KNOXVILLE—Four students and two alumni are winners of a design contest sponsored by the College of Architecture and Design at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
The winners will be feted at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, March 9, at the UT Ewing Gallery, 1715 Volunteer Boulevard.
The annual MAX_minimum Design Competition was established in honor of Professor Emeritus Max Robinson, former director of the School of Architecture. It encourages designs that demonstrate the greatest impact to the built environment that also use the least possible means.
This year’s challenge, entitled “Assembly.Required,” asked contestants to design an assembly space within the Art and Architecture Building’s reading room, garden, and courtyard.
Hunter Young, William Rowland, Brent Castro, and Luke Murphree submitted the winning student entry.
The team’s project, titled “Re-measuring the Landscape,” shows a terraced amphitheater where students can study, read, or receive lectures from faculty. The design maximizes the use of the landscape with the presentation of an edible garden, a water garden, and a shade garden.
Andrew Ruff and Caitlin Turski submitted the winning alumni entry. The jury commended them for their design of a space that addresses students’ need for a sense of community. The pair showed this through plans that detail a library, common room, workroom, review space, and sleeping container for the all-nighter student.
An award of merit will be presented to Brian White in this category.
Both competitions were judged by members of the college’s faculty and chaired by Robinson. Uwe Rothe, president of the Northeast Tennessee chapter of the American Institute of Architects and principal of Rothe Green Architecture and Planning, was a special guest critic for the alumni competition.
Every student, from second-year through graduate studies in the college, was asked to participate in the competition. Each was assigned to random teams composed of members spanning across the college’s disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design.
MAX_min featured alumni participation from graduating classes ranging from 1978 to 2011.
“The competition allows each of us to challenge ourselves to continue to question the complex issues of the past, present, and future through the act and art of design,” said Scott Wall, director of the School of Architecture.
The March 9 awards celebration will coincide with the sixty-fifth annual student art competition, “Untitled:Multimedia:65,” which begins at 7:00 p.m. It is free and open to the public. Guests will be treated to food and live music at 8:00 p.m.
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C O N T A C T S:
Kiki Roeder (865-974-6713, kroeder@utk.edu)
Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lalapo@utk.edu)