Architecture students María Paula Fagioli, Sofía Ferrés, and María del Pilar Maronna—the TRINCA team—took third place in the international BAM! competition organized by ArchMedium, the Catalan platform for student architecture competitions. Additionally, the SEVEN team—comprising Belén Palacio, Rocío Nicola, and Milagros Uriarte—received an honorable mention for their project.
The competition aimed to design a museum dedicated to showcasing the architectural and urban heritage of the German capital. The venue was intended to promote culture, share and generate knowledge, and enhance the city’s architectural quality.
Project 7 is one of the courses that fourth-year architecture students at ORT must take. The course consists of three assignments, and for the final one, the instructors set the task of designing a civic, cultural, and sports center in Montevideo. As an alternative, it was proposed to create a project for the BAM! competition, which involved designing a museum in Berlin dedicated to promoting the city’s architectural culture in a 15,000-square-meter space.
So, based on the projects developed for the course, the TRINCA and SEVEN teams entered the competition and won third place and an honorable mention, respectively.
According to Javier Olascoaga, a professor at Proyecto 7, TRINCA’s proposal stood out for its groundbreaking nature, as they conceived the museum in a highly original and timely way. “They presented a proposal based on communication, technology, and the power of imagery far more than on the traditional museum,” the architect explained.
SEVEN, meanwhile, managed to avoid any conflict with Berlin’s New National Gallery—a factor the jury considered crucial—by working with the ground and topography, as the design called for a building that slopes downward from the ground floor.
“Our aim is for students to take a given problem and propose an architectural program that contributes to the site and the people who will use it,” said Olascoaga regarding the instructors’ intentions for the course’s objectives. “Communicating ideas is also very important. They have to be able to communicate them effectively so that they are approved or selected,” he added.
According to the professor, while ARCHmedium’s competitions are not real-world scenarios, it is an internationally recognized digital platform in the world of architecture that promotes architectural discourse, particularly among students and young architects.
“It’s a great source of satisfaction and reaffirms that the education at ORT’s School of Architecture is of a high standard. The goal is to convince students that if they have confidence in their ideas, they can achieve significant goals,” Olascoaga concluded.
The jury was composed of renowned Spanish firms with an international reputation, including Battle i Roig Arquitectura, Studio Animal, Jaume Prat Ortells, Cierto Estudio, and Vivas Arquitectos. In its report, the jury highlighted the versatility, the incorporation of technology, and the democratization of museum content that the students achieved in their proposal.
The students tied for third place with the Italian team led by Emmanuele Bortone from the Università di Architettura di Firenze. First prize was awarded to the French team CCX from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Paris La Villette, and second prize to Atelier Majo from the Aarhus School of Architecture in Denmark.
“It manages to avoid competing with the Mies van der Rohe building and adds value through its presence, creating a space of great interest to the city. It is a dynamic building that successfully integrates technology and where there is always something happening. It is a versatile design that uses screens to make its museum content accessible to everyone.”
Article published by Montevideo Portal: ORT architecture students won bronze in an international competition.