different design companies in 2 countries gives us a chance to get involved in a variety of projects from small-scale to large-scale, housing, commercial, religious, cultural, school, community halls and educational. Each project has its own story to tell and brings us new aspects of architecture.

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

Architecture is more than material, space, details or construction; architecture is giving life to a framework. Any design is informed by specific information that comes from climate, building code, cultural or social behavior. A designers’ task is to search carefully in the gathered information and to try to answer the design question in the best way possible, to create a new building and to give life to it.

We strongly believe that the cultural context is the main pillar of the information needed to be studied in each project. Culture decides whether to accept or deny a proposed architecture project.

Why do you participate in architecture vision competitions?

For us taking part in architecture vision competitions is a great chance to evaluate ourselves in critical thinking and challenge ourselves with a unique architecture topic in our professional field. Moreover, architecture vision competitions give us the possibility to think freely and tell our story through our design.

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

Architectural competitions are very helpful to keep in touch with the latest architecture knowledge. Competitions provide a perfect place to go beyond your limits, improve your imagination power and find your weaknesses. It is an incredible opportunity for architects to challenge themselves with a unique project while learning tons of new aspects of a project.