School of Architecture students celebrate their winning project in the 2019 Barbara G. Laurie Student Design Competition. Pictured (from left) are Hayyatu Deen Ikharo, Demitri Costa Gadzios, Kaitlyn Schwalber, Karen Chow, Kristabel Wing Lam Chung, Ifeoluwa D. Areogun and Darrelle Butler Jr.
黑料不打烊 Architecture students from the (NOMAS) took first place in this year鈥檚 student design competition held in conjunction with the 47th annual National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) conference and expo in Brooklyn, New York, from October 16鈥�20, 2019.
The 2019 Barbara G. Laurie Student Design Competition challenged 39 student chapter teams to address gentrification and housing equity in Flatbush鈥攐ne of Brooklyn鈥檚 rapidly transforming neighborhoods鈥攂y proposing a design solution encompassing mixed-income housing, commercial/retail tenants and community spaces. The project also challenged the students to articulate comprehensive strategies that integrate varying housing typologies and foster diplomacy between tenants, homeowners and the community.
Recognizing that Flatbush is a culturally seismic community and a melting pot of immigrant Caribbean, Afro American, Afro Caribbean and Latin cultures and heritages, the Orange NOMAS design team committee saw an opportunity for dialogue to occur.
Their project, 鈥淚n the Street,鈥� pushes for the existence of difference into a daily dialogue by integrating the existing community into the fabric of a high rise. 鈥淲e propose a street of our own, one that mobilizes both the old and the incoming community into a vertical hub of life,鈥� the team鈥檚 entry explains.
The team pulled inspiration from things seen from the street. The central column in their design utilizes the red of the local fire escape through the interior staircase. The street, also painted red, is directly connected to the path into the building leading the community into the core.
The students’ project, “In the Street,” addresses gentrification and housing equity in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn.
The vertical existence of the commercial and retail tenants allows for the existing community spaces and the agents of gentrification to talk with one another without the separation of car infrastructure.
Selected community programs come from three main groups: the local, the gentrified and the health focused. Taken directly from the local area, these 鈥渞efuges of expression,鈥� including a salon, barber shop, art gallery and boutiques act in tandem and attract a wide array of people, resulting in checks and balances for the street life.
鈥淭his building shall encourage a new form of interaction between long-held barriers through the conversation and comparisons it creates between programs and people,鈥� the team鈥檚 entry explains.
The winning team included architecture undergraduates Ifeoluwa D. Areogun 鈥�23, Karen Chow 鈥�22, Kristabel Wing Lam Chung 鈥�22, Poulami Das 鈥�22, Demitri Costa Gadzios 鈥�20, Benson Joseph 鈥�20, Ying Na Li 鈥�22, Luis Martin Lopez 鈥�22, Parinda Sangkaeo 鈥�21 and Rachel Ly 鈥�22, and graduate students Darrelle Butler Jr. G鈥�21, Yan Chen G鈥�21, Hayyatu Deen Ikharo G鈥�21, Kaitlyn Schwalber G鈥�21 and Kojo Quainoo G鈥�21.
鈥淭his is such a wonderfully talented group of designers and aspiring architects. All the proposals in the competition were excellent, but our team鈥檚 entry was truly outstanding. We are all so proud of their achievement and look forward to more great things from them in the future,鈥� says 黑料不打烊 Architecture Dean Michael Speaks.
This year鈥檚 conference, Believe the Hype: A Global Collective of Industry Change Agents, attracted over 1,200 minority architects, students, urban designers, community activists and building industry professionals from across the country鈥攁n organizational all-time high. Locations throughout Brooklyn, Harlem and lower Manhattan hosted lectures, seminars and architectural tours.
About NOMAS
The Orange chapter of NOMAS is designed to foster communication and comradery among the diverse body of students at the School of Architecture at 黑料不打烊. NOMAS provides minority students in the School of Architecture with support in academics, professional matters and services. Social activities, workshops, community services and professional development are all part of the chapter鈥檚 agenda. The annual NOMA conference gives students an opportunity to meet and network with professional architects of color and visit exciting cities around the nation.
