University Programs
In This Section
Student Design Competition
2023 ACSA/AISC Steel Design Student Competition
COMPETITION OVERVIEW
The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) is pleased to announce the 23rd Annual Steel Design Student Competition for the 2022-2023 academic year. Administered by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), the program is intended to challenge undergraduate and graduate students, working individually or in teams, to explore a variety of design issues related to the use of steel in design and construction. Steel must be used as the primary structural material and contain at least one space that requires long-span steel structure, with special emphasis placed on innovation in steel design.
THE OPPORTUNITIES
The 2023 Steel Design Student Competition will offer architecture students the opportunity to compete in two separate categories:
Category I: SPIRITUAL SPACE - For a new requirement, see 2023 Competition Program
Design “A Place for the Spirit” on a campus, welcoming to all, where members of the campus community and visitors can learn about and express spirituality. Program spaces include places for worship, meditation, learning, and fellowship. Steel is the primary material.
Category II: OPEN
Category II offers architecture students the opportunity to select a site and building program using steel as the primary material. This competition category permits the greatest amount of flexibility for any building type.
Students may not enter both categories of the competition.
ADVANTAGES OF STEEL
Steel has a natural beauty that can be exposed to emphasize grace, slenderness and strength in space and form, as well as in building envelopes to enhance environmental performance and aesthetic character.
Resiliency
Structural steel offers a number of benefits in building design including the capacity to bear great loads in tension and compression, high resiliency and performance under harsh and difficult conditions, such as earthquakes and hurricanes, and the ability to span great distances with minimal material. Steel can be shaped by many processes, ranging from standard rolled sections to custom castings and digitally generated components. It can be prefabricated and delivered for site assembly, and it can be erected quickly under almost any weather condition to meet tight construction schedules.
Efficiency
Steel offers the greatest strength-to-weight ratio of structural materials. In addition, steel can be constructed quickly and for all project site types with the use of labor-saving prefabrication methods such as kit-of-parts, panelization, and modular construction. A building built with steel is potentially more flexible and adaptable to allow for a change in program, occupancy, and loading needs over time. Steel, if desired by the architect, can be graceful, nimble, and minimal in its bulk both in plan and section, and it integrates easily with other systems and materials.
Sustainability
Using steel is a highly sustainable option. The production of raw US structural steel involves in upwards of 93% recycled content, keeping your old cars and appliances out of landfills. At the end of a building’s life, 98% of all structural steel is recycled into new steel products, with no loss of its physical properties. As such, structural steel isn’t just recycled but “multi-cycled,” as it can be recycled over and over and over again. It is truly a cradle-to-cradle material, and few materials can claim that.
Expression
Exposed and curved steel is an art, providing endless possibilities for architectural expression. Curved steel enhances the visibility of any building project – from the largest monumental project to that building down your street. Curved steel is one way to increase the design creativity of your next building project. And most importantly, curved steel is readily available nationally from a number of qualified AISC Associate Member Bender-Rollers.
SCHEDULE
Fall 2022 Live Webinar about the competition (recording will be available)
April 5, 2023 Registration Deadline (free registration)
June 7, 2023 Submission Deadline
Summer 2023 Winners Announced
Fall 2023 Publication of Summary Book
AWARDS
The design jury will meet in Summer 2023 to select winning projects and honorable mentions. Winners and their faculty sponsors will be notified of the competition results directly. A list of winning projects will be posted on this webpage and the ACSA website
Winning students and their faculty sponsors will receive cash prizes totaling $20,000 with distribution as follows:
Category I SPIRITUAL SPACE |
Category II OPEN |
First Prize | First Prize |
Student $4,000 | Student $4,000 |
Faculty Sponsor $1,500 | Faculty Sponsor $1,500 |
Second Prize | Second Prize |
Student $2,000 | Student $2,000 |
Faculty Sponsor $1,000 | Faculty Sponsor $1,000 |
Third Prize | Third Prize |
Student $1,000 | Student $1,000 |
Faculty Sponsor $500 | Faculty Sponsor $500 |
A limited number of honorable mentions may also be awarded at the jury's discretion. Prize‑winning submissions will be exhibited at the 2024 ACSA Annual Meeting and the 2024 AIA National Convention as well as published in a competition summary publication.
ELIGIBILITY
Because the support of AISC is largely derived from steel companies whose markets are mainly in the U.S., the ACSA/AISC Steel Design Student Competition is open to students and/or student teams from ACSA Full and Candidate Member Schools, as well as ACSA Affiliate Members Schools from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
An ACSA member school, faculty sponsor is required to enroll students by completing an online registration form prior to registration by April 5, 2023. All student entrants are required to work under the direction of a faculty sponsor. Entries will be accepted for individuals as well as teams. Teams must be limited to a maximum of five students. Submissions should be principally the product of work in a design studio or related class.
Competition Program written and developed by: Michael J. Crosbie, PhD, FAIA; along with ACSA & the American Institute of Steel Construction.
Full competition information may be found on the ACSA Website. Additional questions on the competition program and submissions should be addressed to:
Edwin Hernández
Programs Coordinator
ehernandez@acsa-arch.org
202.785.2324
Eric Wayne Ellis
Senior Director of Operations and Programs
eellis@acsa-arch.org
202.785.2324
Winners Announced in the 22nd Annual ACSA/AISC Steel Design Student Competition
AISC and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) have selected the recipients of the 2022 Steel Design Student Competition. The competition recognizes 14 exceptional projects, in two categories, that explore a variety of design issues related to the use of steel in design and construction.
The winning projects were chosen by a panel of distinguished jurors:
CATEGORY I: TOWARDS A NEW MONUMENTALITY
- Julian Bonder, Roger Williams University
- Amanda Dean, Walter P Moore
- Mark Gardner, Parsons School of Design
CATEGORY II: OPEN JURY
- Mohamed Ismail, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Soo Jeong Jo, Louisiana State University
- Eric Lumpkin, Thornton Tomasetti
For Category I, the jurors chose two First place winners, along with additional Honorable Mentions. For Category II, the jurors chose First, Second, and Third place winners, along with additional Honorable Mentions. Listed below are the names of the recipients, their project titles, and their faculty sponsor(s):
2022 ACSA/AISC Steel Design Student Competition Winners
Towards a New Monumentality: First Place
TITLE |
Forest of Conscience |
STUDENTS |
Isis Orduno & Conny Salazar Woodbury University |
FACULTY |
Gerard Smulevich |
|
|
Towards a New Monumentality: First Place
TITLE |
Indigenous Lives Memorial |
STUDENTS |
Kristyan Calletor & Mathieu Howard Ryerson University |
FACULTY |
Vincent Hui |
Towards a New Monumentality: No Second or Third Prize awarded
TITLE |
|
STUDENTS |
|
FACULTY |
|
Towards a New Monumentality: Honorable Mentions
TITLE |
Chamizal Union |
STUDENTS |
Sam Ruan & Noel Parra The University of Texas at San Antonio |
FACULTY |
Candid Rogers |
TITLE |
Strange Fruit: Peace and Justice Center for Dialogue |
STUDENTS |
Nastassia Chua, Rebekah Mireles, & Sharon Lott University of Houston |
FACULTY |
Sheryl Tucker Vazquez |
TITLE |
Alt. City Hall |
STUDENTS |
Vanessa Romo & Dario Salgado Woodbury University |
FACULTY |
Gerard Smulevich |
TITLE |
A Democratic Forum Between the Walls |
STUDENTS |
Kaicheng Zhuang & Tianhui Li Syracuse University |
FACULTY |
Richard Rosa |
Open: First Place
TITLE |
Tomols |
STUDENT |
Ron Patanavin |
FACULTY |
Thomas Fowler |
Open: Second Place
TITLE |
Furniture Museum, Creation + Display |
STUDENT |
Randolph Allison |
FACULTY |
Daniel Brown |
Open: Third Place
TITLE |
The California Shotgun House |
STUDENT |
Bryce Humbrecht |
FACULTY |
Gary Gilbert, Tara Street, & Kristopher Palagi |
Open: Honorable Mentions
TITLE |
GrabHub |
STUDENTS |
Nicholas Chung & Chenhao Luo |
FACULTY SPONSOR |
Daekwon Park |
TITLE |
Arrival |
STUDENT |
Matt Yearout |
FACULTY SPONSOR |
Awilda Rodriguez Carrion |
TITLE |
Water Museum – W/M |
STUDENT |
Karalina Shastavets |
FACULTY SPONSOR |
Daniel Brown |
TITLE |
Aspire |
STUDENTS |
Madison Waldron & Jacob Forst |
FACULTY SPONSORS |
Pasquale De Paola, Kevin Singh, & Wei Zhao |
TITLE |
The Metaphysical Museum of Reality |
STUDENTS |
Daniel Jaraba |
FACULTY SPONSOR |
Daniel Brown |
Competition Organizers
Administrative Organization: ACSA
The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture is a nonprofit, membership association founded in 1912 to advance the quality of architectural education. The school membership in ACSA has grown from 10 charter members to over 250 schools in several membership categories. These include full membership for all accredited programs in the United States and government-sanctioned schools in Canada, candidate membership for schools seeking accreditation, and affiliate membership for schools for two-year and international programs. Through these schools, over 4,000 architecture faculty members are represented. In addition, over 500 supporting members composed of architecture firms, product associations and individuals add to the breadth of interest and support of ACSA goals. ACSA provides a major forum for ideas on the leading edge of architectural thought. Issues that will affect the architectural profession in the future are being examined today in ACSA member schools. More information on ACSA can be found at www.acsa-arch.org.
Competition Sponsor: AISC
The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), headquartered in Chicago, is a non-profit technical institute and trade association established in 1921 to serve the structural steel design community and construction industry in the United States. AISC’s mission is to make structural steel the material of choice by being the leader in structural-steel-related technical and market-building activities, including: specification and code development, research, education, technical assistance, quality certification, standardization, and market development. AISC has a long tradition of more than 90 years of service to the steel construction industry providing timely and reliable information. Membership to AISC is free to university faculty and full time students and AISC membership provides valuable benefits.