Announcing the Winners of Weitzman’s “Summer School at Penn” Competition

A jury of distinguished architects, educators, graphic and industrial designers has selected the winners of the Summer School at Penn design challenge, a student competition organized by the Department of Architecture at Weitzman to create a mobile medical testing unit for COVID-19.

1st Place: Hanqing Yao, FLIP IT
2nd Place: Lauren Hunter and Valerie Pretto, Community Cumuli
3rd Place (tie): Jiewei Li and Mrinalini Verma, UNFOLD
3rd Place (tie): Hillary Morales and Molly Zmich, Dimensioning Remembrance

Honorable Mentions were awarded to:

Beikel Rivas, Miguel Matos, and Dario Sabidussi, Personal Protective Pod
Fang Cheng, Shifei Xu, and Chengzhe Zhu, Breezing/Breathing Cloud
Hadi El Kebbi, Nicholas Houser, Anna Lim, and Danny Ortega, Matryoshka Kit

Hanqing Yao’s FLIP IT was inspired by the children’s slides and trapeze rings found at public parks around the world. The design uses melon hues and simple, curvilinear forms to create both physical and mental comfort to those being tested by bringing a playful element to the experience while still maintaining meeting medical and safety requirements.

“Every­one loves a good playground for its vivid color palette, cute shapes, and the smooth [forms],” Yao explains of her intention to help release the tension of those being tested for COVD-19.

In June, Winka Dubbeldam, Miller Professor and chair of the Department of Architecture, invited Weitzman students to respond to a brief for architectural and design solutions for a mobile medical testing unit for COVID-19. Over four weeks, 76 students gathered for a series of weekly online lectures by leading designers as well as doctors on the front lines of the pandemic. Students also took part in weekly tutorials to develop their analytical thinking, design strategies, and presentation techniques. Submissions were due on June 29, and a total of 35 individual and team-based submissions were received.

Along with Dubbeldam, the jury included: Manuel Colon Amador, co-founder, Intemperie Studio; Yves Béhar, founder, Fuseproject; Annette Fierro, associate professor of architecture at Weitzman; Ferda Kolatan, founding director, su11, and associate professor of practice at Weitzman; Thom Mayne, founder and design director, Morphosis, Cret Chair Professor of Practice at Weitzman, and distinguished faculty Sci-Arc; Marc Miller, assistant professor, Stuckeman School of Architecture, Penn State University; Susan Sellers, founding partner and executive creative director, 2x4, and senior design critic, Yale School of Art; and Marion Weiss, Graham Professor of Practice at Weitzman and co-founder, WEISS/MANFREDI.

Guest jurors included: Mark Gardner (MArch’00), principal, Jaklitsch/Gardner Architects, professor of Architectural Practice & Society, School of Constructed Environments at Parsons the New School, and member of the Board of Overseers at Weitzman; and Joseph Scharzkopf, general manager, Uribe & Schwarzkopf.

Speakers for the Summer School at Penn program included: Manuel Colon Amador and Fabiana Alvear Gilbert, co-founders, Intemperie Studio; Yves Béhar; Dror Benshetrit, founder, Dror; Joe Doucet, founder, Joe Doucet x Partners; Dr. Enrique Boloña Gilbert, director of the Intensive Care Unit, La Clinica Guayaquil; Ferda Kolatan; Thom Mayne; V. Mitch McEwen, assistant professor of architecture, Princeton University; Marc Miller; Michael Rock, founding partner and executive director, 2x4; Dr. Harvey Rubin, professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist, Penn Medicine; and Marion Weiss.

View a gallery of images from proposals by all the winners on the Weitzman Flickr.