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| Unslumming Kibera wins Aecom Urban SOS: Frontiers student competition The Urban SOS program fosters cross-disciplinary thinking in urban problem-solving and design education while helping to make a real difference for a community in need. This year's competition centered on issues related to physical, political, cultural, ecological, or economic borders, and drew entries from 118 universities in 41 countries around the world. Slums in Nairobi, Kenya; the ecology and economics of sewage in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; the need for green terraces for the Bogotá-Soacha border in Colombia — these were the "frontiers" that the top three submissions sought to improve. A master jury of leading design and urban experts voted for the winning entry after viewing presentations by the three finalist teams at the Center for Architecture on Jan. 16. The jury included Bill Hanway, executive vice president, buildings places, AECOM; Donna Walcavage and Chris Choa, principals, design planning, AECOM; Rick Bell, FAIA, executive director at the Center for Architecture; Galia Solomonoff, founder and creative director, Solomonoff Architecture Studio and assistant professor at Colombia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation; and Alexandra Hardiman, director of mobile products at The New York Times. "All the entrants identified critical ideas and solutions to the challenges facing their specific communities, " said Bill Hanway, a founder of the competition and jury chair. "We felt that the project 'Unslumming Kibera' best illustrated a solution driven from the team's personal experience in that community. The heart of an informal community, no matter how small, becomes the inspirational driver for change." Winning team members Adam Broidy (California College of the Arts), Jack Campbell Clause (Leeds Metropolitan University), Jamilla Harper (University of Nairobi) and April Schneider (University of Illinois Chicago) received a US$5, 000 cash prize. An in-kind donation of cash and AECOM technical assistance totaling US$25,000 will go to helping realize their project. Sara Navrady (Delft University of Technology) and her project "Sewage Ecologies/Economies" was recognized with a US$5,000 cash prize. Juan Camilo Pinzon (Universidad de los Andes) and Guillermo Umana (Macquarie University) with their "Green Terraces" project were also recognized with a US $5,000 cash prize. write your comments about the article :: © 2013 Construction News :: home page |