Architecture students recognized after winning international competition

A project that started out with a simple L-shaped building led to international recognition for three 澳门正规赌场手机网站 School of Architecture & 社区发展学生. 

Dolin 迪亚兹, 23岁, Farah Ossaimee, 21岁, ’23 和 Marcus Puste ’23 were among the winners of this year’s American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment (AIA COTE) Top Ten for 学生 Competition. 

Held in partnership with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), the competition recognized 10 student design studio projects that were environmentally sustainable. Winning projects received a cash prize of $1,350. More than 1,100 projects were 提交ted for this year’s competition. 

Puste, Ossaimee和迪亚兹的项目, Timber Integrative Means + Biophilic Resilience (TIMBR), 是100分的提议吗,000-square-foot mixed-use building in Detroit’s Rivertown District. Timber construction products were used in both the interior 和 exterior of the five-story building to achieve net zero emissions while being a good neighbor along the Detroit River. 

“We started this whole project with just a little L shape that was extruded,奥赛米说. “但随着项目的进行, we added little details 和 the climate constraints, working with those details to attest for glare issues, day lighting 和 making sure that we’ve got the view in 和 keeping an eye on the Dequindre Cut.  

“这是一个美丽的项目.” 

“TIMBR was our response to the challenge of creating a high-performance building that addresses energy use 和 sustainability of mass timber construction,普斯特补充道。, UDM的研究生. 

TIMBR was initially designed as the semester-long project for UDM’s Integrated Design Studio course, 副教授授课 克里斯汀·尼尔森 助理教授 詹姆斯·利奇. The course is one of two capstone courses that Architecture students take during their senior year. 

The Integrated Design Studio’s project aligns well with the AIA COTE Top Ten Competition but doesn’t cover all 10 of its measures, 尼尔森说. To enter the competition, students need to continue working on their projects beyond the course. 

Positive feedback garnered from both inside 和 outside of the studio classroom — TIMBR received two awards in the School of Architecture & 社区发展’s design competition — led 迪亚兹, Ossaimee 和 Puste to take their project a step further. 

Seeing their project be recognized among projects representing institutions from the United States 和 Canada to Puerto Rico, Bolivia 和 the United Arab Emirates is something the UDM group still talks about today. 

“I think my group 和 I were surprised we were awarded as finalists for the competition. We still text each other about how surreal this has been,迪亚兹说, who is finishing her master’s degree at UDM. “It amazed us on how we stood out, considering that we come from a smaller educational institution.” 

根据尼尔森和里奇的说法, 迪亚兹, Ossaimee 和 Puste are planning to share their experience 和 advice with the students in this year’s Integrated Design Studio. 

“I think it should give them some confidence to see that it’s possible with the work that they do in school,里奇说。. 

Nelson believes that opportunities like the AIA COTE Top Ten Competition can be quite empowering for students, who can see their work recognized on an international stage. 

“It gives them that additional vote of confidence that it’s not just here that people think what they’re doing is very good, it’s in this broader context of all of academic architecture,”她说。. 

The project 和 competition were a learning experience for 迪亚兹, Ossaimee 和 Puste. 

Ossaimee said she learned about sustainability 和 simplicity in architecture, whereas Puste learned the value of collaboration. 

“当我为自己的作品集设计作品时, I like to go a little bit out of the box 和 go extravagant,奥赛米说, who is pursuing a Master of Architecture at the University of Michigan. “但是这个项目, 甚至和马库斯和多林一起工作, they helped me tone it down 和 appreciate simplicity, 简单可以让你走很长的路.” 

The experience taught 迪亚兹 to never be afraid to take a leap of faith. 

“I learned that no matter how big 和 intimidating a competition, 会议或面试可能会出现, 冒险总是值得的,”她说。. “At the end of the day, it’s better to be recognized than to remain unnoticed. I am very grateful for my professors’ support at 澳门正规赌场手机网站. I’m confident they are cheering me on 和 ready to provide their support.” 

Learn more about Detroit Mercy’s School of Architecture & 社区发展.

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