UA ARCHITECTURE STUDENT WINS COMMENDATION IN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Third year University of Arkansas architecture student Jason Wright from Kansas City, Mo. won a commendation in the second annual 1998-1999 Student Design & Engineering Challenge sponsored by the Steel Tube Institute of North America and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. The 724 students who entered the competition came from such prestigious schools as MIT, Columbia University, University of California at Berkeley, and the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.

The challenge called for students in architecture, structural engineering, industrial design or other engineering disciplines to work either individually or in teams to explore a variety of aesthetic and technical issues related to the use of hollow steel structural sections.

Wright's project was a Performing Wall done for his second year architecture studio taught by Tim de Noble, Tad Gloeckler, Steve Miller and Elam Denham. Architecture professors Jerry Wall and Sevinç Yavuz provided technical expertise on the project.

The proposed design would house support spaces for dramatic productions and park activities, and was to be located in the Arbuckle Mountains in Oklahoma at the site of some of the region's most colorful lore. The specific site utilized the remains of an abandoned gold mine built in the 1920s.

Wright's project used tubular steel columns to emulate the irregular, mountainous terrain. The competition jurors felt the design offered a flexible program, and successfully defined a thematic tie that linked the building's program, structure and interaction with the site.

The 11 winning entries will be exhibited at the 2000 ACSA Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, the 2000 American Institute of Steel Construction Annual Meeting, and the 2000 American Institute of Architects National Convention in Philadelphia. They are also published in book by the ACSA.

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