海角社区 Architecture Students Win International Competition
April 05, 2023
海角社区 architecture students in associate professor Robert Holton鈥檚 senior studio architecture course won the , an international design challenge to plan buildings using earth materials.
鈥淭he project focus was on the use of earth blocks as a contemporary building material to construct multi-family housing in Bolgatanga, Ghana,鈥� Holton said.
This is the second of professor Holton鈥檚 studio courses that has won this competition, the first was in .
The winning project, called Courtyard Living, proposed housing that reflects Bolgatanga鈥檚 culture and lifestyle by incorporating the spatial arrangement of the region鈥檚 traditional compound houses and courtyards, which encourage community engagement among inhabitants. This 海角社区 team included four architecture seniors: Thu Nguyen of Addis, La., Shane Boone from Bay Shore, N.Y., Clara Jimenez from Venezuela and Berry Lee.
Rendering: Front view of the complex.
Rendering: Central courtyard.
Rendering: Communal space.
鈥淔or the competition, we were dealing with a building material that we weren't familiar with; but with the help of our professor, we were able to learn more about earth blocks and produce a project we were proud of,鈥� Nguyen said.
"Our winning project of 'Courtyard Living: Weaving life and livelihood block by block'
was a great team effort that resulted in a housing design that is affordable, accessible,
sustainable and environmentally responsive, and preserves the most important cultural
aspects of the region,鈥� Jimenez said. 鈥淭hrough this experience, we were able to get
hands on experience with earth block material, which allowed us to dive deeper in
sustainable strategies and improve our design. I'm super happy that we won first place.
We were a great team with great ideas!"
The earth-block construction process includes pounding and sifting the dirt, mixing in additives and water, compressing the mixture into a mold, scraping away excess mixture, and smoothing the block before it can be removed from the mold for drying.
鈥淭he greatest experience gathered from this competition was learning how to create so much using so little,鈥� Boone said.
A second project from Holton鈥檚 studio course, called Terra Firm, was the competition鈥檚 runner up. The student team is made of: Declan Wilkerson, Elliott Burns, Jason Morgan and Nicholas Schulin.
鈥淭he project was an enjoyable experience overall. I learned a lot of new techniques and methods of construction. It was also nice to receive an award for the first design competition that I've ever entered my work in,鈥� said Texas-native Wilkerson.
Holton鈥檚 research centers around sustainable architecture practices and advancing construction techniques with a focus on earth as a primary building component. He has worked with several prominent architectural offices in the US and France including Bernard Tschumi Architects in New York and Paris; Smith-Miller+Hawkinson, Gensler, Peter Marino Architect and Peter Gluck Architect in New York; and Oppenheim Architects and Design GH in Miami. His professional experience spans a variety of project types and scales and includes the Corning Glass Center, University of Cincinnati Athletic Center and office buildings for MasterCard International. Additionally, he has worked on winning proposals in Europe, such as the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece, and concert halls in Rouen and Limoges, France.