A team of architecture students, led by School of Architecture faculty Chris Jarrett and Peter Wong, has received an Honorable Mention in the 2019 Timber in the City: Urban Habitats Competition presented by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA). Nearly 240 schools participated in the international competition, representing teams from as far as the University of Queensland and the University of Zhejiang and all across North America, including California Polytechnic State University, Cornell University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and University of Waterloo. Eight projects were recognized – three with prizes and five with honorable mention.
Created in partnership with the Binational Softwood Lumber Council (BSLC) and the School of Constructed Environments (SCE) at Parsons School of Design, the Timber in the City competition challenged students to transform cities “through sustainable buildings from renewable resources, offering expedient affordable construction, innovating with new and traditional wooden materials, and designing healthy living and working environments.” The third competition in the Timber in the City series, the 2019 contest focused on the intersections of housing, early childhood education, and climate change.
The UNC Charlotte team – Richard Cottrell, Arturo Lujan, Danielle Scaccia, and Austin Vogelsang (research assistants in the SoA designLAB) with professors Jarrett and Wong – submitted the project “Against the Grain: Adapting Timber to a City of Steel and Concrete.” Imagined for a site by the Queensboro (59th Street) Bridge in Manhattan, the project combines a wellness center and an early childhood education center with mixed-income housing units. The design is inspired by the properties of wood’s cellular structure and incorporates both “cross-grain” and “running with the grain” concepts in its structure and organization.