The Winners!
NOTION OF SPACE 2022
First Prize Winners
Dingbang Qi
Dingbang Qi, Undergraduate student at Beijing University of civil engineering and architecture ( BUCEA ), majoring in Building Materials.
Third Prize and the Best Exhibition Board Award winners of 2021 "Taijai Cup" the 6th National Civil Engineering Materials Creative Works Competition in December 2021, working as designer and team leader.
The First Prize winner of Notion of Space 2022.
Dingbang Qi
Dingbang Qi
What is your design philosophy?
Actually, I’m still trying some new design styles, methods, even software, exploring my own path in this field. My design philosophy is reasonable. Whatever the reason is and whatever the method people use, the most important thing is that the design has a strong logical support.
Can you briefly explain your understanding of the topic and the source of ideas?
The competition is about paradoxical architecture, and the intention of the competition is to add excitement to everyday mundane life in an architectural way.
The meaning of paradox in the dictionary is “one (such as a person, situation, or action) having seemingly contradictory qualities or phases.” I think these contradictions will create some tensions between these qualities. These kinds of tensions are the reason why paradocial things are so beautiful. The tension creating tricks is very common in the music field, such as the bass line is a series of stable root notes while the guitar is playing some kind of nervous unstable chords. And this beautiful result matches with the competition’s goal.
So I finally chose Damascus steel as the prototype of my design. This is because firstly, Damascus steel always gets involved in two or three different types of materials, entwining them together, which means it has two or three different kinds of material languages. However, these different types of materials can coexist in the Damascus steel as an entirety successfully. This is a kind of mathematical paradox that makes seven equal to one.
Secondly, the special patterns created by the Damascus forging process create the feeling of liquid, which brings people the visual feeling of fluid. But Damascus is a solid metal piece. So, this special nature of Damascus steel makes people have a paradoxical feeling.
When and how you were first introduced to architecture?
I was introduced to architecture when I was about 17 years old. I was searching for my path at that time and I just watched a bunch of Yixi lectures on the internet. A professor talked about his project that is helping people who lived in the southwest part of China rebuild their village ruined by a severe flood in an architectural way. This project impressed me most.
What does architecture mean to you?
Architecture is a way to make connections. A lot of events happened in these buildings. These buildings become the background of our memories, our feelings are always related to the space where important events happen. These kinds of connections with people are very moving.
Second Prize Winners
Dmitry Kuznetsov, Ilya Alnykin & Timothey Smelov
Dmitry Kuznetsov
Ilya Alnykin
Timothey Smelov
Dmitry Kuznetsov
Third Prize Winners
Daniel Abraham & Hana Cicevic
Hana Čičević is an architectural designer currently living and working in New York city. She graduated in 2022 with the Master of Architecture degree from the University of Florida where she also did her undergraduate studies. In her final year, Hana focused on topics of post-war reconstruction and how architects can re-shape the ways in which the communities inhabit damaged spaces, about which she wrote a master research project. She is currently working on the projects based in New York City in affordable housing and education and is developing interest in sustainability.
Daniel Abraham Gandica is a project specialist based in the city of Orlando, Florida. Originally from Maracaibo, Venezuela, he graduated in 2022 with a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Florida, after completing his bachelor’s degree in architecture at the University of Central Florida. In his last year, Daniel turned an eye back home and focused on vernacular indigenous architecture, the way in which communities can adapt and overcome to the challenges posed by sea level-rise, and the possibilities of a hydro-generated urbanism. He currently works in the sector of data centers’ architecture. Some of his interests include medieval history and architecture, and mapping.
Hana Čičević and Daniel Abraham Gandica
Hana Čičević and Daniel Abraham Gandica
What is your design philosophy?
Hana: Our design philosophy is based on the idea that architecture can become a critical tool to address some of today’s and tomorrow’s issues, especially those regarding human interaction with their built and natural environment. We believe that good design ideas can influence our surroundings and make positive changes in our environment and community.
Can you briefly explain your understanding of the topic and the source of ideas?
Daniel: For as long as we have known each other, the passion for the game of chess has been something that we share and enjoy. The fact that there is a place in the bustling and accelerated city of New York where people take long pauses to ponder strategies and movements resonated a lot with us, which is one of the reasons that we selected Union Square as our site. To increase the scale of the chessboard and place ourselves in it, with both the chess pieces and squares as habitable and interactive entities was a fun exercise for us, since we, as players, usually see it only from a top view perspective.
Hana: The original concept of our project is tied to a novela called “The Chess Story” by Stefan Zweig which talks about the paradox of chess, where you cannot easily play this game against yourself as that would be like trying to jump over your own shadow. Our project is taking this concept of a paradoxical chess game to a tri-dimensional world, where a chess game becomes a spatial experience in which a person interacts with our installation by experiencing its spaces.
When and how you were first introduced to architecture?
Daniel: I was first introduced to architecture at a very young age in the shape of educational magazines and models distributed in his native Venezuela, which quickly captured his interest and imagination. Said interest was nurtured by his parents, who encouraged reading, traveling and pursuing architecture as a major. Said major would be pursued abroad, where he would be introduced to many different approaches and points of view regarding architecture.
Hana: I was first formally introduced to architecture when I enrolled at the University of Florida as a freshman student and started taking architectural design courses. As most other students, in these classes I was able to develop the skills not only in architecture, but also in analytical thinking, theory, model making, conceptual design. The first design classes I took were very abstract, but they have shaped how I think about architecture and spaces to this day as they created a base of my knowledge in architecture.
What does architecture mean to you?
Daniel: For us, Architecture is the pinnacle of human imagination, it is ideas, sometimes very abstract, materializing into livable, usable space. It is a field that allows you to rationalize and develop a physical, sometimes monumental, imprint of your beliefs, philosophies, dreams, fears, and hopes. It is humanity coming together to solve everyday problems, through the product of our hands, minds, and tools. It is an opportunity to tell the world that we were here, and that we dreamt, and lived.
Special mention
Honorable mention
Ayushi Mistry, Sakshi Chheda & Betina Valentine
Georgie Vaidyan, Hanna Geon & Elizabeth Teresa Antony
Wanning Li, Zhiyang Wang & Jiahe Jin
Ayushi Mistry
Sakshi Chheda
Betina Valentine
Ayushi Mistry
Ayushi Mistry, Sakshi Chheda & Betina Valentine
Elizabeth Antony, Anna Geon & Georgie Vaidyan
Elizabeth Antony, Anna Geon & Georgie Vaidyan
Georgie Vaidyan, Hanna Geon & Elizabeth Teresa Antony
Wanning Li, Zhiyang Wang & Jiahe Jin
