Architecture Competition Virtual Home 1st prize winners – Roman Krajcarz, Marko Blazevic and Luka Jecic

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the 1st  prize winners of our "Virtual Home" competition – Roman Krajcarz, Marko Blazevic and Luka Jecic from Croatia!

1st prize winners from Croatia

Our team consists of three digital artist with an architectural background. In our daily activites, when we are producing architectural and design visualizations, we operate under the name Dotviz Studio. The studio was founded 4 years ago, in our hometown Zagreb. Whenever we are not producing images for work, we are three individuals whose hobbies and interests vary from indoor skydiving to music.

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?

So far we have participated in numerous architectural and urban planning competitions, in which our clients had won a good number of first and other prizes. Those were mostly local projects, apart from some interesting projects abroad, in which the clients also accomplished great results. We have worked on projects ranging from small shop interiors, family houses to public spaces and large scale urban planning projects. Prior to establishing the studio, we have worked in separate architectural firms. Today, however, we are solely focused on digital production, especially architectural visualizations.

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



The role of an architect is to uphold the values of a society through design of public space and building design. In recent times the role of an architect has been greatly reduced and these values, expressed through programme, aesthetics and political decisions, are made by other parties. Throughout our education as architects, we are taught to recognize and react to needs and aspirations of society, however in the real world, architects are confronted with many obstacles, as complicated as bureaucracy or as simple as gravity. This is why we decided to give our contribution to architecture in a different, virtual way.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

We find competitions compelling and challenging. They are a great opportunity to sharpen our workflow and organizational skills, while tackling new and interesting topics. Our line of work is still developing and is very dependent on current trends, which is why it is easy to lose focus. Competitions require us to think and work fast, while retaining a sense of art direction. They also bring a great amount of exposure to our work.

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

Competitions are rarely perfect. Often there are inconsistencies and unclear instructions in the competition brief, not to worry though - such situations often spark creativity and yield great results. Competitions are a great catalyst for developing your creativity, non-linear thinking and communication skills, especially if the topic at hand is new to you. Approaching a subject from a different angle often results in new and original projects, which in turn has a significant impact on personal and professional growth.