Results of the Laka Competition ’16
Architecture that Reacts.

The International Panel of Judges

Qun Dang

(Architect, Principal Partner at MAD Architects)
Visiting professor in Pratt Institute and assistant professor in Iowa State University. Practitioner and executor of MAD design philosophy “Shanshui City” – a vision for the city of the future based in the spiritual and emotional needs of residents. Qun Dang is closely involved in each process of MAD’s series of projects, including Absolute Towers, Ordos Museum, China Wood Sculpture Museum, Fake Hills, Chaoyang Park Plaza, Nanjing Zendai Himalayas Centre, Harbin Cultural Island, and Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, etc.
http://www.i-mad.com/

Ana María Gutiérrez

(Architect, Co-founder of Fundación Organizmo, Ashoka Fellow)
Director of Bio Architecture and Alternative Technologies Dept. at Organizmo, Ashoka Fellow (www.ashoka.org). Through her foundation, Ana Maria teaches, investigates and improves construction techniques and alternative technologies that support traditional knowledge, are adapted to the territory and economically accessible. The foundation is equipping rural communities in Colombia to improve their own living conditions. Organizmo develops more than 30 workshops a year aiming to empower community leaders who can be multipliers of these techniques and technologies having an impact in rural areas.
http://www.organizmo.org/

Peter Kuczia

(IARP and BAK Architect, author of CO2 Saver House)
Educator and expert in ecological constructions with more than 20 years of experience. 2008 PhD dissertation on Solar Architecture in Germany. Author of “Educating Buildings – Learning Sustainability through Displayed Design”. He has been awarded international prizes e.g. 1st prize of Polish GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL for ZERO-ENERGY Research and Educational Complex Wroclaw University of Technology; National nomination – MIES VAN DER ROHE AWARD for European Architecture and many others. His work which covers a wide range of building types has been exhibited and published around the world.
http://www.kuczia.com

Julien De Smedt

(Architect, Founder of JDS Architects)
Prior to founding JDS Architects, Julien worked with OMA/Rem Koolhaas, Rotterdam and co-founded and directed with Bjarke Ingels the architecture firm PLOT in Copenhagen. He has given lectures and been exhibited in numerous locations around the world. His academic contributions include visiting professorships in Rice and Lexington University. Among other awards and recognitions, Julien received the Henning Larsen Prize in 2003 and an Eckersberg medal in 2005. JDS Architects released 2 monographs entitled PIXL to XL and Agenda which are distributed worldwide.
http://jdsa.eu/ 

Arturo Vittori

(Architect, Co-founder of Warka Water NGO, Director of Architecture and Vision)
He collaborated with Santiago Calatrava, Jean Nouvel and Francis Design on a variety of architectural projects and with Future Systems and Anish Kapoor on the subway station in Naples. Arturo worked on aircraft, yacht and ship design in Toulouse and London, including designs for the interior of the first Airbus A380. His projects have been exhibited internationally as in Centre Pompidou, Paris and are included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. Arturo teaches Industrial Design and Architecture at universities in Italy, Switzerland and the United States.
http://www.architectureandvision.com/
http://www.warkawater.org/

Nathalie de Vries

(Architect, Urban Planner, Co-founder of MVRDV)
Professor Nathalie de Vries Ir. FRIBA (Appingedam, The Netherlands, 1965), is an architect and urban planner, and one of the three founding directors of MVRDV. Nathalie has taught at many esteemed academic institutions, including Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, and currently holds a chair in architecture at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. In addition to her professional and academic work, Nathalie is the Chair of the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects (BNA).
http://www.mvrdv.nl/

Tobias Wallisser

(Architect, Co-Founder of LAVA Laboratory For Visionary Architecture)
Professor of Innovative Construction and Spatial Concepts and Vice-President at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart. Tobias worked on the award-winning Mercedes-Benz Museum, Germany whilst an associate at Un Studio. Together with Chris Bosse and Alexander Rieck he founded LAVA in 2007 as an international network using the latest research and technology to build efficient, sustainable and beautiful structures. Under construction now a university campus in Saudi Arabia, a new youth hostel in Germany, laboratories in the Middle East, plus high-rise towers in China. Previous work includes the renovation of a 1930s youth hostel in Germany; plans for the Michael Schumacher Tower; and the German government’s bid for the Green Climate Fund headquarters. Tobias lectures at universities throughout Europe and has won many awards.
http://www.l-a-v-a.net/