We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the winners of one of our Honorable mentions for the “Pape Nature Park Gateway” competition - Antonio Filippo Camera, Pietro Canova and Martina Dal Pont from Italy!

Antonio Filippo Camera, Martina Dal Pont and Pietro Canova from Italy

We are three young designers based in Padua, all three with different training backgrounds who have crossed their paths during a post-graduate Master course and, after a few fruitful experiences, have decided to try our hand at the la Pape Nature Park Gateway competition.

Antonio Filippo Camera graduated with honours from the IUAV Architecture University of Venice; during his studies, he took part in numerous workshops with architects from all over the world. He then focused his attention on the themes of energetic/environmental sustainability and technological innovation. Now, he’s cooperating in the development of the Grand Théatre de Rabat designed by the starchitect Zaha Hadid, in Morocco.

Pietro Canova & Martina Dal Pont are two young Italian Padua University’s Engineering and Architecture Department graduates. In 2015, they won a scholarship which made it possible for them to attend their fifth year of studies at the Guangzhou University in Guangzhou, China which, the following year, granted them an additional six-month scholarship to develop their thesis project. During his university years, Pietro worked as intern with Aurelio Galfetti’s LVL architectural firm for five months, and with Martina have worked in Guangzhou as project managers at the Chinese-Italian owned architectural firm RBA for a year. Their work experience has lead them to become involved in different projects all over the world, as well as to take part in several international competitions. Ever since January 2018, they’ve undertaken the career path of freelance architects by working on numerous projects in Northern Italy, among which is the “Dementia Healing Garden” in Belluno, along with many interior design 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 company/ individuals have been involved?

During our varied work experience we’ve tackled projects of different varieties and scales in many different socio-cultural contexts. Above all, we’ve collaborated on projects located in different parts of the Globe, like China, Morocco, Switzerland, Monte Carlo and Italy, for manifold Italian and Chinese architectural firms, and as freelance architects we have developed several projects in Northern Italy.

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

The role of architecture is that of enriching people’s lives, providing answers to questions not yet voiced. It doesn’t have to have a pre-set language but must instead be a response to every single issue, and this without looking for universal solutions but rather ones attributable to tradition, because tradition itself is a challenge to innovation.

An architect must therefore merge their insights with the local, vernacular architecture’s stylistic features, thus creating a staunchly contextualized element, rather than a kind of architecture that is an end in itself.

Why do you participate in architecture vision competitions?

The international architecture vision competitions give us the chance to think outside the box without imposing a limit to our imagination, educating instead our minds to the kind of thought flexibility that is a paramout prerogative of an architect. This kind of competitions, in fact, allows us to explore faraway places by learning from the local culture, and supplementing it with our own. This kind of competitions are, each time, a challenge that warrants the possibility of interfacing with people from all over the world, learning their methods and sharing our own vision. In each of our projects, regardless of its scope, we have always tried to envision a project that is actually feasible.

In the 21st century sharing the knowledge, in a line of work where teamwork is the biggest asset, is essential.

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

Our advice would be to have a go at it, to seize the opportunity to design what is most fascinating and interesting for them, passionately developing their own ideas outside preconceived schemes, with a free mind, open to new experimentations.

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