When Brenda Castillo (B.Arch. ’24) graduated in May, her Village of the Levy: Switchgrass project earned a first place Undergraduate Architecture Design Award from the University of Houston Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design. Since then, the project’s impact has grown, earning a spot in the 2024 Study Architecture Student Showcase by Study Architecture, sponsored by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA). Most recently, Castillo earned a 2024 Student Design Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects Dallas Chapter.

The Village of the Levy: Switchgrass is an innovative project that uses natural ecosystems, particularly switchgrass, to support environmental and architectural goals. Switchgrass has unique properties for soil enhancement, carbon capture, and eco-friendly ethanol production. Through "Switchgrass Pods," the project seeks to establish a network of eco-friendly structures along Houston's Buffalo Bayou, highlighting the need for green alternatives to refinery infrastructure in the area.

The project offers a blueprint for blending human, natural, and industrial ecologies. Site plans and architectural layouts showcase how these systems can serve as research hubs, inspiring sustainable urban development. Castillo’s idea represents a bold step in ecological innovation, aiming to create a village relfecting harmony between nature and urban landscapes.

“My project is rooted in growing up in the area and in seeing the influence existing machines have on the world,” explained Castillo, “It is also based in the discovery that something as simple as a little plant could have a huge influence on a different future.”

Conceived in the ARCH 5500 studio with Hines College interim director of environmental design Roya Plauché, Castillo’s process included serious research and crafting a narrative. In it, she explored how architecture can meaningfully engage with history, place, and community. She believes architecture can be based on storytelling, and structures can carry narratives about the world around us.

“I tried to understand the ‘characters of the story’ at both micro and macro scales. The main characters of this story were switchgrass, infrastructure, and the community,” expressed Castillo.

Plauché praised her student and added, “Brenda’s work stands out for the compelling narrative she presents, guiding us through a storyline that shows how something as simple as a plant can inform, heal, and reshape the way we envision the future."

Through research and design development, Castillo ultimately learned to question things more and broaden her horizons. She said, “It is almost like a process of dissecting things to see how they exist, why they exist, and how they function. This plays a huge part in ‘setting the stage’ to create a beautiful story.”