The Architect's Chair #5 competition 2nd Prize winner- Marcus Hannibal Sigvardt

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the 2nd Prize winner of our The Architect's Chair #5 competition – Marcus Hannibal Sigvardt from United States!

Please tell us about your company (when it was founded, where it is based, how many employees, etc) Alternatively, if you do not have a company, please give us some insights on your own professional/academia background.

Bunn Studio was founded in New York in 2017, by danish two partners Louise and Marcus Hannibal Sigvardt and is a symbiosis between a fashion designer and an industrial designer. Both working in our respective fields, but always collaboration, that ended up merging our expertises into designs of products, that starts with a concept and a story, into exploration and sketches, all the way into final technical drawings ready for production. Or main focus is to imbue all types of products from furniture to tech to lifestyle products in generel, with a human touch and done so by using all types of references such as fashion, art, culture and philosophy. The studio is now based in San Francisco, and is a tight knit team, with few employees that shares all processes of the design process equally, and we are using a handfull of external experts to help us with production of prototypes of furniture and other products, production of larger elements, and if needed smaller scale such as graphics.

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?

The majority of the projects Bunn studio have been working on the past 10 years have been designing furniture for a wide range of furniture brands, from upholstered furniture, to wooden chairs, and aluminium outdoor furniture, and from time to time we have designed interior architecture, where the focus have been on building integrated furniture, kitchen and stairs. And even though we have a strong focus on the conceptual and strategic part of the design process, we have always be drawn into and enjoyed the furniture world, as it is something that has a universal touch point with people, and we keep finding new challenges in.

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

We believe that the role of architects and any creator for that matter, is and always has been to be the spear head for innovation that will improve buildings and objects, and the use of materials, to improve the lives of people. And furthermore in this day and age, is the importance of thinking about sustainability and how people are rapidly changing the way they live, and how this impacts the use of everyday objects and buildings. And we strongly believe that by designing iconic buildings and objects, in lasting materials and construction, makes people what to use them for generations.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

After working in the industry for many years and successfully designing for large international design companies, both in furniture design, fashion and industrial design, we felt that we wanted to challenge ourselves creatively, and not be bound by too many practical constraint, and have to design into a trend that fits in right now. And a competition is the perfect way to work on an idea, present it in a way that is understandable and have it shown to the world.

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

There is many reasons why we chose to enter an architecture competition. One is that it created an outlet for our creative work, and we felt lucky that we found a theme and brief that aligned with what we found interesting. But we also find that usually the brief allows for creating conceptual designs, that might not be fully ready for production, and more an idea that might spark a new concepts. And then there is the obvious reason: that the design would be shared with more people, than it usually would if it would be posted via social media.