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2024 ACSA/AISC Steel Design Student Competition
COMPETITION OVERVIEW
The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) is pleased to announce the 24th Annual Steel Design Student Competition for the 2023-2024 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 2024 Steel Design Student Competition will offer architecture students the opportunity to compete in two separate categories:
Category I: Steel Innovation Center - For a new requirement, see the 2024 Competition Program. Design a Steel Innovation Construction Center in downtown St. Louis, MO. The site is part of the Construction Innovation District & Master Development just south of the Gateway Arch. Program spaces include areas for exhibition, fabrication, training, and community outreach. 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
April 10, 2024 Registration Deadline (free registration)
June 5, 2024 Submission Deadline
Summer 2024 Winners Announced
Fall 2024 Publication of Summary Book
AWARDS
The design jury will meet in Summer 2024 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 STEEL INNOCATION CENTER |
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 2025 ACSA Annual Meeting and the 2025 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 10, 2024. 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: Dana Gulling, North Carolina State University,
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 23rd Annual ACSA/AISC Steel Design Student Competition
AISC and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) have selected the recipients of the 2023 Steel Design Student Competition. The competition recognizes 11 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: SPIRITUAL SPACE
- Cristobal Correa, Buro Happold
- Michael J. Crosbie, University of Hartford
- Dr. Anat Geva, Texas A&M University
CATEGORY II: OPEN JURY
- Parbi Boodaghian, John A. Martin & Associates, Inc.
- Nesrine Mansour, South Dakota State University
- Maria Isabel Oliver, American University of Sharjah
For Category I, the jurors chose First, Second, and Third 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):
2023 ACSA/AISC Steel Design Student Competition Winners
Spiritual Space: First Place
TITLE |
The Sylvan Hideaway |
STUDENTS |
Ludwig Rodriguez |
FACULTY |
Gerard Smulevich |
|
|
Spiritual Space: Second Place
TITLE |
The Structural Grove |
STUDENTS |
Grahm Mapes |
FACULTY |
A. Katherine Ambroziak |
Spiritual Space: Third Place
TITLE |
Luminae Sanctum: Bend, Diffuse, Self-Reflect |
STUDENTS |
David Covarrubias |
FACULTY |
Gerard Smulevich |
Spiritual Space: Honorable Mentions
TITLE |
Along the Spine – Using Recycled Materiality to Induce Spiritual Splendor |
STUDENTS |
Julia Goodman |
FACULTY |
A. Katherine Ambroziak |
TITLE |
Gridded Minutia |
STUDENTS |
Becca Northey |
FACULTY |
Timothy Gray |
TITLE |
The Steel Collector: Reclaiming Landscapes |
STUDENTS |
Elsie O’Connell |
FACULTY |
A. Katherine Ambroziak |
Open: First Place
TITLE |
Coastal Canvas |
STUDENT |
Nolan Courville & YunIn Jeung |
FACULTY |
Pasquale De Paola |
Open: Second Place
TITLE |
La Bella Vita |
STUDENT |
Maiten Rodriguez |
FACULTY |
Awilda Rodriguez, Paolo Sanza & Blake Mitchell |
Open: Third Place
TITLE |
Back to Nature |
STUDENT |
Chunya Wu, Siwei Su, Yiwei Liu, Jiaqi Xu & Matthew Lawson |
FACULTY |
Clark Llewellyn |
Open: Honorable Mentions
TITLE |
Sigillum |
STUDENTS |
Ana Krekman |
FACULTY SPONSOR |
Daniel Brown |
TITLE |
Ampelos Winery |
STUDENT |
Biming Liu |
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.