01-How would you introduce yourself / Team /Firm? (50-100 word)
SD: I am from China, graduated from Tulane University in the US. I care about how space can influence human behavior in different social contexts. A goal I would like to achieve is to create spaces that can convenience human activities.
JZ: I am from the US, graduated from Texas A&M University. I care about observing the current state of our surroundings and synthesize/optimize space. Always with a question of, how can we solve this issue? How do we create better situations for people? A goal I would like to achieve is raising the importance of addressing current issues with designed solutions.
We both have family upbringings from overpopulated countries (China and The Philippines), and housing is one of the common denominators of overpopulation. This competition has brought us together in contributing ideas to deal with socio-economical issues.
02-Give us brief information about your previous projects/ works/ research/achievements?
SD:
- Third place of the 2017 UIA-PHG International Student and Young Architect Competition
- Third place of the 2012 Architecture Design of Tianzuo Cup,
- Second place of 2011 College Students Innovative Training Project.
JZ:
- Honorable mention in 2017 Eleven Magazine Planetarium
- Honorable mention in 2018 Eleven Magazines Marstopia
- Top 50 Volume Zeros 2018 Marsception.
03-What advice would you give to individuals who struggle to decide whether it would be beneficial for them to participate in architecture vision competitions?
Just do it. It is a great way to see what the world is interested in, regardless if it is built/unbuilt. It is important to participate in these architectural vision competitions because as anything that is created, always starts from an idea. Before starting a competition, in order to be dedicated to the process, you have figure out your reason behind doing the competition in the first place. Only do the competitions that mean something to you, otherwise it would be very difficult to find the enthusiasm to do this work on a day-to-day basis.
For the people that have already started to work, an architecture competition is a perfect platform to remind you why you started architecture in the very beginning. When you start working, it is very easy to get carried away with real world situations. These competitions are a way to reaffirm your goals and values, which is an opportunity that isnt always present in the daily practice of architecture.
04-What were the challenges you faced while designing for such architectural space?
It is an incredible space crunch. Micro-housing is a typology that is in its near infancy. We had to find clever ways to reduce the amount of space humans use. For example, the many ways we can reduce a singular allocation of space for storage and integrating multi-use spaces. (Storage+Sleep as one object in a home, as one of many examples.)
Another portion that was a challenge was how to assemble the individual units into one building. Since we had to design with the intent of modularity, we spent a lot of time figuring out how to reduce the footprint of the building as well as integrating the use of sachets on the building envelope.
05-What was your thought process while designing for Micro Housing Architecture Competition?
The issues that the competition states are tied to our beliefs in architecture.
Another part is to Ask the necessary questions:
Why is this place, region, area, city facing this issue?
What other issues does this city face?
Are these issues tied in a certain way?
How do we solve these issues economically and socially? (meaning effectively with a feasible budget in mind)
Is there a way we can optimize current processes?
What can we learn from the current situation of that city?
What can we learn from other cities that have dealt with similar issues?
These questions were at the very core of our design process.
06- What attracted you to this competition?
It was the idea of designing a solution to overpopulated areas. Our families were from these countries that deal with overpopulation (China and The Philippines), so this project was tied to something from home.
After seeing and researching these overpopulated areas, it has given us a sense of urgency to design a solution for an issue that has social and economical ties (Overpopulation is tied to Plastic Pollution). This has been a great way to instill ideas into possibilities for cities out there with the issue of overpopulation.
07-Where does your interest in design come from?
Designing solutions for societal and environmental issues.
08- What design fundamentals do you believe in?
To design for the health, safety and welfare of the public.
Identify the problems to synthesize the concept and use that as a guide throughout every aspect of the process.
09-What were your references/ inspiration?
BIGsSocial Housing Projects, Penda, Book What is affordable housing? Published by Archhive Books, Projects that utilized recycled material facade design, Living Small (YouTube channel)
10-Which aspects of a design do you focus more while designing?
Problem solving takes priority, environment responsibility, and then aesthetic.
11-What according to you is the key to make your design a success?
Having a clear concept to begin with and follow through with that concept to the very final execution.
12-Which tools did you use for designing? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
Sketchup, Revit, Octane, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Google Earth.
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