Taubman College The University of Michigan Taubman College team was announced as the winner of the 2011 ULI/Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition March 31, 2011, in Seattle, Wash. A $50,000 prize was awarded to the winning team.
Of the four final teams, announced Feb. 23, 2011, two represented Taubman College. This is the first time the University of Michigan had two teams synchronously named as finalists since the competition originated nine years ago. The other two finalist teams that competed against UM were from the University of Maryland and University of Oklahoma. MIT, Harvard University, University of California at Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania and University of Oregon received honorable mentions. This year, 153 teams representing 60 universities in the U.S. and Canada submitted applications. Nine teams entered from the University of Michigan.
The Mount Baker station, at the intersection of Rainier Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way, is surrounded by property that is currently being used for large parking lots, two heavily traveled thoroughfares and single-family detached residential properties. The competition challenge: devising a scheme that would transform and brand the neighborhood with an identity, and serve as a benchmark for future development in the Greater Seattle region.
The winning proposal, “Health Oriented Urbanism in South-East Seattle, (H.O.U.S.E.S.),” reorients the site to Rainier Avenue with a strong block pattern, effectively calming traffic throughout the district. The theme of creating a healthy integrated community was consistent throughout, showing a thoughtful and well-communicated conceptual framework. The plan embodies four major aspects of sustainability: community health, economic health, environmental health and individual health.
“The winning team conceived a plan with clear architectural character that showed an obvious hierarchy of spaces,” said Jury Chairman James A. Ratner, chairman and chief executive officer of the Forest City Commercial Group in Cleveland. “The plan addressed the transit issues and created a solution that gave pedestrians and bicycles an advantage. Their phasing strategy and its costs were artfully reflected in their financials.”
The winning Taubman College team included: Sara Hadavi, Ph.D. in Landscape Architecture & Environmental Design; Aditya Inamdar, Master of Urban Design; Alex DeCamp, Master of Urban Planning & Real Estate Development Certificate; Amir Hajrasouliha, Master of Urban Design; and Michel Banna, Master of Urban Design. Professor Douglas Kelbaugh was faculty advisor.
“This design is largely a reflection of rethinking contemporary urbanism to create more sustainable neighborhoods and livable, resilient cities,” said winning team member Hadavi.
For more about the team: udcompetition.org/the-results/winner/
The finalist Taubman College team was awarded a $10,000 prize for “Rainier Valley Exchange,” The other UM finalist team was awarded a $10,000 prize for “Rainier Valley Exchange,” a locus for transit, cultures and businesses distributed appropriately on a new street grid that completes the existing pattern. This overlay promotes permeability and integration with the neighborhood and maximizes the development’s town-center functions.
The finalist Taubman College team included: Christopher Canna, Master of Urban Planning; John Drain, Master of Urban Planning & Real Estate Development Certificate; Koben Calhoun, Master of Urban Planning & Master of Public Policy; Dustin Sommer, Master of Architecture & Real Estate Development Certificate; and Matt Nickel, Master of Architecture. Associate Professor David Bieri was faculty advisor.
“Taubman College invested substantial resources in its physical planning, urban design and real estate development instruction and research, and worked diligently to promote collaborative, interdisciplinary work within the college and across other schools at UM,” said Richard K. Norton, Urban and Regional Planning Chair at Taubman College. “The Urban and Regional Planning Program made concerted efforts to grapple with the issues of sustainability and social equity throughout its curriculum. The recognition of two UM teams as finalists in this year’s Hines Competition highlights the progress made in the program.”
The teams received information about the site on Jan. 18, 2011, and made their submissions by Jan. 31. Site visits occurred by finalist team representatives on March 11. The teams made final presentations to a jury on March 31, 2011.
“Each team has shown strength in interdisciplinary approaches that bring together urban planning, real estate development, urban design, architecture and landscape architecture to propose imaginative solutions to the site’s challenges – just as the Hines Competition intends,” said Margaret Dewar, Urban and Regional Planning Professor and Real Estate Certificate Program Director.
In addition to Jury Chair James A. Ratner, other jury members include: Martha Barkman, senior project manager, Harbor Properties, Seattle, Wash.; Dana Behar, president and CEO, HAL Real Estate Investments; Seattle, Wash.; Mimi Burns, principal, Dekker/Perich/Sabatini, Albuquerque, N.M.; Tom Cody, founder and managing partner, Project, Portland, Ore.; Brian Cullen, founder and chair, Keane Enterprises, Inc., Washington, D.C.; Boris Dramov, principal, ROMA, San Francisco, Calif.; Bonnie Fisher, principal, ROMA, San Francisco, Calif.; Richard Heapes, co-founder and partner, Street-Works, White Plains, N.Y.; Jim Heid, founder, UrbanGreen, San Francisco, Calif.; Jeffrey D. Kune, managing director, BeaconRock Group, LLC, West Palm Beach, Fla.; Michael Lander, founder and president, Lander Group, Minneapolis, Minn.; and Peter S. Stone, senior vice president, ING Clarion Partners, Seattle, Wash.
Visit the competition’s website for more information.
