MArch students and two professors operate the nonprofit Studio 804 Inc. 10 months of the year as a two-part thesis project. Students and community organizations take part in an intensive design/build process that results in a house that is sold to a low-income family. The NCARB Prize jury recognized the studio's long-term contributions to the Lawrence, Kans., community, its innovative restoration efforts, and its emphasis on sustainability and accessibility issues. Since 1996, under the guidance of Dean John C. Gaunt, FAIA; Professor Dan Rockhill; and Professor Kent F. Spreckelmeyer, FAIA, students have completed a full-scale project each year, including five homes, a roof restoration, and the design and construction of a canopy behind KU’s architecture school.

In total, the jury of the Council’s Practice Education Task Force and five deans of NAAB-accredited architecture programs selected 6 winners from 49 entries. The other winning submissions, listed below, each of which received a $7,500 cash award, are:

• Clemson University School of Architecture's Center in Charleston’s “Upper-Concord Street Neighborhood,” project linked 18 graduate and undergraduate architecture students for one semester with two City of Charleston design departments to rebuild the site of a large public housing project that was demolished by Hurricane Hugo. The studio analyzed the site and context, conducted design investigations, and worked with the city in sponsoring a week-long public design charrette for the area. The results were endorsed by the Charleston City Council and have become the guiding vision for that city district.

• Mississippi State University’s “Dialogic Reciprocity: Binding Form-Making to Practice in First-Year Design,” depends on an architect-practitioner collaborating with a studio instructor to provide an overview of communication practice, which they define as ideas that are broadened conceptually to embrace the relationships of form through composition, resistance to ego-induced form-making, and the proper development of the architect/client relationship as the fundamental basis for design.

• A combined entry from Pennsylvania State University and the University of Washington, called the “American Indian Housing Initiative,” focuses on housing crises endemic to American Indian reservations and promotes economically and environmentally sustainable design strategies. The program, which also partners with Chief Dull Knife College of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, includes students with diverse backgrounds such as nutrition, biology, and education. The year-long, three-part design/build service learning course pivots on a summer building program on tribal lands where faculty and students are joined by a variety of practitioners in the construction of load-bearing, straw-bale housing and community facilities. To date, the partnership has built an adult education literacy center, community meeting hall, and three private residences.

• University of Maryland’s “Building Connections . . . Building Practice,” implemented two new courses, Comprehensive Design Studio and Advanced Technology, to better integrate technology with studio design. For the technology class, students explore “real” projects in the academic setting. Each semester, 3 or 4 consultants and 6-12 rotating or guest consultants join the core faculty to participate in the studio. Since 1996, 57 architects, 27 structural and mechanical engineers, 12 topical experts, 13 “clients,” and 6 guests from institutions or specialized disciplines have worked side-by-side with the students and faculty engaged in these classes.

• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University’s “The Art of Integration/The Science of Building” involved research and testing building components that will reduce the nation’s demand for energy while improving the quality of architectural space.

The “Yale Building Project” and the University of Puerto Rico’s “Re-building the City Through Community Design” received honorable mentions.

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