The annual charrette of the Inter-School Design Competition held at the National Building Museum recently took place. The charrette consisted of 47 students of architecture from the six Washington DC/Maryland/Virgina metro region. The students from area university architecture programs worked in a day long collaborative design charrette  that culminated in an awards program, organized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and juried by a team of local and national architects led by renowned Architect Marc Tsurumaki of Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis. The competition was held on Sunday 07 October 2012. Three University of Maryland Architecture students were part of winning teams announced at the awards ceremony.

Allison Palmadesso (B.S. Arch 2013) was part of the first place team. Marc Tsurumaki noted the strength of the winning scheme for it's "spatial clarity and sectional logic". Alexander Tahinos (B.S. Arch 2013) was a member of the third place team that was rewarded for the "sense of sophistication with regard to the landscape issues of the project". Insung Hwang (B.S. Arch 2013) was on the team awarded honorable mention in the competition for a project that was deemed "spatially complex" by the jury. Other representatives from the senior class in the Bachelor or Architecture Program included; Alexandre Comas, Dori Hadzhiganeva, Brittney Leeb, David Leestma, and Ari Lewkowitz. This year's competition explored a waterfront site adjacent to the Washington National Baseball stadium that was envisaged as a new port/terminal for water taxi service to the waterfront park and promenade planned for the site.

Over the past two decades the three Washington area chapters of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Washington Architectural Foundation, and the National Building Museum have collaborated to organize the annual Interschool Design Competition. These competitions have opened the door for students to the local school of architecture and the architectural profession at-large.  Participants in this design competition are students at all levels enrolled in the area’s university architecture programs, including the Catholic University of America, Howard University, Morgan State University, the University of Maryland, Virginia Tech Washington/Alexandria Architecture Center (WAAC) and University of the District of Columbia. 2012 marks the fifteenth year of this annual tradition, with events held at the District Architecture Center and the National Building Museum  in Washington, DC.

First Place – Team 10

Second Place – Team 2

Third Place – Team 12

Audi Malcolm (University of the District of Columbia)
Martin Schmidt (Virginia Tech/WAAC)
Alexander Tahinos (University of Maryland)
Philip Taylor (Morgan State University)
 

Honorable Mention – Team 4