The Legendary Highway 14 Tower Honorable mention winner -Juan Carlos Anton Garcia

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the Honorable mention winner of our The Legendary Highway 14 Tower competition – Juan Carlos Anton Garcia from Mexico!

Juan Carlos Anton Garcia

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.

For almost 7 years I retired from architecture and design with no clear specific intention but to search for a stronger theoretical ground to rediscover architecture in a more philosophical way, this competition has been a great challenge to reintroduce myself to the flow of the creative process. Previously I worked for 12 years after graduating from Universidad La Salle, working in my hometown Pachuca, a small city about an hour from Mexico City, working in both public and private projects but with a special interest in writing as a way to develop design principles and theoretical architecture, although feeling the most comfortable working alone from home most of my career, I hold the utmost value for collaborations, I've found them essential specially in social projects.

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've had the fortune of working in a wide range of public and private projects, designing individual social housing projects and participating in urban planning and always with a keen interest in designing furniture as part of the workflow, currently designing a permaculture community project in Tulum, Mexico.

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

I like to see architecture more in the light of philosophy, as a series of reflections that can teach us about the essence of our existence and how to improve it, in that sense Architecture becomes both a responsibility and an opportunity. A responsibility because when we create something that alters the landscape, we have a duty to protect it, to try as much as we can to conserve and improve its conditions, make it hard for nature to notice we are there and if it does indeed notice us, let it be because we contribute to it, even with more emphasis in urban settings. An opportunity because space has the potential to transform those who experience it, emotionally moving us and making us contemplate life in a more sensible and empathetic way, space, light and time still hold most of its secrets and I believe it's our task to unravel them to create architecture.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

It's a great exercise for ingenuity, promoting thinking differently, and providing a great way to express design philosophy.

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

The experience itself of participating in creating ideas at the same time with hundreds of other minds promotes a genuine perspective that leaves you with a greater knowledge of your design philosophy.