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Competition-winning film by Alison Killing, who runs Rotterdam-based Killing Architects, discusses the shifting role of the architect and the challenges for young practices

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By Cate St. Hill

Rotterdam-based Killing Architects has won a film competition on the future of architectural practice run by the New Generations network of young European architects.

Architects and designers under the age of 40 were asked to submit a short film documenting their take on the shifting role of the architect in both the construction industry and society as a whole.

They were asked to describe the concerns of a young office and detail how the profession might change within the next 20 years.

New Generations - Killing Architects from New Generations on Vimeo.

In the 5-minute interview, Alison Killing of Killing Architects, who is a regular contributor to Blueprint magazine, talks about how she believes it is difficult to pin down the role of the architect at the moment.

'I think that we're going through a bit of a shift. I think we're moving away from the image of the architect as a master builder, towards someone who is much more of a specialist in the built environment,' she says. Killing cites her own work as an example of this broader engagement with the built environment, which is split 50-50 between designing buildings and research, including exhibition design and films.

A gate between Dream City and the wider Roskilde Festival, built as part of the Roskilde 72 Hour Urban Action competition (second place). In collaboration with Cecilie Krawack, Theo Juhl, Zachi Raz-El, Niv Koren, Sara Fernández Almendáriz, Giorgio Badalacchi and Antonio Mularoni. Photographer: Niv Koren 2013

Killing goes on to explain that the biggest challenge to a young practice is not the economic crisis but shaping a body of ideas that's going to sustain that practice over the course of its lifetime. 'There's real value in spending a significant amount of time on research,' she concludes.