Congratulations to the Weitzman students who took the top three spots in the HOK Futures Design Challenge in the architecture competition! Now in its eighth year, this year’s program challenged university students to design a new environmental education center at Cobb’s Creek Park, a recreational greenway and watershed in West Philadelphia that serves as a connecting point between the local community, natural resources and surrounding urban area.
With a growing need for environmental reconnection in our urban society, the competition asked students to design the education center with expanded programming to encourage sustainability, ecology, healthy eating, agriculture and active lifestyle choices in connection to the watershed.
1st Place: Ecoloop by Sharlene Yulita. Ecoloop, figuratively symbolizing the cradle-to-cradle closed loop process, is an educational hub supporting Cobbs Creek initiatives with education through biomaterials, which merges the practices of science and art, as a strategy for ecological regeneration and hands-on STEM learning for youths. As such, the architecture itself is utilized as an educational tool - both using novel biomaterials in its construction as a means of exposure and also by supporting a unique curriculum that enables students hands-on learning for enhanced ecological literacy. Other strategies, such as south-facing solar-panels, green roofing, natural ventilation, and high quality insulation, are passive methods that reduce carbon emissions to support the Creek’s surroundings and mission of Ecoloop: stewarding the environment with the community and looping it back to earth for generations to come.
2nd Place: The Mystery Shack by Chendou Zhu and Rain Ruihua Yang. The Mystery Shack Emerges as a beacon of exploration within the heart of Cobbs Creek Park, serving as a communal nexus where the local community can delve into the wonders of their natural surroundings. This architectural gem functions dually as a gathering space and an innovative classroom-laboratory, fostering a unique blend of study, observation, and communal interaction. With its doors open to both human and animal visitors, it stands as a warm, welcoming portal to the mysteries of the natural world, inviting all to uncover and engage with the park's phenomenal secrets.
3rd Place: lo-lnd by Jonathan Bonezzi and Ryan Lane.
View Slideshow
