At the beginning of March, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Fort Worth Design Awards celebration honored University of Houston Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design students for their outstanding projects in the 2024 AIAFW Student Design Awards.

This year’s class of winners not only continued a tradition of winning high praise from the AIAFW Student Design Awards for the fourth year in a row, but Hines College students also took home three out of the four top prizes. The competition saw entries from eight accredited architecture schools across Texas, handing out two honor awards, each with a $500 scholarship, along with two merit awards. To judge the entries, AIA Fort Worth assembled a panel of leading architects in the region consisting ofAudrey Maxwell, AIA of Malone Maxwell Dennehy; Marshall Strawn, AIA of Bennett Partners; and Ashleigh Hood, Associate AIA of Quorum Architects.

Interior architecture students Molly Lin and Darnell Zamora earned the Honor Award for their project, Urban Detour, completed in the interior architecture 4500 studio with assistant professor Dijana Handanovic. Zulema Ayon, Olivia Blas, Olivia Salinas, and James Strang, from professor Donna Kacmar’s studio, developed Third Ward Community and earned a Merit Award for their work. Architecture students from adjunct faculty Shawn Lutz’s class, Aly Noorani and Vittorio Cova, earned the Merit Award for their project, Brickborne.

The teams of students displayed their abilities to work collaboratively through design, echoing the themes of community and transformation present in their projects.

"I am grateful to have had the opportunity to collaborate with Molly on this project,” Zamora said. Having a partner helped her navigate the complexities of materiality, sustainable practices, and spatial design in Urban Detour. “This project in particular has helped me step outside my comfort zone and embrace creative risks in my design approach."

Lin felt the same way about her work with Zamora, adding, “Together, we developed our design seamlessly and pushed the other's creative boundaries. This project encouraged me to incorporate new mediums when producing drawings."

From the Third Ward Community group, Strang expressed, “Our team discovered how to cohesively represent each individual's ideas and the existing cultural characteristics of Houston's most diverse ward.”

The project was driven from their vision to turn the iconic Houston area into a more walkable community. “This project was greatly influential to our team's academic and professional career trajectory, furthering our drive to utilize conscious design to make a positive impact on the communities we serve as future architects,” Strang continued.

With their impressive designs, these students demonstrate not only technical skill but also a deep understanding of the impact architecture can have on changing communities. Their success is a testament to the dedication, innovation, and collaborative spirit fostered within the Hines College. Each award-winning project reflects the students' ability to merge form with function, all while considering the broader cultural and social contexts in which they design.

Learn more about each project below and see some of the jurors’ comments.

URBAN DETOUR

The Siege of Sarajevo caused significant turmoil and disruption for Bosnia and Herzegovina, leading to a deep ethnic division. Today, the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to search for a collective identity. Urban Detour is an urban intervention designed to bridge the present-day Bosnian population, regardless of religion or status, by creating a space for reflection and connection.

Nestled in the alleys of Sarajevo, Urban Detour is constructed using locally sourced wooden scaffolding secured with high-tension lashing knots. The installation merges the comforting interior elements of traditional Bosnian homes with the gritty, rough exterior elements of alleyways, resulting in an urban living room. It transforms Sarajevo's alleys into vibrant communal spaces that foster friendships, encourage meaningful dialogue, and promote unity, ultimately creating a collective identity in a region marked by division. Through its design, Urban Detour bridges cultural and social boundaries, nurturing a resilient and interconnected community.

Juror’s Comments:

“The Urban Detour project skillfully merges structure and skin to transform alleyways into dynamic interstitial spaces that are not only engaging, but functional in enhancing the urban connectivity.” —Ashleigh Hood, Assoc. AIA

“The scale, materiality, and spatial configuration of this project create an interactive architecture that activates the narrow alley space in a very playful way. The simple assemblies at the scale of the alley gives the project personality and a community-centric feel.” —Marshall Strawn, AIA

THIRD WARD COMMUNITY

The Third Ward Community is an affordable housing project responding to the negative effects of systemic racism, gentrification, and unequal access to opportunity. The project establishes a fifteen-minute city utilizing the adjacent bus rapid transport stop and Columbia Tap Rail Trail, with access to agriculture, waste collection, and composting. These amenities create local jobs and community exchange along the Columbia Tap.

Dwelling units double as small-business storefronts, allowing domestic laborers to utilize additional products and services to earn income (Ex. Laundry, cooking, baking, child-care, cleaning, etc.). Sustainable design strategies were used, including solar water heating, rainwater collection, cross-ventilation, geothermal cooling, and composting. As residents age, couple, family, and student housing allows residents to contribute to and benefit from their community throughout their lifetime.

Juror’s Comments:

“The Third Ward Community project very thoughtfully weaves garden spaces throughout a suburban neighborhood and seamlessly blends nature with urban living while fostering meaningful connections between residents through the use of communal courtyards.” —Ashleigh Hood, Assoc. AIA

“This project is a great example of how a small-scale urban intervention could have a large-scale community impact. The outdoor rooms for gardening and community framed by the dwellings, in my opinion, are the most significant spaces.” —Marshall Strawn, AIA 

BRICKBORNE

Bellaire is a notable neighborhood that is simultaneously enclosed within Houston and separated by a highway. Brickborne’s site is an abandoned grocery store dating from the 1950s, right in the middle of an important intersection at two of the metropolitan region’s sprawling arteries: Bissonnet St and Bellaire Blvd.

The former store’s outer brick wall remains as a ‘ruin’, a ‘wrapper’ for a proposed museum and sanctuary garden. Tessellated copper panels cloak the pink concrete building. The museum rotates over the ‘ruins’, and as a final gesture, clips itself off onto Bissonnet St.

The sanctuary garden serves as a point where the visitor can contemplate, relax or mingle. Two promenades interweave the city’s bustling streets, bringing their nodes together, opening the car-dominated blocks to pedestrians.

Juror’s Comments:

“The design study of the exterior screen was an achievement in its own right. The building massing and interiors were also well-considered, the sculptural design a clever way to create interesting spaces and bring in natural light.” —Audrey Maxwell, AIA 

“This project applies adaptive reuse through the use of ruin, and creates a journey for visitors to move through the history of this historic site. The sectional experience of the gallery space through the use of large light wells creates a dramatic and effective experience.” —Marshall Strawn, AIA