21st Century Project Design Showcase Enters Second Stage
Innovative design ideas will explore ways to form student communities as well create products and furnishings for the residence hall of the future
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20, 2007
(Columbus, OH) The residence hall of the future continues to take shape as the 21st Century Project announces the second stage of its design showcase series. Requests-for-proposals are now available for the next design competition that will ask designers, students, architects, and college housing professionals to generate forward-thinking ideas for ways to group individual student rooms into “blocks” and “neighborhoods.” A second competition will operate concurrently, in which companies will submit design concepts for innovative products and furniture that will outfit the halls.
Deadlines for design entries are November 7, 2007. Finalists will present their ideas before a jury and audience on February 1, 2008 in St. Petersburg, Florida. The winning hall design will receive a $25,000 prize.
The 21st Century Project, presented by the Association of College & University Housing Officers – International (ACUHO-I), is a multi-phased initiative leading to the construction of a new, state-of-the-art residential facility for colleges and universities. In addition to creating one or more prototype residential facilities on several campuses, the project will assist colleges and universities in designing new residential facilities that reflect the ever-changing roles that residences play in the collegiate experience.
“The 21st Century Project has been one of the most exciting initiatives that ACUHO-I has pursued,” said Sallie Traxler, the association’s executive director. “It’s fascinating to see the solutions that the designers create as they take a proactive approach to creating the residence halls that they feel students will want and need into the future.”
The 21st Century Project has been developed to plan a residential community from the inside out. The first stage focused on the individual student unit or “Home” and the second will include the community environment of the “Block and Neighborhood.” Future stages will include bids from college campuses willing to construct actual prototype halls. Full details on the competition are available in the RFPs available for download from the 21st Century Project Web site.
The winner of the first 21st Century Project Design Showcase, held last January in Phoenix, was Jonathan Levi Architects (JLA) of Boston, Massachusetts. For that competition, entrants were asked to create individual student rooms. That design, as well as those of other competitors are included in the book The 21st Century Project Design Showcase: The Home. It and other resources are available for sale online at the ACUHO-I bookstore.
More information about the 21st Century Project and its related publications is available on the Internet at www.21stcenturyproject.com and www.acuho-i.org.
Questions regarding the design showcase should be directed to Hannah Merrill at 21intern@acuho-i.org. Product design showcase questions should be directed to Fred Comparato at fred@acuho-i.org. And press and publication questions should be directed to James Baumann, ACUHO-I Director of Communications & Marketing at james@acuho-i.org.