Monsoon Architecture Workshop 2025 by Arkides Concludes in Bandung with Public Crit and Four Laureates

[Text provided by Arkides] Arkides has wrapped the inaugural Monsoon Architecture Workshop 2025 with a full-house public crit at Fragment Project, Dago, marking four days of studio-speed learning that brought together undergraduate architecture students from across Java. Drawn from an open call (6–22 August), 18 students were shortlisted and participated on-site, representing nine universities from West, Central, and East Java.

Conceived as a compressed charrette, a “studio outside the classroom,” Monsoon asked participants to move from concept to argument to architectural resolution at a pace. Over 27–29 August, the cohort worked through a time-constrained design challenge derived from a real site, mentored closely by Arkides’ principals and senior designers. Sessions mirrored rigorous studio crits: interrogating program, climate, construction logic, and detail while sharpening the ability to defend ideas through drawing and debate. The program was framed by short lectures on Arkides’ approach to contemporary tropical architecture, emphasizing site responsiveness, material clarity, and the ethics of building well.

On 30 August, the workshop opened its doors for Crit Day, where final proposals were presented before peers, practitioners, and a guest reviewer panel. Tan Tik Lam, Principal of TTL Architects, joined Arkides Principal Gania Nanggala to lead the review, offering clear-eyed feedback on structure, envelope, daylighting, and the narrative discipline required to move from intention to buildable proposition. The public session concluded with a panel, “Workshop Postmortem: Lessons in Transition,” featuring Tan Tik Lam, Gania Nanggala, and Rizki M. Supratman (Principal, ragam), moderated by Rofianisa Nurdin (Arkides Marcomm). The discussion reflected on transitions—from school to practice, schematic to detail, and optimism to responsibility—underscoring the workshop’s core argument: good architecture is a culture of attention.

Winners
1st Place — David Christian Saputro (Institut Teknologi Bandung)
2nd Place — Firdatunnisa Fairani Aqila (Universitas Brawijaya)
3rd Place — Yobel Ahimsa (Universitas Kristen Maranatha)
Honourable Mention — Grant Lois Marcus (Universitas Katolik Parahyangan)

Jury notes highlighted clear structural thinking, disciplined section work, and the ability to argue through detail—placing performance and constructability ahead of stylistic effects. For many participants, the most valuable outcome was not the final drawing, but rather the muscle memory of collaboration, the rhythm of desk crits, and the experience of presenting to unfamiliar reviewers—an everyday tempo of practice rarely condensed into school calendars.

By staging the charrette in a working studio setting and opening the final crit to the public, Arkides underscored a simple proposition to the wider academic–practice community: when rigor meets hospitality, students cross the threshold from drawing architecture to practicing it.

For press enquiries and future workshop information, please contact Arkides through IG: @arkidestudio.