Winning ideas of the latest Timber in the City: Urban Habitats student competition

In the 2018-2019 Timber in the City: Urban Habitats Competition, over 920 architecture students and faculty submitted their most creative design ideas for using wood as a building material. Students were challenged to design a mid-rise, mixed-use complex on a vacant waterfront site in Queens, New York that provides affordable housing, a large community wellness facility, and an early childhood education center that would all be interlaced with a new exterior public waterfront space. The proposals had to incorporate construction systems that draw from various wood technologies.

At the end of the competition, the jury picked three prize-winning teams, who received cash prizes totaling $40,000. Their projects will be on view at the 2020 ACSA Annual Meeting in San Diego and the American Institute of Architects 2020 Convention in Los Angeles. The jury also selected five honorable mentions.

Check out the top prize-winning submissions below!

First Place: Aperture
Students: Eric Bos & Trevor Wood, University of Maryland
Faculty Sponsor: Peter Noonan, University of Maryland

Juror comments: “Aperture, demonstrates an intelligent selection of wood materials which creates an impeccable building. The orientation of the buildings creates a protective plaza linking the buildings to the community with a clear understanding of the urban context. The students have thoughtfully used timber construction with a variety of techniques throughout the project. The submission boards are clear, well designed and show a comprehensive understanding of the entire project proposal.”

Second Place: Re-Gen Growth 
Students: Danny Medina, Cesar Soto, and Daniel Olayiwola Akinsulire, City College of New York
Faculty Sponsor: Suzan Wines, City College of New York

Juror comments: “The winning project, Re-Gen Growth, shows an innovative use of wood, which connects spaces, structure and the user experience all together. The density of the project represents a three-dimensional occupiable city. The project renderings are expressive showing a very elegant porous project with vertical spaces that reconnect the inhabitants to nature and the city. The project represents an idealistic timber building for New York City.”

Third Place: Timber Living
Students: Cyrus Amani, Osiel Guzman, Himangshu Kedia, and Wei-Che Chang, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Faculty Sponsor: Tait Johnson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Juror comments: “Timber Living has a strong grasp of timber construction and how to assemble it in a clever way. The project shows a terrific integration of sustainable measures. The childhood education functions and public/community functions unify the ground plane; defining the project and its connections to the neighborhood. The submission boards are great representation of the project and very compelling.”

You can check out more about the prize-winning entries and the Honorable Mentions here.