Trimo Urban Crash 201 – 4th Biennial Competition for Students of Architecture and Design

Janez Koželj, Vice Mayor of Ljubljana and Professor at Faculty of Architecture, Ljubljana, Slovenia:
Ë?Modular space architecture needs space for free and responsible creativity. In our country, we have to open and widen this space, because at the moment it is simply too narrow.Ë?

Jure Kotnik, Architect and winner of Plečnik Medal for Container Architecture, Slovenia:
Ë?Container architecture is one of the youngest branches of architecture. In recent years it gained widespread media coverage, making it interesting to both architects and clients. This being one of many reasons why container projects are on the rise, making container-based architecture less of an attraction per se but more and more a legitimate area of architecture.Ë? (Excerpt from Kraut Magazin 2011)

Angela van der Kloof, Mobility Consultant, the Netherlands:
Ë?Cycling is an energy efficient, clean and healthy mode of transport. Especially on short distances it is a suitable way to get around for almost all people. It does not take too much space to ride or park them in our busy cities and towns. Apart from the ‘normal’ bicycle, there are also more and more ‘special’ bicycles. Like bicycles with electrical assistance, cargo bicycles, bakfietsen and velomobiles. The coming years they will become more popular as they do not depend on oil, are clean and need less space compared to cars. The more popular they get, the more affordable for many people.Ë?

Prof. Michael Stacey RIBA FRSA, University of Nottingham, UK:
Ë?The Twenty-First Century has the potential to become the age of resourcefulness and responsibility. It is now possible to design and construction affordable zero carbon architecture. Combining design quality, building physics and technology to produce architecture that provides comfort and well being for the occupants, with the minimum of impact on the environment and at almost no running costs. We should be using materials wisely delivering more with less. Producing architecture that is energy positive, either in its lifetime or when the embodied energy of the building fabric is recovered by recycling. The humble bicycle transforms human energy into forward motion almost effortless – humankind is capable of the production architecture of equal merit that serves urban life and human ecology well.Ë?

Wojtek Nowak, Winner (with Martynika Bielawska) of Trimo Urban Crash 2011, Poland:
Ë?Trimo Urban Crash is a great opportunity to challenge yourself with the project that actually is going to be build. Opportunity to design with true site, true materials and real people. This experience is for sure valuable in the beginning of young designer’s career. The winning team will get even more of it, looking behind the scenes of project construction. Go for it.Ë?

Ron Fitch, Designer, Trimo UK, UK:
Ë?The humble container must be one of the world’s most recognized objects. The vast quantity of containers one sees throughout the world means they provide an ideal low-cost starting point which, with an innovative design, can be used for an enormous amount of diverse applications.Ë?

Maja Lapajne, Marketing Director, TRIMO Group, Slovenia:
Ë?Freedom of mind and movement, creative power of young people, endless possibilities of modular architecture has crashed together into Trimo Urban Crash 2013. I can’t wait to see all exciting ideas from all over the world.Ë?

Mitja Vovko, Architect at TRIMO Group, Slovenia:
Ë?The modularity is probably as old as building itself. As example one might cite the almost 10.000 year history of bricks and bricklaying of nomadic tribes. In the middle ages, timber framed buildings were modulated on special sites outside cities. The structures were then transported to site and reassembled. It is certain logic to that in today’s time too. There might not be beauty involved but for sure there is sturdily, functionality, quality and creativity. Today we are trying to look even further. The question is how to address issues like coziness, self-sufficiency and transformability.Ë?