Architecture Competition Yoga House On A Cliff 1st prize and Clients Favorite award winners – Emmanuele Bortone, Maddalena Nanni, Uberto Carignani, Vittorio Falaschi

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the 1st prize and Clients Favorite award winners of our “Yoga House On A Cliff” competition – Emmanuele Bortone, Maddalena Nanni, Uberto Carignani, Vittorio Falaschi from Italy! 
Emmanuele Bortone, Maddalena Nanni, Uberto Carignani, Vittorio Falaschi from Italy 

We are a group of architects, linked by a shared passion for design and all those themes that interact with architectural projects.
We met in Florence, the city where we studied, where we all originated from, and where we listened to our passions. 
After earning her bachelor’s degree, Maddalena decided to enter the world of architectural visualization. Vittorio moved to Turin to graduate from the Politecnico in Sustainable Architecture, while Emmanuele and Uberto continued their studies in Florence, graduating in Architectural Design. 
Thanks to our different educations, we manage to collaborate by combining various interests within the project, always trying to create proposals that enclose all of our contributions in a simple and unified synthesis.

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?

Projects that most represent us are small- and medium-scale, because they allow us to inspect the relationships between people, architecture, and its context. 
This dimension allows us to experience the potential of space, combined with the expressiveness of materials and the elegance of details.

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

Architecture presents itself every time a man has an interaction with the built environment in which he finds himself. This is why it should aim to create quality spaces through the right balance of light, geometries, and materials. The role of the architect is to be able to act as a director between the necessities and needs that arise in the realities of different social fabrics. It is an arduous task, and the achievement of such an objective occurs only with first the knowledge of the profession, and then constant and varied practice.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

The main reason we choose to participate in competitions comes from the need of expression and artistic freedom that is often limited in everyday work. The possibility to choose among a huge variety of subject matters, places and cultures stimulates our own creativity, and at the same time allows us to explore and experiment with new tools and architectural concepts. 
Competitions provide a pleasant chance for discussion, thanks to the projects of other participants, as well as within the working group – they create debates and reflections that are fundamental for the growth of our professional and personal background. 
For us, the possibility to fully interpret the project from a communicative point of view is also very important. In the images, we can make room for storytelling, break the patterns of styles, and research more or less academic compositional languages.

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

From a formative (or professional) point of view, competitions are an exceptional chance to learn and give your own contribution. 
They offer the opportunity to be recognized by other professionals and potential future clients, as well as enrich one's own portfolio. 
Regardless of the outcome, we recommend participating in the competitions in order to give yourself space to create and get involved with a variety of themes.