Students from the Faculty of Architecture awarded in an international competition

Julia Giżewska and Jakub Jopek, third-year students of the Faculty of Architecture at the Silesian University of Technology, under the supervision of Jerzy Wojewódka PhD, Eng. Arch., have been awarded third prize in the prestigious international competition Re-Use Italy.

The Re-Use Italy competition addresses the issue of revitalising historical monuments in Italy. Its aim is to draw attention to historical buildings in the country and to provide them with a new function. The task of this year's project was to transform the ruins of the Italian church Chiesa Diruta into a concert hall.

- The Italian landscape is full of forgotten, historical buildings. Both residents and tourists are strongly attached to them. The competition questions the future and life of such spaces, promoting the perspective of granting them a new purpose, say the prize-winners.

Over 500 works from different parts of the world entered the third edition of the competition. The international jury selected 3 prizes and distinctions among them.

The competition was open to both students and professionals. This highlights the importance of the award granted to students of the Silesian University of Technology.

- We support the idea of reusing space and believe that it should be popularised more frequently. This is why we decided to participate in the competition. The issues related to renovation and adaptation of historical buildings are related to an interesting design process. It’s mainly due to the fact that during the process we need to become familiar with the history of a given place and, consequently, the local community, add the students of the Silesian University of Technology.

As the winners emphasise, working on the Chiesa Diruta - Risveglia (The Ruined Church - Reawakening) project was very inspiring and, most importantly, produced great results.

- We all believe that taking part in competitions is worthwhile because they give you an opportunity to grow and confront your own beliefs - this was also the case this time. Despite the fact that we worked together for the first time in such a team, the cooperation went well, and our often different views, led us to the winning concept appreciated by the jury - they emphasise.