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 And the Winners Are... The 2001 Metropolis Designing Worlds Student Competition. Metropolis Designing Worlds (DW) is a Web-based series of contests sponsored by Autodesk, Inc., exploring the theme of environmentally sustainable design. This February, at the Metropolis West Conference in San Francisco, we announced the winners of the first DW student competition, which challenged university juniors, seniors, and graduate students to design an environmentally sustainable city, a subsystem of a sustainable city, or even a single appliance. Here we're pleased to present the top four winning entries. Our panel of judges chose their four favorite entries from from the 24 on the DW Web site. The winners were then chosen by popular vote of the attendees of the conference. The judges were Susan S. Szenasy, editor in chief of Metropolis; Lisa Sullivan, executive director of the AIA San Francisco; Douglas Look of StudioDesk (a division of Autodesk, Inc.); Zahid Sardar, architecture and design editor of the San Francisco Chronicle; and Richard Pollack, president of IIDA and head of Richard Pollack & Associates. All 24 entries may be viewed at www.designingworlds.com. All competition entrants received their choice of Autodesk Architectural Desktop, Inventor, or AutoCAD Land Development Desktop 2i; Cash and other prizes are detailed below.
Sustainable Streetscape for San Leandro, California Emily Rylander, Zuzana Ponca, Scott Cataffa, Anna Haven Kiers University of California, Berkeley "Our proposal mitigates the impact of polluted storm water on San Leandro Creek by reconfiguring 14th Street, the city's civic spine. At the street's watershed boundaries, the empty lot becomes a park with summer playing fields and winter retention ponds; the school, an education center with a retrofitted eco-roof and detention basin. Roadside swales allow storm-water infiltration. Vegetation along the swales enhances the streetscape aesthetic while filtering out pollutants. Permeable grates provide pedestrian access and on-street parking. Runoff enters the creek at a creek walk, converting an unused area into a public amenity. Building upon best practices for 14th Street, we propose to transform the city grid into a healthy dendritic system based on watershed drainage patterns rather than political boundaries."
Pedal-Powered Lawn Mower David Domanski and Tommie Lucas University of Cincinnati (Faculty Advisor: Dale Murray) "In a single day, southern California's lawn tools spew out more pollution than all the aircraft in the L.A. area. A single mower puts out more poison than 73 new cars. Sustainable products should be long lasting through superior craftsmanship, quality, and design. As industrial designers it is our responsibility to consider the entire life span of the product from conception to destruction and its impact throughout. This product intends to replace gasoline-powered lawn mowers which are major contributors to air pollution. The pedal-powered mower also contributes to the well-being of the user by providing cardiovascular conditioning. It consists of modular attachments such as a wheelbarrow, mulcher, and leaf collector. By combining time-tested, simple machines, the bicycle and reel mower, this product will have a long life span, reduce toxins released into the atmosphere, and promote healthy lifestyles for the users."
Paleontology Museum for Ithaca, New York Joyce Cheng, University of Pennsylvania (Faculty Advisor: Marion Weiss) "Millions of years ago, glaciers covered the earth. The melting water carved the land. Ithaca owes its dramatic landscape of gorges and waterfalls to this water. It exposed fossils that trace the history of plant and animal life. The museum displays these testimonies of time. The site is located on a slope above Cayuga Lake. Terraced land accommodates parking. The runoff is channeled into swales for cleansing. The water is directed to the wetland for retention. It eventually rejoins the lake. The museum rests lightly on the earth. The glazed southern wall maximizes solar gain in the cold climate. The northern face is a Trombe wall. Water from the roof funnels into the building and is released over the wetlands. The temporal sensation adds to the visitors' understanding of the processes of nature."
Ecological Car Wash Plaza for brownfield near San Leandro Creek, San Leandro, California Nathan Lozier and team, University of California, Berkeley "Our goal is to utilize the storm-drain system to collect and ecologically treat urban runoff. The Car Wash Plaza provides an environmentally sustainable space where the ritual of car-washing is transformed into an educational community activity. Runoff from the surrounding streets is collected in retention ponds, where it is biologically filtered. The cleansed runoff is used for car washing, after which it is directed by runnels through the filtration process again and is finally returned to the creek." |
