The Knowlton School of Architecture is pleased to announce the winners of the Dean’s Design Competition hosted at the School on May 10-11, 2012. Twenty-one student teams entered the competition, out of which one winning team ($500 prize), two honorable mention ($250 prizes), and one special commendation teams were selected:

First Prize:

Tatiana Parfenova (MLA), Brett Kordenbrock (MLA) and Annie Bergelin's (MLA) untitled entry – cogently argued and evocatively rendered - was the unanimous choice of the jurors

Honorable Mention:

Peter Salamon (BSLA), Lauren Norton (BSLA), and Tommy Yokum (BSLA) for their regenerative "Gallery of Scholars"

Tom Ludwig (MLA) for his post-primeval "Urban Forest"

Special commendation to Matt Quijada (BSARCH) and Dyani Robarge (BSARCH) for their ironic entry "Under Construction"

The site presented to teams was a concept for an extension of Neil Avenue between Woodruff and 19th Avenue, including adjacent buildings and public spaces, and within this site, façades, plantings, and paving. The challenge was to reimagine this space, an area of great potential: Vistas to key campus buildings – the library, the stadium, and the Business School – could be given greater focus; Landscape could become a continuous system linking the Oval to Neil Avenue and the Engineering buildings that face it; Hitchcock Hall and Knowlton Hall could be drawn into a stronger relationship of plaza, entry, and car drop-off; the Hitchcock Hall façade could become a more transparent and public presence; the parking garage could draw into a more public engagement through the introduction of retail, vertical circulation, vegetation, and/or water reclamation. Finally, pedestrian ways could become a more fluid negotiation of topography and circulation. All of these strategies, and others, could transform the area into a vital public space.

The jury for the competition consisted of:

Dean David Williams, College of Engineering
Jennifer Cowley, College of Engineering
Beth Blostein, KSA Architecture
Jason Kentner, KSA Landscape Architecture
Maria Conroy, KSA City and Regional Planning
Michael Cadwell, KSA Director
Bernie Costantino, University Architect
Steve Volkmann, University Landscape Architect

The competition was open to all students at the Knowlton School of Architecture. Students had only 24 hours to complete their entries from the time they first received the competition brief.