Winners of the 2019 AISC/ACSA Steel Design Student Competition

Another edition of the AISC/ACSA Steel Design Student Competition has concluded with the announcement of the 2019 winners. Out of over 700 participants in this year's competition, 12 outstanding projects were distinguished in two categories that explore various design issues related to steel design and construction. The winning students and their faculty advisors will receive prizes totaling $14,000.

Category I challenged students to design a cohesive, intermodal transportation center that had to include components like an international, regional, and local train stations, bus terminals, airports, ports, and spaceports in a major urban location.

Category II is an Open competition that allows students to select their own site and program as long as steel is the primary building material.

The prize-winning projects will be on display at the 2020 ACSA Annual Meeting in San Diego, and the 2020 AIA Convention in Los Angeles. 

Check out the prize-winning and honorable mention projects below!

CATEGORY I: Intermodal Transportation Center

(cover image) FIRST PLACE: Interlace
Student: Curt Budd
Faculty: Margarida Yin
School: California Polytechnic State University

Juror Comments: “This top winning project, Interlace, has a compelling intervention into the urban fabric of Los Angeles bringing the community into the building. The structural steel diagrams are very strong with great scaled details. This student did their research and clearly showcased their project in these submission boards with terrific representation, functional diagrams and detailed drawings.”

2ND PLACE: THE TRANS-PIER™: Where Entertainment Meets Travel
Student: Tatiana Estrina
Faculty Sponsor: Vincent Hui
School: Ryerson University

Juror Comments: “THE TRANS-PIER™: Where Entertainment Meets Travel is an award-winning project that shows great depth, as it explores a retro futuristic, ‘fantastical’ experience. The light and lacey steel drawings show a high level of finesse and a delicate and intentional use of the material. The amount of detail, energy and thought depicted in this submission makes the project believable while exploring the past and future at the same time. This infrastructure project of well-choreographed chaos highlights the glory days of steel as a fun palace.”

3RD PLACE: Steel Bones [Coastal] PCH/LAX Transit Center
Student: Stephanie Green
Faculty Sponsor: Bailey Shugart
School: Woodbury University

Juror Comments: “This winning project, Steel Bones [Coastal] PCH/LAX Transit Center, created an inventive steel structure. The exoskeleton uses steel in a fantastic way with developed details to make the project believable. This student clearly worked on site development and research which is shown in these wonderfully produced submission boards.”

CATEGORY II - Open

1ST PLACE: Fluid Knowledge
Students: Brenton Rahn & Andres Felipe
Faculty Sponsor: David Newton
School: University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Juror Comments: “This top award-winning project, FLUID KNOWLEDGE, designed an ambitious, holistic and tectonically intricate project. The elegant approach to the steel structure is informed by a strong conceptual idea. The students propose a building structure and enclosure with complex connections between the tectonic systems.”

2ND PLACE: The Power of Place
Students: Pimpakarn Rattanathumawat & Botao Sun
Faculty Sponsor: Catherine Wetzel
School: Illinois Institute of Technology

Juror Comments: “The Power of Place is an award-winning project for the compelling engagement of an extraordinary existing structure. These students emphasized the use of steel to compliment an important sustainable agenda. The lightness of the steel addition contrasting to the massive existing walls is commendable. The project explores steel across multiple scales of the material. This poetic project is elegantly depicted on the submission boards.”

3RD PLACE: Stadio Della Roma
Student: Christy Yu
Faculty: Paolo Sanza
School: Oklahoma State University

Juror Comments: “This winning project, Stadio Della Roma, has an elegant and complete steel structure. This monumental building has an iconic quality for the neighborhood. The buildings skin and structure work together and highlights the students technical understanding of steel.”

Don't forget about the honorable mentions in the gallery below! You can read more about the winning entries here.

All images courtesy of ACSA.