Results of the Laka Competition ’17
Architecture that Reacts.

The International Panel of Judges

Alexander Rieck

(Architect, Researcher, Co-Founder of LAVA Laboratory For Visionary Architecture)
Senior researcher at the renowned Fraunhofer Institute in Stuttgart. He studied architecture in Stuttgart and Phoenix. He started his research career in the virtual reality environment. Together with Chris Bosse and Tobias Wallisser he founded LAVA in 2007 as an international network using the latest research and technology to build efficient, sustainable and beautiful structures. Having led many “Office 21®” research projects, he is a renowned expert on innovations in the fields of office, hotel, living and future construction, and an author of many publications about working environments and building processes of the future.
http://www.l-a-v-a.net/

Carlo Ratti

(Architect, Engineer, Founding Partner of Carlo Ratti Associati, Director of the Senseable City Lab)
Director of the Senseable City Lab at MIT, founding partner of the international office Carlo Ratti Associati. He graduated from the Politecnico di Torino and the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris, later earning his MPhil and PhD at the University of Cambridge, UK. In the last decade, Carlo has given talks around the world on the theme of Smart Cities. Two of his projects – the Digital Water Pavilion and the Copenhagen Wheel – were hailed by Time Magazine as ‘Best Inventions of the Year’. He has been included in Blueprint Magazine’s ‘25 People who will Change the World of Design’ and in Wired Magazine’s ‘Smart List: 50 people who will change the world’.
http://www.carloratti.com

Melanie Fessel

(Architect, Urban designer, Director at Terreform ONE, Initiator of ONE Odyssey)
Melanie is a director at Terreform ONE and an initiator of ONE (Open Network Ecology) Odyssey – an interdisciplinary research enterprise based on philanthropic design principles, to integrate ecological issues into the urban environment. Her process focuses on the synergy of design, urban studies, and ecological science. She received her post-professional degree Master of Architecture II from The Cooper Union. Prior to the Cooper Union, Melanie earned her Diploma in Architecture and Engineering from the Berlin University of Technology, Germany after attending the Escuela Superior de Architectura, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain.
http://www.terreform.org  | http://www.oneodyssey.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

Thom Faulders

(Architect, Founder of FAULDERS STUDIO, Professor of Architecture at California College of the Arts)
Founder of FAULDERS STUDIO. He works at the intersection of commissioned architecture, speculative design research, permanent public art installations, and international museum and gallery exhibitions. His participation in leading international museum and gallery venues includes the FRAC Centre Orleans in France, Oslo Triennale, SOMarts Cultural Center San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, New York Museum of Modern Art and many others. Thom is licensed to practice architecture in California. He has taught at UC Berkeley and KTH in Stockholm, and is currently Professor of Architecture at CCA.
https://www.cca.edu/academics/faculty/tfaulders | http://www.faulders-studio.com/

Vincent Callebaut

(Archibiotect, Designer, Lecturer, Founder of Vincent Callebaut Architectures)
Vincent is an ecological architect focused on ecodistricts, which take into account a variety of aspects of sustainability, eg. renewable energies, biodiversity, urban agriculture. He is one of the most important leaders in green architecture and low carbon emission living. He graduated from the Institute Victor Horta with his Parisian project of the Metamuseum of Arts and Civilisationsª Quay Branly. A laureate of the Grand Architecture Prize Napoléon Godecharle of the Fine Arts Academy in Brussels awarding the best hope of Belgian architecture. In 2013, Vincent has been featured on the list of the Top 50 Sustainable Architecture Award Members of the Green Planet Architects.
http://vincent.callebaut.org/